Cromwell: An Honourable Enemy

by Tom Reilly

Oliver Cromwell is one of the most controversial figures in British history. Frequently polling as one of the greatest Britons of all time and undoubtedly a key figure in English history, he has nonetheless been held responsible for the deaths of up to 600,000 people during his conquest of Ireland. Whether the massacres and atrocities he committed were justified has been hotly debated throughout the centuries, with the Irish generally viewing him as a brutal dictator intent on wiping out Catholicism. In this book, however, Irish author Tom Reilly peels back the layers of myth and fiction to get to the objective truth behind the Cromwell story. Challenging nationalistic propaganda on both sides, he makes the case that Cromwell has been much maligned throughout history, allowing the true perpetrators of his alleged war crimes to go unpunished. This controversial work reveals a new perspective on Cromwell and the deaths attributed to him from a time when documented evidence is fraught with inconsistencies. Praise for An Honourable ‘Only recently have Irish historians like Tom Reilly had the scholarly integrity to get the story right’ - Simon Schama ‘He brings to the subject an enviable familiarity with the terrain and a shrewd way with the sources… Reilly knows how tainted are most accounts on which the history of the Cromwellian war rests’ - Toby Barnard, author of Cromwellian Ireland Tom Reilly (born 1960) is an Irish author and former regional newspaper columnist.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

449 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Melody Bringe · Rating 5 out of 5]

First heard of this book from Joe Morecraft’s talk on Cromwell (look it up!) and asked him for the title. Great look at Cromwell in Ireland. I appreciated the author’s thorough research and careful consideration of eye-witness accounts vs. non-eyewitnesses. It was also neat to read in the appendices the full text of many historic documents mentioned in the book.

For further reading on the English Civil War, I recommend “The Rivals” by Murdo Fraser (Scotland) and “The Protector” by d’Aubigne (England).

[Margaret Madden · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very new approach to the long hated Cromwell and his regime. However, the author shows a bit more open-mindedness than his past peers, insomuch that he asks how different was the Cromwellian regime to other battles of the times. Stories of 300,000 massacred men,women and children have shown to be wildly inaccurate with the figures seeming to be closer to 30,000. The town (Drogheda) was given notice of attack but residents refused to leave. Cromwell also is known to have low regard for soldiers pilfering or assaulting anyone without authorization and even issued punishment to his troops when needed. All this does not take away from the siege of Droghda, Wexford and more, and how thousands of innocents were murdered or shipped off to the Bahamas as prisoners, to become slaves in the English Colonies.
This is a fascinating read, but at times is written like a novel, especially the descriptions of Drogheda and its wildlife and fauna, rolling hills and sturdy walls, written by someone from the area who is obviously passionate about his hometown, I think less descriptive passages may have made for a more academic work and would have saved this student the time it took to read about how beautiful the town and its people were...

[Marty Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative and refreshing

In an age of criticism and mindless propaganda Reilly writes a book that throws a different perspective on Cromwell. We can't have lived in his time nor can we, like today, believe everything we read or hear about... this book causes you to reflect and consider how often how easy it can be to cast a shadow over what we really know of times past. Let's hope that as our history is recorded we will be received and recorded with a sense of perspective, context and due process.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent and balanced view of a man often denigrated by historians. There have been so many outlandish stories about Cromwell's monstrous deeds that it's hard to truly know the real man. I think that Reilly did an excellent job of getting past the rhetoric and finding the true Cromwell.

**I received this copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

[Paul baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Investigating Historian

I like many others have grown up believing that Oliver Cromwell went crazy in 1649 at the Battle of Drogheda in Ireland and ordered the massacre of its civilian population including women and children in spite of this being contrary to what is generally known about him.
This marvellous book is a forensic examination of all that is known about the Siege from contemporary accounts and subsequent commentaries. It examines the coldest case of mass murder with precision and is utterly convincing that the allegation is simply untrue.
For the reputation of the man most responsible for setting up the English Republic it is an important work.
As we know War Crimes are notoriously difficult to examine, just consider the allegations of the use of Chemical weapons in Syria in recent years.
That the author does so well hundreds of years later in this case is astonishing and he should be congratulated without reserve. The story had been accepted and believed for generations and Tom Reilly has shown it to be nonsense and largely the result of Civil war propaganda.
He has done English and Irish history a great service.

[Ian Major · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fresh look at Cromwell in Ireland, by an Irish historian. He provides the documentation for his sympathetic view of Cromwell, indicating that much of the criticism - indeed reviling - came from the propaganda that followed the Restoration and down the ages of Irish nationalism.

It was indeed a terrible time in Ireland, as all wars of the time tended to be - but not the genocidal operation it has been portrayed to be.

I laid the book down with the same thought I had before taking it up - but much better informed. That Cromwell was the greatest Republican who ever stood on Irish soil.

[Josiah Bates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good read. Corrects a lot of historical inaccuracies that are spread in classrooms and the public square. It allows the reader to appreciate Cromwell for who he actually was rather than what history generally has recieved him as after his death.

[Conor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very thorough analysis of Cromwell's Irish campaign. Reilly attempts to counteract the prevailing opinion, certainly in Ireland, of Cromwell as a ruthless initiator of massacre. Reilly dissects the simplistic black and white view, and explains the religious, political and national loyalties that divided the period.

I feel Reilly was somewhat biased in favour of Cromwell, and perhaps interpreted some of the evidence in this light.

Very readable, good blend of narrative and primary sources.

[Sophie C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting insight into Cromwell's invasion