The Making of Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell #1

by Ronald Hutton

The first volume in a pioneering account of Oliver Cromwell—providing a major new interpretation of one of the greatest figures in history Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658)—the only English commoner to become the overall head of state—is one of the great figures of history, but his character was very complex. He was at once courageous and devout, devious and self-serving; as a parliamentarian, he was devoted to his cause; as a soldier, he was ruthless. Cromwell’s speeches and writings surpass in quantity those of any other ruler of England before Victoria and, for those seeking to understand him, he has usually been taken at his word. In this remarkable new work, Ronald Hutton untangles the facts from the fiction. Cromwell, pursuing his devotion to God and cementing his Puritan support base, quickly transformed from obscure provincial to military victor. At the end of the first English Civil War, he was poised to take power. Hutton reveals a man who was both genuine in his faith and deliberate in his dishonesty—and uncovers the inner workings of the man who has puzzled biographers for centuries.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Politics, Audiobook, British Literature, War

562 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 10, 2021

About the author

Ronald Hutton (born 1953) is an English historian who specializes in the study of Early Modern Britain, British folklore, pre-Christian religion and contemporary Paganism. A professor of history at the University of Bristol, Hutton has published fourteen books and has appeared on British television and radio.

Reviews

[Geevee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative, well-written, measured and not hagiographic. Ronald Hutton's first volume [of two] covers Cromwell up to the ending of the Civil War but with King Charles I continuing to negotiate from a position of weakness with Parliament (or the latter trying to get him to agree terms).

Hutton's is the first full volume I have read on Cromwell as a man rather than as a soldier of the war, or later as part of the regime who committed regicide and ruled England himself for 5 years between 1653-58.

As such Hutton uses many first-hand and contemporary sources to piece together Cromwell as a man, and then a MP, to a leading soldier in the Parliamentary (and later New Model) army. There is a paucity of accurate contemporary sources, especially around Cromwell as a child, youth and young man but the author, who is acknowledged as one of the leading experts of this period in British history, provides the detail where he can. Likewise for Cromwell's journey to the House of Commons as a MP, and then onto military service, there are some significant gaps, or specifics on time/place and conduct that cannot be confirmed or proven beyond doubt. However, Ronald Hutton does piece the life of Cromwell and the events and people he was involved in and with together well, and where gaps exist provides a guide or suggestion based on those or other sources and corroborating evidence where possible, but never oversteps so that the reader is not led to something that cannot be proven or confirmed.

Therefore, the story of Cromwell is examined from his early years and path to being an MP, his [very strong] beliefs in religion and the type of religion and worship he sincerely and profoundly advocates, his family life and early difficulties living in Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire and to his journey to via Parliament, to war and his rise to become a senior officer in the Parliamentarian [and later New Model] Army. This provides good insight into Cromwell's character and his beliefs and behaviours, some likeable and many not. His relationships with others, especially fellow MPs and soldiers, including other senior officers and commanders (of the army and him) is especially interesting, and is often told in a lively manner using sources, accounts and formal reports of battles and operations.

There is much in this book for those keen to understand Cromwell the man, Cromwell the politician and Cromwell the soldier. Ronald Hutton has written a lucid, lively and very readable book. I look forward to volume II as we move to regicide and the republican commonwealth with Cromwell as Lord Protector.

My copy was the first UK hardback edition printed by Yale University published on 10th August 2021. 424 pages with sources, further reading and index. Colour and black & white plates are provided with a list of these after the book's contents, and also some useful maps of campaign areas and battle formations (although not all battles and operations).

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

From Unknown to Control

When I was a boy I heard many folk stories and sayings of Oliver Cromwell from my elderly grandfather. As an Englishman, Cromwell was revered. A successful war general, head of state and founder of the navy. But who was this man really? Having never really read about him, Charles I or the English Civil War, I decided to turn to Ronald Hutton’s The Making of Oliver Cromwell. Written in 2021 it provides a fresh perspective on the early life and rise of one of England’s most complex historical figures. Departing from previous biographies that often relied heavily on Cromwell’s own accounts, Hutton adopts a more critical approach, meticulously cross-referencing contemporary sources to present a nuanced portrayal.

Hutton’s narrative begins with Cromwell’s modest beginnings as a financially challenged gentleman in Huntingdonshire, tracing his evolution into a formidable military leader and political figure by 1646. As Hutton shows there is relatively little known about the first 40 years of Cromwell’s life. It seems that he was happy to be a big fish in a small pond, as Hutton realigns what we know, for example that he didn’t study law at Lincoln’s Inn as his funeral suggested. Furthermore, he does not shy away from highlighting Cromwell’s multifaceted character, depicting him as both devout and devious, brave and brutal. This balanced portrayal challenges earlier romanticised versions of Cromwell (such as my grandfather’s), offering readers a more grounded understanding of his motivations and actions. 
One of best parts of The Making of Oliver Cromwell is the vivid descriptions of 17th-century military campaigns. Hutton’s attention to detail brings to life the complexities of battlefield strategies and the harsh realities faced by soldiers. For example, the smell, the suffering and the aftermaths of battles - where gentlemen and peasants’ bodies were robbed alike. His firsthand experience with historical reenactments enriches these accounts, providing practical insights into the period’s warfare. 

However, the detailed accounts of military campaigns can be overwhelming, potentially challenging the engagement of those less familiar with or interested in military history. Despite this, The Making of Oliver Cromwell’s thorough research and engaging prose make it a valuable contribution to Cromwellian studies. There is a lesser focus on Cromwell’s ability as a politician and orator, or an in depth analysis of his religious views especially what the disagreements with the Presbyterians looked like. These religious differences which are harder for us to understand today were huge in the seventeenth century. In spite of this, the book does show how he managed to push the Edward Montagu, Earl of Manchester out of the way to become the top cavalry commander in the Parliamentarian side. Through pushing for military reform, exposing Manchester’s cautiousness in battle and the passing of the Self-Denying Ordinance (an act which essentially got rid of cautious, moderate Parliamentarians like Manchester) Cromwell rose in profile. The book also explores the birth of the New Model Army and Cromwell’s crucial role in the development of its cavalry.

I found The Making of Oliver Cromwell a good introduction to one of the most important people in the history of England. Hutton does a great job in providing a review of Cromwell in his early years. It’s thoughtful and well written with a critical approach to the subject matter. I am looking forward to reading Commander in Chief.

[Jean-Luc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, it's definitely the best biography of Oliver since Dame Antonia Fraser managed to brilliantly give us a complete look at one of the most controversial historical figures in English history more than 30 years ago. Straight laced, very boring especially on the religious issues, it's impossible today to avoid the fact that Oliver Cromwell and later William of Orange not only saved the beautiful island from utter destruction but they also gave us the right to bitch against the Windsors. They are really behind the UK as we know it today. Those 2 unprepossessing men did it. They really did it. They did it..... Hutton's biography of Oliver is a dream comes true if you are European. A fresh new approach to a very complex character & an intimate look at the man that managed to impose his truculent and unroyal will in the middle of the 17th century in Europe. This biography blew my mind away. This is the first volume. I can't wait for the second one. I can't properly review this book. It's simply too good. I can't imagine that too many people are going around talking about Cromwell nowadays, but honestly if it's up your alley go for it. It's refreshing and you might end up giving Oliver some credits after all. He deserves a tremendous break especially if you are British. Many thanks to Netgalley for this incredible ARC

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an outstanding work of biography by a historian who seems to have read every available document and has been specialising in this period for some decades. His fairness in assessing the evidence shines through and he is able to see all sides of Cromwell's character. Above all, Hutton puts the man into the context of the times. He is a master of the 17th century landscape, flora and fauna, parliamentary manoeuvring, military tactics and much more. His descriptions of key events is wholly convincing and the prose is a delight to read. This is a linear chronological account, written for the general reader: scholars are referred to the copious footnotes at the back of the book.It also has pace and in some ways reminded me of Caro's wonderful writing about LBJ. It will endure, as hopefully will the second volume, when it appears..

[Thomas H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s hard to find fault with any part of this biography of the first four decades of Oliver Cromwell’s life. It’s so in depth it’s difficult to imagine anything being written that is more comprehensive. I find military history a little dry, but I liked Hutton’s thorough approach and even-handedness. His descriptions of the scenery and the stars helped set the scene, and I wish more historians wrote so well - it was very interesting, as was Hutton’s points about the calendar in use at the time.

If you like military history, this is a five star book. For everyone else, this is four stars. You won’t find better on Cromwell’s early life anywhere else. Hoping for a sequel!

[Farah Mendlesohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really, really enjoyed this. It answered quite a lot of outstanding questions I had.

Two small points, one good, one ?

I think this is the first academic history I've seen that really thinks about tactics and strategy and thinks about how it all fit together with the politics. The book is worth it just for that.

The: ?

For all Hutton sets out to place Cromwell in context, and mostly does it brilliantly, when arguing for a level of named ambition and manipulation, he doesn’t put *that* in context. It’s not at all clear to me the Hutton successfully makes the argument (or even really explores it) that Cromwell’s manipulation was particularly different to that of his contemporaries. I feel Cromwell gets a lot of suspicion directed at him, not because of how he behaved, but because he was not supposed to be as successful at it as someone higher up the social scale.

[Andrew Kramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

When writing historical nonfiction, the author must carefully balance the reader's enjoyment and the historical narrative. This careful balance is missing from "The Making of Oliver Cromwell." There's plenty of historical material that's been meticulously researched. But the book is quite dry at times, thus earning a middle-of-the-road rating of 3 stars.

I came away from this book knowing much more about the religious and political factors that led to the English Civil War. I also began to appreciate the precarious nature of Cromwell's life. Unfortunately, this was counterbalanced by the author's need to enumerate various theses about specific events and the laborious text that expounded on the landscape, flora, and fauna of multiple settings.

I'm much the wiser for having read this book. I just wished it had a less academic patina and more flavor.

[Keith Livesey · Rating 2 out of 5]

So restless Cromwell could not cease

In the inglorious arts of peace,

But thorough advent'rous war

Urged his active star.

Andrew Marvel- An Horatian Ode upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland

"In this way, Cromwell built not merely an army but also a party -- his army was to some extent an armed party and herein precisely lay its strength. In 1644 Cromwell's "holy" squadrons won a brilliant victory over the King's horsemen and won the nickname of "Ironsides." It is always useful for a revolution to have iron sides. On this score, British workers can learn much from Cromwell."

Leon Trotsky[1]

"No one rises so high as he who knows not whither he is going."

-Oliver Cromwell.

"I had rather have a plain, russet-coated Captain, that knows what he fights for, and loves what he knows, than that you call a Gentleman and is nothing else."

-Oliver Cromwell, letter to Sir William Spring, September 1643.

In the first part of his introduction, Ronald Hutton tries to justify why there is a need for a new biography of Oliver Cromwell. He admits the market is a little crowded ( there have been five full-length academic studies alone since 1990), but the historian is on very dodgy ground already if the first words he utters are an apology. On the whole, the book has been well received and heavily reviewed. It is not that surprising because Hutton's book is largely a very conservative piece of historiography. Also, if the historian Thomas Carlyle were alive today, he would have sent a strongly worded email to the Bristol University Professor Ronald Hutton asking why he had heaped a further dead dog on top of the great leader of the English bourgeois revolution.

The biography has been welcomed by the more conservative-minded writers who have had enough of being kind to Cromwell as Anna Keay writes, "The Making of Oliver Cromwell is radical, powerful and persuasive, and it will cause a stir. It stands as a landmark challenge to the hagiographical tendencies of some of the historiography. Hutton's assertion that Cromwell is 'definitely not somebody to be taken simply at his word' is utterly convincing".[2]

Cromwell is a bit of a strange choice for a biography, given Hutton's area of expertise. He is a prolific historian of early modern England's political, military, cultural, and social history books. He has covered subjects such as the Royalist war effort, high politics, and the social history of witchcraft and paganism.

Hutton's new book is the first of a three-part biography on one of the most controversial figures in British history. Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658) was the only English commoner to become the overall head of state. It must be said from the start that this book is a very conservative piece of historiography. It contains nothing new about Cromwell, and the author has not presented any new archive research. It seems doubtful that Hutton has examined in much detail the new work on Cromwell by the historian John Morrill.[3]

If Cromwell were alive today, it is a safe bet that Hutton would not be on his Christmas card list. His recent hatchet job in the BBC History magazine is testimony to that.[4] Hutton believes that historians have failed to appreciate that Cromwell was "more pragmatic and more devious" than has been shown in the previous historiography and that he was "about 50% saint and about 50% serpent.'

This first volume is primarily a military history. Hutton's book contains no real or deep insight into the "making of Cromwell". Hutton admits somewhat grudgingly that Cromwell had a spectacular military career but believes that Cromwell had a large amount of luck on his side and that he took the glory of victory away from his other commanders.

As Hutton is a distinguished historian of 17th-century England, you would have expected him to examine in greater detail the political context of Cromwell leadership of the English bourgeois revolution. However, instead, he concentrates, like all conservative historians, on Cromwell's early religious experience. From a historiographical standpoint, Hutton borrows heavily from John Adamson, who subscribed to Cromwell being part of a "Junto". As historian Jared van Duinen points out, "When historians discuss the Long Parliament, they frequently refer to a hazy and often ill-defined collection of individuals invariably centred around the figure of John Pym. This assemblage is variously referred to as 'Pym's group', 'Pym and his allies', or 'Pym and his supporters. Probably the most common appellation has become 'Pym's junto', or more often simply the 'junto'. Over the years, this junto has assumed a variety of historiographical guises, and its role within the Long Parliament has been the subject of some debate".[5]

What political analysis Hutton offers he believes that Cromwell's politics should be seen in the context of a balancing act between the radical groups such as the Levellers and Diggers and a group of "Independents", both on the battlefield and within parliament. Hutton offers no political analysis of the class forces involved in this dual power struggle that erupted during the English revolution. The Levellers are not mentioned in his book, and neither does he go into much detail as to the class nature of the so-called "Junto".

A historian has the right to use any source material he chooses to back up his argument, but Hutton could have done no worse than to consult the writings of a man who knew a little bit about revolutions. As Leon Trotsky points out, "The English Revolution of the seventeenth century, exactly because it was a great revolution shattering the nation to the bottom, affords a clear example of this alternating dual power, with sharp transitions in the form of civil war. At first, the royal power, resting upon the privileged classes or the upper circles of these classes – the aristocrats and bishops – is opposed by the bourgeoisie and the circles of the squirearchy that are close to it. The government of the bourgeoisie is the Presbyterian Parliament supported by the City of London. The protracted conflict between these two regimes is finally settled in open civil war. The two governmental centres – London and Oxford – create their own armies. Here the dual power takes a territorial form, although, as always in civil war, the boundaries are very shifting. Parliament conquers. The King is captured and awaits his fate. It would seem that the conditions are now created for the single rule of the Presbyterian bourgeoisie.


Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658)
But before the royal power could be broken, the parliamentary army has converted itself into an independent political force. It has concentrated in its ranks the Independents, the pious and resolute petty bourgeoisie, the craftsmen and farmers. This army powerfully interferes in social life, not merely as an armed force but as a Praetorian Guard and as the political representative of a new class opposing the prosperous and rich bourgeoisie. Correspondingly the army creates a new state organ rising above the military command: a council of soldiers' and officers' deputies ("agitators"). A new period of double sovereignty has thus arrived: that of the Presbyterian Parliament and the Independents' army. This leads to open conflicts. The bourgeoisie proves powerless to oppose with its army the "model army" of Cromwell – that is, the armed plebeians. The conflict ends with a purgation of the Presbyterian Parliament by the sword of the Independents. There remains but the rump of a parliament; the dictatorship of Cromwell is established. The lower ranks of the army, under the leadership of the Levellers – the extreme left wing of the revolution – try to oppose to the rule of the upper military levels, the patricians of the army, their own veritably plebeian regime".[6]
Hutton is correct when he states that the war radicalised Cromwell. But is unable to answer why this is the case, how a simple member of the gentry with no military experience rose to be one of Englands greatest military commanders and leader of the first bourgeois revolution. Hutton did not have to go very far to look for answers but has declined to do so. He makes no mention of the great historian Christopher Hill's work, Gods Englishmen.[7] Hill sought to place Cromwell in a wider social, political and economic context. Hill was critical of conservative historians like John Morrill and Conrad Russell, who, like Hutton, tend to minimise the revolutionary significance of figures like Cromwell, writing, "People like Morrill and Russell are taking things aboard. Russell said of Cromwell, for instance, that he was the only member of parliament of whom we have records before 1640 who tried to help the lower orders in his work for the fenmen – but he does not draw any conclusions from that, yet this is one of the most important aspects of Cromwell. He had a much broader approach than most of the gentry".[8]

Hill's advocation and practice of a materialist conception of history are foreign to Hutton. I doubt he has heard of the great Marxist writer Georgi Plekhanov whose book The Role of the Individual in History should be the first port of call for any historian writing biography. Although the great Russian Marxist G.V Plekhanov was writing about a different period of history and different historical characters, his perceptive understanding of the role great figures play in history could be applied quite easily to Cromwell.

Plekhanov writes, "In the history of the development of human intellect, the success of some individual hinders the success of another individual very much more rarely. But even here, we are not free from the above-mentioned optical illusion. When a given state of society sets certain problems before its intellectual representatives, the attention of prominent minds is concentrated upon them until these problems are solved. As soon as they have succeeded in solving them, their attention is transferred to another object. By solving a problem, a given talent-A diverts the attention of talent B from the problem already solved to another problem. And when we are asked: What would have happened if A had died before he had solved problem X? – we imagine that the thread of development of the human intellect would have been broken. We forget that had A died, B, or C, or D might have tackled the problem, and the thread of intellectual development would have remained intact in spite of A's premature demise.

Conclusion

It must be said that before I read this book, I had little hope that it would be an objective assessment of the life of Oliver Cromwell. Hutton's book does not disabuse me of that. It can be only hoped that the next two books contain a degree of insight and analysis missing in the first. I will not hold my breath.

Cromwell was the leader of the bourgeois English Revolution and deserved a better epitaph than this from Hutton. I will leave that to the great Russian Marxist Leon Trotsky, who wrote, "'In dispersing parliament after parliament, Cromwell displayed as little reverence towards the fetish of "national" representation as in the execution of Charles I he had displayed insufficient respect for a monarchy by the grace of God. Nonetheless, it was this same Cromwell who paved the way for the parliamentarism and democracy of the two subsequent centuries. In revenge for Cromwell's execution of Charles I, Charles II swung Cromwell's corpse upon the gallows. But pre-Cromwellian society could not be re-established by any restoration. The works of Cromwell could not be liquidated by the thievish legislation of the restoration because what has been written with the sword cannot be wiped out by the pen.'






[1] Leon Trotsky's Writings On Britain-Two traditions: the seventeenth-century revolution and Chartism- https://www.marxists.org/archive/trot...

[2] Young Ironsides-The Making of Oliver Cromwell-By Ronald Hutton-https://literaryreview.co.uk/young-ir...

[3] Why We Need A New Critical Edition of all the Writings and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell-https://keith-perspective.blogspot.co...

[4] https://www.pressreader.com/uk/bbc-hi... also My article-I Come To Bury Cromwell Not Praise Him-http://keith-perspective.blogspot.com...

[5] Pym’s junto’ in the ante-bellum Long Parliament: radical or not? https://oajournals.fupress.net/public.... See also my article Does the Work of British Historian John Adamson” Break New Ground” https://keith-perspective.blogspot.co...

[6] The History of the Russian Revolution-Volume One: The Overthrow of Tzarism-https://www.marxists.org/archive/trot...

[7] https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gods-English...

[8] https://www.marxists.org/history/etol...

[Soot · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5!!

[Jarvo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cromwell remains one of the most important but divisive figures in British history: celebrated as the only commoner to become head of state, reviled as a regicide. This can make balance in the literature hard to achieve, and yet this is what Hutton attempts. This volume covers the period in which Cromwell emerges from provincial obscurity to become one of the most prominent figures in the country at the end of the Civil War. Given Cromwell's later significance it is remarkable how little is known about Cromwell until he reaches his early forties. This changes somewhat as Cromwell becomes more active as an MP, and then as a soldier, first at a local level and then increasingly as a national figure. Through this journey Hutton is strong on the details of the various military encounters in which Cromwell was involved and most particularly on the paradoxes of Cromwell's personality. A man of undoubted sincerity and religious belief, he was also capable of shameless self-promotion and flagrant dishonesty. Quick to take offense, he was implacable towards his enemies.
I think the book has two main faults. On occasion I think he is quick to condemn Cromwell's behaviour as self-interested when it really seems more or less like standard political positioning. Perhaps Cromwell is held too much to the 'Godly' standards he sets in his own writings. Secondly it ends on a precipice, with Cromwell having achieved prominence but not security.

[Thomasin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ronald Hutton you've done it again. This book is both fair and remarkably comprehensive. It covers practically everything about the period of Oliver Cromwell's life where the historical record is patchiest and really makes an effort to situate the reader in his world, covering details such as the local economy of Cromwell's region and even the colour of the sky and the constellations that could be seen at certain pivotal moments in the war. Stylistically it is very engaging and always straight to the point. I would say this is an approach that can be enjoyed both by academics and the general reader (which Hutton prides himself in being in all subjects but the few he's an expert in).

Even though the focus is mostly on Cromwell, I highly recommend this for anyone interested in understanding the nuances of the political and religious situation in England at the time of the Civil War. The detail on military actions is also extensive, if you're interested in that sort of thing.

[Clarke Heap · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part 1 (of 2) of a biography of Oliver Cromwell, that charts his rise from an obscure, relatively impoverished gentleman to a leading military and political figure in the Parliamentarian victory in the English civil war. Cromwell is presented as a complex figure that on the one hand is a formidable, charismatic leader of great personal courage and on the other an unscrupulous and petty minded careerist preoccupied with his own personal vendettas. Its an interesting read that battles to pin down this often elusive character of British history.

[Charles Haywood · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you know anything about Oliver Cromwell—and few do nowadays— you probably have an opinion about the man. Some vilify him; “A curse upon you, Oliver Cromwell, you who raped our Motherland,” the Irish rock band The Pogues sang. Others praise him as an enemy of arbitrary rule and a proto-republican. Ronald Hutton’s new biography of Cromwell’s early life and his climb to prominence makes no final judgment on the man, but it does offer a nuanced view of this complex historical figure. From Hutton’s excellent book we get not just history but the realization, in this desiccated age, that men such as Cromwell always emerge during great turmoil, rising as if from sown dragon’s teeth.

Hutton wisely focuses on his subject, and makes no attempt to tease out the political and social complexities behind the Civil War. He expertly evokes the England of the mid-seventeenth century, both in politics and the natural world. As to the latter, quite often Hutton describes in detail the flora of the region and season, at the same time he narrates a particular historical event, which makes the reader feel more immersed in the story, as if he were there. It also makes the reader a little sad, though. Why? Because it brings to the mind’s eye a lost time and a lost country, before industrialization, liquid modernity, and alien invitees destroyed both the English landscape and England’s ancient culture.

The short version of Hutton’s biography is that Cromwell “was both godly and wily, and the two at times seem to jar with each other.” No doubt this is often true for a godly man called to be a temporal leader. Hutton believes that most Cromwell biographers focus too much on the godliness and too little on the wiliness. This is not really a popular history; it offers extensive notes, and Hutton often refers to controversies among Cromwell scholars of little interest to the casual reader. Nonetheless, it is very readable, so any reader who is willing to put in a little effort will be rewarded.

Until he was forty, Cromwell lived as an obscure provincial, a collateral descendant of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s minister who fell from grace. In his thirties, however, he became a devout Puritan, something about which we know very little. (He kept no archive of correspondence, and while he left voluminous public words, he left no record of his own private thoughts other than letters to others.) Hutton fleshes out what we can know about Cromwell’s life prior to 1640, in the East Midlands, in and near Huntingdon. There was no reason to expect great things from Cromwell; he was on the lower border of the gentry, a man of no importance. In fact, for a time until he inherited money from his uncle, he directly worked the land as a tenant farmer.

The uncle was crucial. He had no children, and he kept Cromwell in his will even though Cromwell had unsuccessfully tried to get him declared mentally unfit, and thus acquire his wealth before his death. This is one of the few documented mentions of Cromwell prior to his emergence, and Hutton believes it shows Cromwell’s devious streak, which it probably does. It also shows Cromwell’s good luck. As did Napoleon, he continuously benefitted from the dice falling his way, though Cromwell called it Providence. Other records show some early involvement in local politics, and they also show an intemperate streak—for example, after a dispute, he sold everything he owned and precipitously left Huntingdon entirely.

In 1640, under again-obscure circumstances, Cromwell was elected to Parliament, as a candidate from Cambridge, which had a strong Puritan element but was fifteen miles from Ely, where Cromwell had moved. This Parliament was the Short Parliament, so called because it lasted three weeks until Charles I dissolved it for failure to vote him necessary new taxes. But by the end of 1640, Cromwell was again elected to Parliament, to the Long Parliament, which would sit, in various iterations, until 1660. Hutton expertly sketches the processes and procedures of Parliament, as well as the essential issues in the growing conflict between King and Parliament. Yet again, we have little specific knowledge about Cromwell himself; the phrase “it is not clear,” and variations on it, appear repeatedly. What is clear is that Cromwell worked hard and became closely associated with the Puritan factions in Parliament, and especially with the “independents,” who opposed state control of preaching (that is, they opposed the Presbyterians). Cromwell gave speeches that were forceful, even violent, and highly emotional. He would, in modern psychological terms, score very low on tests of “agreeability.” But his approach was successful, and that raised his profile.

For the next two years, relations between Parliament and King deteriorated, and the countryside began to separate into armed factions. When Charles sought to fund himself by asking for donations from Cambridge colleges, Cromwell returned to Cambridge, apparently on his own initiative, and raised a militia, successfully preventing the dispatch of gold and silver to the King. Soon he was formally commissioned a cavalry officer in the army being raised by Parliament, and so he remained for the entire war, rising ever higher in rank.

From 1642 until 1646, the end of the period covered by Hutton’s book, Cromwell alternated vigorous military activity with political activity. He remained a member of Parliament. In 1645 Parliament, in order to resolve a dispute between the Lords and Commons, forbade members to also be military officers. Such a separation was part of creating the famous New Model Army—but Cromwell alone was given a dispensation. This was meant to be very temporary, meeting an immediate critical need, not an acclamation of Cromwell, who had made plenty of internal enemies. But as it happens, Cromwell’s greatest military successes immediately followed, at the most crucial period of this first phase of the Civil War, and so he continued to both lead soldiers and serve in Parliament. This lucky confluence of events was what ultimately made Cromwell.

Cromwell’s rising political power wasn’t just due to military victories. The Civil War saw the birth of war propaganda, and Cromwell’s friends made sure that he received a disproportionate share of credit in the papers, and that his accomplishments were inflated, whether in battle or in the prevention of supposed plots by royalists and Papists. Cromwell himself was a tireless self-promoter, although, naturally, he also thought that thereby he was promoting the aims of God. He more than once unfairly threw his fellow officers under the bus, using his propaganda machine, when Parliament lost a battle. Still, Cromwell was a brave, competent, and lucky commander, highly intelligent and blessed with a durable middle-aged body, and the scale and scope of his actual achievements increased as the war ground on.

Little of Cromwell’s personal life appears in these pages, because little is known, but a few glimpses appear. He was very happily married. Two of his sons died as young men. Characteristically, he turned to Scripture for solace “when my eldest son died, which went as a dagger to my heart, indeed it did.” Instead of his personal life, Hutton focuses on Cromwell’s ability to learn from mistakes and experience. This was true of tactics, as Cromwell, a man with no military experience before the war, came to better understand the use of cavalry in battle—beginning with dropping beginner errors like allowing his cavalry to chase fleeing elements of an otherwise-unbroken opponent. It was also true of how he dealt with enemies. Although he had a vicious streak, exacerbated by belief in his own righteousness, he learned to calibrate the treatment of defeated enemies in order to maximize future peace, and his own power. Like Sulla, he promoted his friends and punished his enemies, with careful calculation in both cases.

What should perhaps be most interesting to us, in our own unsettled times that seem to be lurching in the direction of civil conflict, is how Cromwell embodied what most twenty-first century Americans deny exists: Carl Schmitt’s sharp distinction between friend and enemy. We have absorbed the peculiar idea that, if we must love our enemies, we must deny that we have any enemies. This would have greatly perplexed Cromwell. Even when he managed to tamp down his natural bloodthirstiness, he would not have deluded himself that his enemies were not his enemies. This did not mean total war—Cromwell, for example, himself defused the threat of the Clubmen, country dwellers who took up makeshift arms against both King and Parliament, by seizing the leaders and sending everyone home, rather than slaughtering them. Instead, it meant always seeing clearly, and taking decisive action to achieve the necessary result.

Cromwell invariably strongly defended his soldiers accused of straying from the established Church. As Hutton says of one such incident, “He rejected accusations against them of being partisan and divisive as jealously provoked by their godliness and good discipline.” This, along with his battle-winning ways, earned him strong loyalty from his men, and a unique power base, something of much use to him after Charles was defeated and conflicts within the Parliamentary side came to a head.

But we do not learn about those events here. Hutton ends his book in 1646, after the Battle of Naseby, with Charles in captivity but before the final spasms of violence and the subsequent execution of the King, and years before the Protectorate. The author apparently intends two more volumes to cover the remainder of Cromwell’s life; if this book is any indication, those will be very much worth reading.

[This review first appeared in Chronicles magazine, which you should read, and to which you should subscribe.]

[Suzanne McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exactly what we should all expect from Hutton - a superlatively researched and expressed account and assessment of the man, particularly outstanding on all things political and military. He's not as strong on religious / theological matters, but the main lines on this are still perfectly adequate, and his overall take on Cromwell as we find him up until the end of the First Civil War is outstanding. It is a relief, frankly, to find a historian once again willing to state, with clear justification and without equivocation, what the evidence points towards: that, alongside some more admirable qualities, Cromwell was also a manipulative, lying, vindictive bully and self-promoter.

I hope we don't have to wait too long for volume 2! Although I confess that I also hope we will see the elimination of passages on natural history and astronomy. These were, of course, beautifully written. Even so, I would prefer to be spared extended descriptions of e.g. what flowers might have been blooming in the fields and hedgerows at various seasons, and what constellations might have been visible on particular nights :)

[Forbes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meticulously researched and the attention to detail is spectacular. Hutton follows Cromwell from his birth in 1599 until 1646, the capture of the King. He shows Cromwell as genuine in his faith, tactful in his method, and sometimes deceptive in his claims. But he also balances this in fairness by demonstrating the political incorrectness of Cromwell's position as an independent nonconformist, a minority position in the English Parliament, the Westminster Assembly and also in the Army in the early stages of the Civil War.

Hutton seeks to understand Cromwell based on more than just his words, with the conclusion Cromwell is a complex and not always honest character. With so much mythology surrounding Cromwell, Hutton breaks through the shrouds with insightful clarity and any serious student of Cromwell will benefit from reading this stellar account. I hear a second volume is also on the cards, which is very exciting if it eventuates.

[Miles Woodcraft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cromwell and Fairfax was the subject of my dissertation under the great John Sutton at Anglia Ruskin. My argument was that in histiography Fairfax was more or less sidelined compared to Cromwell. This biography is superb and is the most balanced one that i have read. It highlights all aspects of Cromwell and rightly shows he was a brilliant leader of men. It also focuses attention on Fairfax as an exceptional commander.

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Ronald Hutton as his books are always engrossing, entertaining and well researched.
I had high expectations for this one and i wasn't disappointed.
I learned a lot about Oliver Cromwell and his time and strongly recommend this book.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[Alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

The scales are tipped too far towards minutia and away from engaging narrative for my taste, though the exploration of Cromwell's ascendence from obscurity to importance at the end of the English Civil War is interesting. Hutton also livens the text with rich descriptions of the English countryside in different seasons. But I'd recommend this one to hardcore history buffs only.

[Michael M. Burns · Rating 2 out of 5]

A sluggish read. The lack of maps presents a problem. Unless one knows the English countryside intimateluy the shifting armies leave the reader in the dark. There also is no clear defintion of Cromwell's religious views. The final chapter, "Conclusion", leaves one wondering what book they had just finished.

[Ros Saunders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exhaustively researched. Exhausting to read.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough, well-studied interpretation of Cromwell’s life leading up to his becoming Lord Protector of the Commonwealth.

[Elliot Wyatt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whilst this is incredibly well researched and written, to me it completely misses the mark as a biography.

This book is an excellent history of the English civil war, with great detail on its most notable battles and the political situation. Particularly interesting was the role of the printing press and the consistent reports from both sides that they were at a numbered disadvantage in each battle.

However, besides the first brief section and the briefer conclusion - we really only get glimpses of Cromwell in the main body of the text, which is that great history of civil war. At points, Hutton takes the time to tell us Cromwell's role in a particular battle, or what his printed version of the battle conveyed compared to the most likely scenario. I did find these bits very interesting and they were really what I was looking for in a biography of Cromwell.

But these moments were very fleeting, and at points there could be 30-40 pages of civil war goings on without real mention of Cromwell, besides quickly naming him as present, or his likely whereabouts if he were not present etc. I understand that Hutton has to:

1. Work with the scant evidence of Cromwell's life pre-civil war, given he was not a notable figure
2. Give the civil war it's obvious major role in Cromwell's life, given it made him and seemed to essentially bring him to life as a public figure

Still, for me this biography left a lot to be desired. This would have been an excellent history of the civil war, but is not an excellent biography of the making of Cromwell.

I would have been much happier with a shorter, snappier version of Cromwell's story up to the end of the civil war, with a much more brief overview of the civil war, focused on Cromwell throughout and seeing things from his perspective. More on the historiographical debates surrounding his early life (covered only briefly) would have been welcome, and a critical interrogation of the limited sources to come to conclusions, or even half-conclusions on the unanswered or heavily debated areas of Cromwell's life was much needed.

Ultimately, to finish a biography of an historical figure and not feel that you know any more about them than you did beforehand (although I certainly know a lot more about the civil war) is pretty disappointing. Perhaps this book was just a vehicle to contextualise before the real biography and judgement of Cromwell's character takes place in Hutton's next book which was recently released. But if it was that, in my view it was a very long and drawn out attempt.

[Matthew Welker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first volume in Ronald Hutton’s biographical work on Oliver Cromwell. My first and only experience with Hutton until now was his book The Witch that I read in 2024. So I liked his style and was excited to see he had a couple books on Cromwell with the third and final volume in the works.

I’ve been working my way through the course of English history and have recently been going back & forth between the Tudor age and the 17th century. As far chronological order of the monarchs go, I made it to Charles. Though I now decided to progress forward with Hutton’s Cromwell.

This first volume looks to chart Cromwell’s early formative years, rise as a parliamentarian, and his military career during the First English Civil War which pitted Parliament against the King, where Cromwell made his mark in history.

It is a well written book and definitely designed to be more easy to read. Essentially it’s not as “academic” as other history books & biographies I tend to read. That being said it’s packed with details and Hutton does a fantastic job giving us Cromwell’s life from his early days to the end of the war. I also liked how vivid his writing was when framing the scenes of battles, seasons, locations, and so on. It was like giving the reader an idea of what England looked like through Cromwell’s eyes.

While this is more personal, I like that’s it published by Yale. As a fan of their English Monarch series, I think once it’s said and done, Hutton’s three volumes on Cromwell, while never becoming king, will fit right in given what happened. Though sadly that series doesn’t have a biography of every monarch after Edward VI especially during the Stuart period. But still an excellent series and Hutton’s Cromwell work belongs alongside those on my bookshelf!

Anyway, there’s plenty of biographies on this man as he’s very important though I imagine this is the most recent one. So it may be a good pick if looking for something more modern and hey, I digged it. I’ll be reading volume 2 next and look forward to the day volume 3 releases. Highly recommend!

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book in Ronald Hutton's biographies of Oliver Cromwell. It is, as one would expect from Ronald Hutton, extremely well-researched and honest about the gaps that exist in the telling of Oliver Cromwell's life story. These gaps have been filled by his enemies - of whom there were and are many - and his friends.

This book takes Cromwell's story up to the end of Civil War. Or at least to the King being held by Parliament, after being handed over by the Scots to whom he had surrendered. By this point Cromwell has gone from being a pretty anonymous, pretty poor member of the regional gentry to a man at the centre of both army and parliament. Hutton tells that story without attempting to mythologise the man.

The Cromwell that comes out of this book is a complex figure. Believably so: "He was courageous, devout, resolute, principled, eloquent, able, adaptable, and dedicated, but also unscrupulous, dishonest, manipulative, vindictive, and bloodthirsty: definitely not someone to be taken simply at his word."

Hutton seems to pinpoint the turning point in Cromwell's life to a religious breakthrough in Ely after he had suffered a number of set backs. After that his belief in his personal special relationship with God helped pull him out of the Fens and into 'big' History with a capital H.

I already like Ronald Hutton. He, like Mary Beard, is honest about how historical accounts are often based on the weakest of evidence. A sort of glorified hearsay. And in both the main text and in the copious notes section he explains what evidence lies behind his version of events.

There is no bibliography, which is why it loses a star. He explains why in his introduction, but I'm not sure why if you going to provide the amount of notes he does a bibliography is such a pain in the arse. But you can cobble together one yourself from the notes if you are so inclined.

[Toby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part biography, part nature-notes, Ronald Hutton's biography of the first part of Cromwell's life (leading up to the end of the Civil War) is superbly written with enough quirkiness about it to keep the reader interested without bordering on eccentricity (just).

I read Hutton's biography of Charles II many years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it, and this study of Cromwell does not disappoint. Hutton is a brilliant story-teller, and is capable of describing the Civil War battles in a way that allows the non-military specialist to understand and engage with the tactics and the mistakes. His description of Marston Moor in particular is very fine writing. Cromwell himself remains inevitably obscure to us. We have so little in the way of letters, memoirs or eye-witness testimony that it is hard to see a fully-fleshed figure that does not simply conform to the traditional view of him as a hard, ambitious and ruthless soldier. Hutton does gives us a different perspective, but I didn't find my prejudices changed. It's hard not to be more attracted to the other leading characters, Fairfax, Rupert and Goring, even though our inclinations towards them are not based on much better evidence. Cromwell moved to the top of his society through a combination of personal determination, ambition, luck, good generalship, and ruthless careerism.

As to the nature notes, Hutton is very keen to tell us exactly what the English countryside would have looked like at any particular point in the story eg "Cromwell reachd Cambridgeshire at the end of May, when the summer pastures of the Fens around Ely were starting to roll with grass pollen heads and the meres were coated wtih opening water lilies." I found this rather endearing (especially the description of the now absent giant bustards on Salisbury Plain) but I could imagine other readers getting a little irritated.

[Joshua Horn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought Hutton did a good job in examining the scant documentary evidence regarding Cromwell's life, and in dealing with the abundant claims of biographers that are either myths or impossible to verify.

That said, it seemed like he was quite anti-Cromwell. I don't necessarily have a problem with authors having a firm position, but I questioned whether this compromised his analysis. A couple specific examples - he says over and over again that Cromwell was personally bloodthirsty. I listened to this on audiobook, so I don't have it in front of me to refer to, but one of his major points in support of this was Cromwell's view of the royalist as enemies of God. Yet this does not him bloodthirsty make. He says over and over again that Cromwell was dishonest - but one example of Hutton's evaluation I found troubling. Cromwell accused his commander, the Earl of Manchester, of doing nothing when he ought to have been moving on the enemy. Hutton says this was a lie, because Manchester was actually dealing with dissension between Presbyterians and independents in his army. But to me that makes Cromwell sound right.

On things like this I don't feel like from reading this book I can know whether Hutton was right or not, and a big reason for this is that he rarely quotes Cromwell, or other primary sources. We have to just trust his summaries.

He concludes that Cromwell was a sincerely pious Christian, yet he was also habitually dishonest, and that there were no contradiction between those things. Whether or not this is an accurate description of Cromwell, on Hutton's part, that's a slander against Christianity.

A minor style note - he tries to enliven the narrative with descriptions of the colors of the nature and the stars in the sky, but while I respect the attempt, it just fell flat for me.

[Stanford Mannas]

This book like Antonia Fraser are royalists and do not do justice to Oliver Cromwell. The civil war was started by the nobles (the petition 12) who invited the Scottish army into England to force the petition through. The nobles started the war but were unable to finish it, and gave up, fearing loss of status if a new king was installed. The City of London paid for the two Civil Wars. Oliver Cromwell was not a commoner, but the Great Great Grandson of the Golden Knight. Regicide? no. The King raised the Standard against the people of this country, The King was tried in a court of law for treason and convicted. Where would we be today if Oliver Cromwell did not defeat the Scottish army and Charles ii at Worcester from taking the City of London? The only book worth reading is Thomas Carlyle, Letters and Speeches, written 200 years ago. The Kings are the dictators, made up by the Vatican in 800AD. In Power Oliver Cromwell, built up the navy and put colonel Monk on board, a soldier which became the first Marine force and defeated the Dutch who were torturing the East India Company in the spice war, Charles Stuart would not get involved as he was linked to the Dutch, but tried instead to take control of the East India Company for himself. Read (A HISRORY OF BRITISH INDIA by Sir WW Hunter 1899) and (GREAT BATTLES OF THE BRITISH NAVY by Lieutenant 1872). Also at this time England was at war with Spain and Cromwell was also involved with this. All has been hidden from the greatest English Man this country has known. Independence day during the Puritan rule was September 3rd.

[Paul Forster · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very dense read. It is meant to be all about Cromwell, but as the author admits there's not a lot to go on until he chops the king's head off. So instead we get a very detailed description of the civil war battles, when Cromwell rose from obscurity. I am not very interested in battles so I found this hard work. Hutton goes into great detail of the major battles across England and I have to admit I started to get confused but that is down to my lack of focus and interest rather than Hutton not being able to write well for a general readership. It can seem a bit too ' academic' at times, and Hutton muses on various accounts of an event, the evidence at the time , sources, etc. This is excellent for the more serious historian or real civil war enthusiast but maybe a bit much for a general reader , and I would say at times it reads like he is ' thinking out loud' about some obscure point of debate. Maybe if the maps of the battles were placed with the chapters it might have helped me follow it all? Anyway I persevered and feel I have learned a lot , but can't say I was thrilled by the experience. However, Hutton is at times very funny and has a dry sense of humour and is happy to make pithy comments and gives slightly idyllic descriptions of the English countryside but then this is pre-industrial revolution so a much more wooded and agricultural landscape so I can see what he was trying to do. I hope he does continue with his biography as I imagine he will have more to get his teeth stuck into in the next volume and I will be challenged to continue with more demanding reads than I normally choose these days.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oliver Cromwell is as fascinating a historical character as you'll find in any age of history. He is a not too distinguished member of parliament and doesn't really stand out until the great conflict between the English parliament and King Charles. Indeed, he is so unimportant that biographers know hardly anything about him until his 40s. He has a sudden rise in "fame" due to leading cavalry into battle against the king's forces where he is quite successful and quickly gains a reputation as a solid leader and trustworthy soldier.

He is a devoted husband and father, great leader, good tactician, and devoted Christian; he is also irascible, prone to self-promotion, brutal when he wants to be, and rigidly strict in his views on everything from the conflict between parliament and King Charles to his religious beliefs. He is also prone to brutal treatment of opposing forces, but remarkably, sometimes magnanimous in victory. Basically he is a bundle of conflicting character traits.

Mr. Hutton points all this out in his book, but really cannot explain why Cromwell is the way he is. Perhaps another historian will be able to, perhaps Cromwell is so opaque that there is just no understanding him at all. I want to read another book to get a better understanding of Cromwell since this one only goes to about 1644.

[Andrew Pratley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much has been written about Oliver Cromwell & much of it is highly colored either in praise or condemnation of the man. Like the rest of us Oliver Cromwell was a complex man. At the end of this excellent book Ronald Hutton pithily describes him as being courageous, devout, resolute, principled, intelligent, eloquent, able, adaptable & dedicated, but also self-seeking, unscrupulous, dishonest, manipulative, vindictive & bloodthirsty: definitely not somebody to be taken simply at his word. This book also illustrates he was much else besides. Cromwell's role British History & impact on the events of his time & after makes him an almost unique character since he is the only commoner ever to be become effectively our King. His was actually offered this role but refused it but by the end he was fulfilling the role in actuality. This biography wonderfully covers the man & the period up to the end of the First Civil War & I am looking forward to reading Volume Two when it becomes available.