Oliver Cromwell

This study guide provides an up to date introduction to the main debates surrounding the career, achievements and legacy of Oliver Cromwell.

Contents

It examines the factors that influenced Cromwell's evolution from fenland farmer to civil war general and national leader. It examines the following key issues:

Why was Cromwell so successful as a military commander?
Is it possible to defend the methods he used in his controversial campaign in Ireland?
Was Cromwell motivated by ambition or by his religious convictions?
Was the Protectorate nothing more than a military dictatorship?
What was the nature of Cromwell's vision of religious freedom?
Was Cromwell's foreign policy driven by religious ideology or by the national interest?
Why has Cromwell been a source of enduring interest, both for historians and the wider public?

About the author

Graham Goodlad has taught History for twenty years and has written on many aspects of British History. His publications include British foreign and imperial policy 1865-1919 (Routledge, 2000), Gladstone (Harper Collins, 2004) and Peel (Harper Collins, 2005). He is currently Director of Studies at St John's College, Southsea.