Oliver Cromwell: A Life from Beginning to End

by Hourly History

Oliver Cromwell * * *Free BONUS Inside!* * * Read On Your Computer, MAC, Smartphone, Kindle Reader, iPad, or Tablet. One of the most controversial figures in British History, Oliver Cromwell entered the world as an insignificant member of the English gentry and left it as the all-powerful Lord Protector of the entirety of England, Scotland and Ireland. A radical Puritan, Cromwell believed that his meteoric rise through the ranks of the English military and parliament was an expression of God’s will. Inside you will read about... ✓ The Early Life of Oliver Cromwell ✓ The Road to Influence ✓ The First English Civil War ✓ Cromwell the Politician ✓ Commonwealth in England, War in Ireland, and Rebellion in Scotland ✓ Cromwell, Lord Protector ✓ Cromwell’s Legacy Proving himself on the battlefields of England’s Civil war, Cromwell signed King Charles I’s death warrant only to later become a de facto king himself, ruling the short-lived commonwealth as, what some have called a military dictatorship. Love him of loathe him, Cromwell’s life changed the political landscape of Great Britain and beyond.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Ebooks, Historical

130 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 30, 2016

About the author

At Hourly History, we focus on publishing history books that are concise, straightforward and take no longer than one hour to read.

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Reviews

[Labijose · Rating 5 out of 5]

En mi reciente viaje a Dublín y parte de Irlanda, comprobé que Oliver Cromwell seguía siendo el personaje histórico más odiado por todos los irlandeses. Intenté bucear en mis conocimientos de historia, pero necesitaba más información. Así que recurrí a la más que notable colección de biografías publicadas por “Hourly History”. Como su nombre indica, son pequeños libros sobre algún personaje o tema específico que se leen en poco más de una hora. En mi caso, un poco más, ya que tomé muchos apuntes.

Mi curiosidad quedó bastante satisfecha, ya que esta colección es muy buena para hacerte una idea muy general, sin entrar en grandes ni sesudos debates. Lo que me quedó claro es que Cromwell dejó muy mal recuerdo de su paso por Irlanda, pues su intransigencia religiosa (Era puritano de pies a cabeza, y aborrecía a los católicos hasta la muerte) provocó auténticos baños de sangre entre la mayoría católica del país. Aunque proclamaba su creencia en la tolerancia religiosa (intentó hacer regresar a todos los judíos expulsados de Inglaterra), a los católicos ni agua. Y dejó un reguero de sangre a su paso que los irlandeses ni le han perdonado, ni le perdonarán jamás.

Figura histórica de gran controversia incluso en la actualidad, tiene claroscuros que pocos historiadores han sabido analizar. Consiguió la decapitación del Rey Carlos I, para, poco tiempo después, con el protectorado, ser tratado casi como un rey en cuanto a poder e influencia. Sin embargo, también hizo cosas buenas, y muchos aún lo consideran el padre fundador de la democracia moderna. Sea como fuere, años después de su ceremonial entierro en Westminster, fue desenterrado, quemado su cadáver, y empalada su cabeza, de tal forma que a día de hoy no se sabe a ciencia cierta dónde está su cuerpo.

Una biografía fascinante, muy bien resumida por esta más que recomendable editorial.

[Thom Swennes · Rating 4 out of 5]

God save us from religious fanatics.
England, and later Great Britain, has had a long, colorful, influential, and sometimes tragic history, that could fill a library of books. The First English Civil War (1642-1646) marks, like civil wars, generally do a low point in the story of a nation. King Charles, I supported reforms to the Church of England, creating more distance between the clergy and the common people. Pomp and ceremony, more resembling that of the Catholic Church, were introduced to the church that Henry built. This and other royal acts and attitudes led to an eventual conflict with the English Parliament.
Oliver Cromwell was born into a well-to-do family on April 25, 1599. The first thirty years of his life was surprisingly uneventful and mundane. Around 1630, Cromwell had an epiphany of sorts, embracing the Puritan Religion with a fanatical exuberance. During the Long Parliament (1640-1642) Cromwell raised from obscurity to being one of the leading and most outspoken members of that illustrious political body. Around 1644 Cromwell began to demonstrate a natural talent in military tactics and to lead men in battle.
After a two-year respite, the Second English Civil War (1648-1649) was fought and now, as an experienced commander, the Parliamentarians won the day. King Charles was duly beheaded, abolished the monarchy, and declared England and Wales a republic.
I have read many of these short histories and biographies by Hourly History. In my opinion, this is one of the best ones. In the limited amount of space allowed, this book contains more comprehensive fact than most of the others. If you’ve never read a book in this series, I highly recommend this one as a good place to start.

[Young Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book needs to be revised and edited.

Sounds a lot like English Civil War was way more religious, because of the leader Cromwell's fanatical faith, than the Thirty Years' War, happening in Continental Europe at the same time.

The book keeps mentioning the New Model Army as Cromwell cannot be explained without his New Model Army, but it doesn't explain enough about the "new" army; as far as I can tell it describes as if the new army of the mid-17th century was the early version of the citizen forces, led and run by citizens of the nation emerged with the Revolutions in the late-18th century.

As a matter of fact, the New Model Army was composed with professional soldiers, even with significant portion of foreign fighters led by professional officers, some of whom were also foreigners except the head, just like all the other armies in Continental Europe at the time, and missing this part contradicts the same publisher's "English Civil War" I had just finished when I started this one.

Still most of the soldiers in the New Model Army were English, so yes indeed, it was like modern-day citizen forces in a way, but then when was any army in our history not a citizen force?

So-called the New Model Army of England was not like Korean military today or the U.S. forces back in days where all the able citizens had to be conscripted to serve the country as duty for a certain period of time, but like today's U.S. armed forces where all the members “volunteer” to join the military as career including foreigners like international students studying in the States taking advantage of the open-door systems like MAVNI (Military Access Vital for the National Interest).

Why I say they "take advantage of" the system to serve? These people choose to serve in the U.S. military because they want the U.S. citizenship and become an American, whereas those in the 17th century didn’t care whether to settle in England or not, but only wanted money and booty; they were real mercenaries who didn’t have allegiance to the nation.

They didn't care about the country because it wasn't their future; only those who had to defend their hometown and family had stake in the fights, and it only changed with the Revolutions as the common people rose with hope to make their voices heard as they were now sovereigns of their own countries by the Revolutions.

If it was called the New Model Army just because the troops, like this book defines, could be deployed anyplace whereas the “Old” Army could only stay and fight in their own hometown, the New Model Army wasn’t really “new” because there the distinction had long since existed between the townspeople defending their hometown garrison and the assembled national troops being deployed anywhere their kings and dukes needed them. In that definition Mongol Army was, too, a New Model Army. Any expeditionary forces in our history everywhere were all New Model Army. The author lacks knowledge in military and misleads the readers.

I don't usually point out grammatical errors, but mistakes are found one after another through the pages, and they clearly confuse the readers blocking the smooth flow of reading. Despite its great format and story lines this book gets a mid-rate because it wasn’t even proofread before published: Be verb "is" or "was" is mistyped as "in" many times.

A thorough proof-read is required before the republication.

[Mark Laufenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't say that I really knew anything about Oliver Cromwell other than hearing the name before I read the book. I think that the following paragraph taken from the book pretty much summarizes it:

"From murderous, genocidal military dictator to heroic defender of liberty and father of modern democracy, we will never have one clear interpretation of the man and his deeds"

He was a man of many accomplishments both good and bad, mostly driven by his religious fanaticism. It's certainly easy to see how differently he is viewed depending upon which country you ask.

Besides some spelling and grammatical errors, I thought that the book was overall well written and it held my interest throughout.

[Gareth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent

Oliver Cromwell has always been a controversial subject in British history from regiside to religious tolerance he seemed to act on both sides of the spectrum at the same time.

This book breaks his life down and presents a brief history of how he changed the way the world worked and how it subsequently went back after his death.

Hourly history books are brilliant as a starting point for learning about a subject and this one was no different. Very succinct, this is well worth a read if you're interested in Cromwell.

[Anita Hargreaves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written

The hourly history books are all well written and informative, as I know little about Cromwell I thought I'd give it a go. However this subject was not for me and generally gave up reading. I can understand why my comprehensive school never covered this puritan nightmare. Each to their own.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an ultra-short biography of the enigmatic Oliver Cromwell and a good introduction to his life. It obviously isn't going to answer a lot of questions, but it will provoke a lot of questions.

A good overview and sufficient to either, a. get to know Mr. Cromwell, or b. decide if you want to go more deeply into his life.

[Lilly Hi Way · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth Reading

I learned a lot about this period of time in British history and Cromwell's role in it. It didn't make me value the man's role in history because of his hatred of Catholics and his warlike ways. Rather he seems like an aberration that slowed the evolution of British government.

[Brian Andersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good one in the series

My history tastes are early American but I've been reading some of these very good Hourly History books to brush up on European history. This is a figure I've certainly heard of but didn't know much about.

[stephen miles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short read,with spelling errors in parts.

It's ok,and I found it fine,as an introduction for further reading.
The spelling errors in parts though,were a little surprising,and not difficult to work out who "Crowell"was

[Anil Swarup · Rating 3 out of 5]

"From murderous, genocidal military dictator to heroic defender of liberty and father of modern democracy" is an apt description of Oliver Cromwell brought out so eloquently in this offering from Hourly History. The book also brings forth the contradictions that marked the persona of Cromwell.

[David Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cromwell murderous military dictator or defender of liberty

I been reading many regal biographies and Cromwell name is enter woven but never had a clear picture of who he was. Maybe because he did have a clear idea about his goals and how to accomplish them.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like these Hourly history books. They are well written, concise but full of information, enough to let you know that you want to no more or not!

[Michael John Paul McManus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book regarding Oliver Cromwell's life. As he is my 10th great uncle I was keen to learn more about him and family.

[Grahamalba · Rating 5 out of 5]

These Hourly books are a breeze to read and the information within is easy to digest. I did not know much about Cromwell but this book gave me an insight of what he achieved and why.

[A gin and orange, a lemon squash, and a scotch and water, please! · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can imagine myself being a committed supporter of Oliver Cromwell in his early days... these Hourly History booklets give a fantastic overview in a short space. Well recommended.

[Antonio · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book from Amazon and it is part of the Hourly history collection (https://hourlyhistory.com). These books are mostly about historical events or historical persons.

This one is about Oliver Cromwell, and has all the important information about him in a very concise way (you can read it within an hour).

"Oliver Cromwell’s place in British history is unique. For some, Cromwell was a military dictator. For others, he is a class hero, a good Christian who made revolutionary reforms to British politics and can be looked on as the father of British democracy."

"While some English people might think of Cromwell as a “great Briton,” their Irish and Scottish counterparts see a genocidal, religious fanatic who caused murder and mayhem and achieved little in the way of positive constitutional reform."

This is my assessment of this book Oliver Cromwell, by Hourly history according to my 8 criteria:
1. Related to practice - 3 stars
2. It prevails important - 4 stars
3. I agree with the read - 2 stars
4. not difficult to read (as for non-English native) - 4 stars
5. Too long (more than 500 pages) - short and concise (150-200 pages) - 5 stars
6. Boring - every sentence is interesting - 2 stars
7. Learning opportunity - 4 stars
8. Dry and uninspired style of writing - Smooth style with humouristic and fun parts - 2 stars


Total 3.25 stars

Some excerpts from the book:

Cromwell is also one of the most effective military commanders in the history of modern Europe. Under his command, Parliament was able to defeat the King in the First English Civil War.

Robert and Elizabeth had ten children altogether, seven girls and three boys, but Oliver was the only boy to survive into adulthood;

Interestingly, it was not moral outrage at the state of politics in England in the mid-17th century that instigated Cromwell’s transformation from a minor member of the English gentry into an influential military commander and politician. Instead, it was a spiritual awakening.

Once the Commonwealth was in full control of Ireland the practice of Catholicism was banned, Catholic land was confiscated, and later Cromwell supported the English Commissary,

General Henry Ireton’s policy of crop burning and starvation in Ireland, a policy that killed an estimated 600,000 people and some historians have referred to as the ethnic cleansing of Irish Catholics.

To this day, the people of Ireland see Cromwell as a tyrant who persecuted the Catholic people and conducted massac...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.

Oliver Cromwell’s place in British history is unique. For some, Cromwell was a military dictator who committed the heinous act of regicide only to take the crown, figuratively if not literally, for himself. For others, both those living during Cromwell’s time and after, he is a class hero, a good Christian who made revolutionary reforms to British politics and can be looked on as the father of British democracy.

Across the British Isles and the Republic of Ireland, public opinion on Cromwell differs dramatically. While some English people might think of Cromwell as a “great Briton,” their Irish and Scottish counterparts see a genocidal, religious fanatic who caused murder and mayhem and achieved little in the way of positive constitutional reform.

What is clear is that Cromwell was a deeply religious man - a fanatic - and in this context perhaps his faith had much the same effect as ruthlessness or deviousness might in a man without faith. A radical Puritan, Cromwell wanted to show people the error of their ways and guide them away from a sinful life.

Cromwell constantly preached the need for religious tolerance while making no secret of his hatred of Catholics,

[Jerry Jares · Rating 4 out of 5]

To this day, Oliver Cromwell is viewed as a contradiction in terms. He was a fanatical Puritan who believed in religious tolerance.  He abolished Christmas, hated Catholicism (especially its pomp and grand ritual), and sought to strip religion down to a simple Puritan worship service.  British citizens may see Cromwell as the father of democracy, but the Irish and Scots use the term 'genocide' in reference to this man.

Until reading this, I was not aware that Cromwell personally wrote out the death decree for the king, Charles I.  I thought it was interesting that Cromwell (such a religious fanatic) invited the Jews to come back to England.  However, the author explained that, in the Netherlands where the Jews resided, they were more financially more successful than the British.  He also hoped to convert the Jew to Christianity, thus bringing on the second coming of Christ. 

This is also the first time I read that Cromwell was so unpopular with the English colonists in the New World.  Because Cromwell was so disliked, Royalist support in the colonies grew rapidly.  In the conclusion, the author explains that a year after Cromwell's death, almost all of his changes had been undone.  What a tragic result for someone so dedicated to God's service.  Although Cromwell agonized over being corrupted by the mantle of power, in the end, he was seduced.  I was surprised to learn that he died at the age of 59.

[Ed Barton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lord Protector and Lord Destroyer

Cromwell began as a constitutional advocate for parliamentary power, led a revolution, and ended up as a more absolute dictator than the monarch he deposed. Along the way, his policies killed over half a million Irish, and his religious tolerance did not extend to Catholics - whom he ruthlessly oppressed. Perhaps one of the most complex and polarizing leaders of the 17th Century and of the history of Great Britain, Cromwell is the personification of absolute power corrupting. A balanced view of this complex figure.

[Harry Trumfio · Rating 4 out of 5]

A conflicted man who allowed himself to be moved by religious fanaticism leading to the deaths of thousands. A good description of a man who probably intended good but used evil means to accomplish what he thought was God's will. A good overview of the English Civil War and the battle between the royalists and parliament. An interesting read for anyone who knows little about this period in English history.

[Peter Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

These sorts of non-fiction offerings are very handy when you have a passing interest in a particular topic but don't have the time to dive in with both feet. I found this book because I was interested in the topic. I was not disappointed with the content. I finished the book in a short time (over two or three days at night) and I found the content to be enjoyable and educational.

[va hoyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Quick Synopsis of an important figure

The book keeps going very well and is an interesting and easy read, although it must be said that a more detailed reading of Cromwell's life is worth the effort.

[Garry Marlton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good little snipet of Cromwell.

[Stephen Lamb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good concise introduction to Cromwell. Needs to more carefully proof read.

[Molly · Rating 1 out of 5]

i grew to hate the man. i also grew frustrated with the writer as this particular volume was clearly not proofread before it was printed. hence the very low rating

[TERRY FRIEDMAN · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy informative

[Reda Henein · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a first class summary of Cromwell's life as a politician and a military leader . I strongly recommend it.

[Chris Queen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice summary of Cromwell’s life and legacy. One quibble: there is no book of the Bible called “St Paul.”

[Igor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fear account for an non-British.