Oliver Cromwell: Commander in Chief [Paperback]

The second volume in an acclaimed biography of Oliver Cromwell, from the capture of Charles I to the expulsion of the Long Parliament
 
In 1647, the Parliamentarians were divided. They had won the first civil war and the king was in custody, but disagreements over the way forward had led to a stalemate. As the leader of one party, Oliver Cromwell found himself again at the centre of events.
 
In the second volume of his pioneering biography, Ronald Hutton traces Cromwell’s career from 1647 through to his seizure of supreme power. These decisive years saw the execution of Charles I and the establishment of the Commonwealth of England, as well as notorious and savage campaigns in Ireland and Scotland. Cromwell’s political and military leadership were well honed after years of practice, but this was also the period of his greatest ruthlessness and brutality.
 
This groundbreaking account reveals a different kind of Cromwell, showing how he navigated the many forces ranged against him—and rose to the pinnacle of his power.“Hutton concludes that the ‘precocious democracy, liberalism and pluralism’ the British take for granted owe their existence to Cromwell. . . . We owe this remarkable man much more than we realise.”—Simon Heffer,The Telegraph

“Hutton is a wise and thoughtful guide through the thickets of the civil war, equally comfortable in the corridors of power and the tumult of a cavalry charge.”—Dominic Sandbrook,Times(UK), “Best History Books of 2024”

“Deeply researched and beautifully written, it is. . . immensely intellectually satisfying.”—Andrew Roberts,Times Literary Supplement, Books of the Year 2024

“A monumental achievement—the first in the great battalion of Cromwellian biographies to escape the long shadow cast by the Carlylean figure stal3@