Little integrates the latest research from younger and established scholars to provide a new evaluation and 'biography' of Cromwell. The book challenges received wisdom about Cromwell's rise to power, his political and religious beliefs, his relationship with various communities across the British Isles and his role as Lord Protector.

'This is a collection of essays that are startlingly fresh in their judgements: it presents a whole series of challenges to the entrenched view of Cromwell as a man driven by religious zeal and little else.' – John Morrill FBA, Professor of British and Irish History, University of Cambridge

Introduction
1636: The Unmaking of Oliver Cromwell?; S.Healy
'One That Would Sit Well At the Mark: The Early Parliamentary Career of Oliver Cromwell; S.K.Roberts
'Lord of the Fens': Oliver Cromwell's Reputation and the First Civil War; S.L.Sadler
'A Despicable Contemptible Generation of Men'?: Cromwell and The Levellers; P.Baker
Cromwell in Ireland Before 1649; P.Little
Oliver Cromwell and the Solemn League and Covenant of the Three Kingdoms; K.MacKenzie
Oliver Cromwell (alias William) and Wales; L.Bowen
The Lord Protector's Servants and Courtiers; A.Barclay
John Thurloe and the Offer of the Crown to Cromwell; P.Little
'Fit for Public Services'; The Upbringing of Richard Cromwell; J.Peacey
Index

PATRICK LITTLE is Senior Research Officer at the History of Parliament Trust, UK. His publications include Lord Broghill and the Cromwellian Union with Ireland and Scotland and (with David L. Smith) Parliament and Politics during the Cromwellian Protectorate.