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Cromwell: a select bibliography of books and articles
A
select bibliography of books and volumes of collected articles
(where books have appeared in several editions,
the date of the most recent is given)
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Biographical
studies of
Cromwell
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Biographical
studies of Cromwell are legion and range from excellent to dire.
Although inevitably dated in places, the studies written by the two
greatest late Victorian historians of the period remain masterpieces -
S.R. Gardiner, Cromwell's Place in History (1897), Gardiner, Oliver Cromwell (1901) and C.H. Firth, Oliver Cromwell and the Rule of the Puritans (1900). Firth's book
rests in part upon the biography he wrote for the Dictionary of National Biography in 1888, which itself provides a
concise and thoughtful introduction to Cromwell. Of the more recent,
twentieth-century biographies, J. Buchan, Oliver
Cromwell (1934) is an elegant study, C.V. Wedgwood, Oliver Cromwell (1939) reflects the author's outstanding narrative
skills, R.S. Paul, The Lord
Protector (1955) is particularly strong on Cromwell's personal faith
and religious policies, P. Young, Oliver
Cromwell (1962) and J. Gillingham, Cromwell,
Portrait of a Soldier (1976) both focus on Cromwell's military
career, and C. Hill, God's
Englishman (1970) is a brilliant and stimulating thematic study. A.
Fraser, Cromwell, Our Chief of Men (1973) is a very detailed account and is
probably the biography best known outside academic circles. I. Roots has
edited a good collection of articles on the man and his policies, Cromwell, A Profile (1973).
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New Studies
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Turning
to the 1990s, there has recently been a clutch of new biographical
studies of Cromwell. B. Coward, Oliver
Cromwell (1991) and P. Gaunt, Oliver
Cromwell (1996) are both good, clear, up-to-date biographies, giving
straightforward accounts of Cromwell's life and achievements. Although
intended principally for students, general readers will find much of
interest in D.L. Smith, Oliver Cromwell, Politics and Religion in the English Revolution
(1991), which reproduces extracts from other historians and includes
introductions and commentary. John Morrill has edited an outstanding
collection of new writing on Cromwell, Oliver
Cromwell and the English Revolution (1990). As well as a general
introduction, it includes chapters by Morrill on Cromwell's early life,
by J.S.A. Adamson on Cromwell and the Long Parliament, by A. Woolrych on
Cromwell's military career, by D. Hirst on Cromwell as Lord Protector,
by D. Stevenson on Cromwell's attitude to Scotland and Ireland, by J.C.
Davis on Cromwell's own religious beliefs and A. Fletcher on his
religious policies, by J. Sommerville on Cromwell and political thought
and lastly by Morrill again on contemporary views of Cromwell. P. Gaunt
(ed), Cromwell 400 (1999), issued to mark the quatercentenary of
Cromwell’s birth, is a collection of papers on Cromwell which first
appeared in the journal Cromwelliana between 1970 and 1995. Last
but by no means least, the new century and millennium have opened with a
new biography, - J.C. Davis, Oliver Cromwell (2000) - in part a
fairly brisk chronological account of the life, though in the main
thematic assessments of Cromwell’s changing reputation and of the
different aspects of his life and career.
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Civil war and post-war politics
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Some
of the more general studies of civil war and post-war politics include
substantial material on Cromwell. Thus C. Holmes, The
Eastern Association (1974) has much on Cromwell's military career
during the opening years of the civil war, A. Woolrych, Soldiers and Statesmen (1987) explores Cromwell's role and influence
within army politics in 1647-8, and I. Gentles, The New Model Army (1991) gives some account of Cromwell's military
career 1645-51. T. Reilly, Cromwell,
An Honourable Enemy (1998) is
a stirring reassessment of his Irish campaign; J. Wheeler, Cromwell
in Ireland (1999) is a more traditional account. J. Grainger, Cromwell
Against the Scots (1997) is a sound account of the Scottish
campaign, while M. Atkin, Cromwell's
Crowning Mercy (1998) explores the background to, and the battle of,
Worcester. Aside from the military career, Cromwell's political role and
career from 1648 to 1653 can be traced through the trio of detailed
studies of the period - D. Underdown, Pride's
Purge (1971), A.B. Worden, The
Rump Parliament (1974) and A. Woolrych, Commonwealth
to Protectorate (1982).
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Lord Protector
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We
need more on Lord Protector Cromwell and on the Protectorate, though
there is now an excellent and lively introduction to the Protectorate
period, B. Coward, The Cromwellian Protectorate (2002), partly
chronological, partly thematic in its coverage and assessments,
supported by a detailed bibliography. There are some good PhD
dissertations and a growing body of articles in specialist history
journals, but many aspects of the Protectorate still await detailed
examination in full-length books.
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Protectoral Government
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R.
Sherwood, The Court of Oliver
Cromwell (1977) is a thorough and perceptive examination of the Lord
Protector's court and household, and Sherwood, Oliver
Cromwell. King in all But Name (1997) argues strongly that as
Protector Cromwell increasingly exercised much of the role and power of
a traditional monarch. Many aspects of the 1650s and of Cromwell's role
during that decade - union
and disunion in the British Isles, Welsh politics and religion, local
government reform, the Protectorate parliaments and army politics - are
explored afresh in the collection edited by I. Roots, 'Into
Another Mould': Aspects of the Interregnum (2nd edn, 1998). On
financial aspects of the Protectorate, M. Ashley, Financial
and Commercial Policy under the Commonwealth and Protectorate (2nd
edn, 1972) remains the most detailed study. The foreign policy of this
period has recently been explored by T. Venning, Cromwellian
Foreign Policy (1995) and the relevant sections of S. Pincus, Protestantism
and Patriotism: Ideologies and the Making of English Foreign Policy
1650-68 (1996); the introduction to M. Roberts (ed), Swedish Diplomats at Cromwell's Court (1988) is also valuable. D.
Hainsworth, Swordsmen in Power (1997) looks at some aspects of
the army during the Protectorate and C. Durston, Cromwell’s
Major-Generals (2001) is a detailed assessment of the
semi-militarised system of local government tried in England and Wales
in 1655-6. On the naval arm, see B. Capp, Cromwell’s Navy
(1989). The Protector's handling of Scotland and Ireland is best
explored in F.D. Dow, Cromwellian
Scotland (1999) and T. Barnard, Cromwellian
Ireland (2000) respectively. But there is room for much more on
Cromwell's regime in England, on his role and powers as Lord Protector,
on his relationship with the Protectorate council and parliaments, on
his dealings with the army 1653-58 and on his religious policies.
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Cromwell
portraiture
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The
best account of the portraiture of Cromwell is D. Piper, The
Contemporary Portraits of Oliver Cromwell (1958), recently updated
by J. Cooper, Oliver the First:
Contemporary Images of Oliver Cromwell (1999). P. Gaunt, The Cromwellian Gazetteer (1987) is a guide to sites associated with
Cromwell and includes his known itinerary. The conflicting
interpretations of Cromwell amongst contemporaries and succeeding
generations of historians are explored in R.C. Richardson (ed), Images
of Oliver Cromwell (1993). The same theme is explored in the closing
chapter of C. Hill, God's
Englishman (1970), in the final essay in J. Morrill (ed), Oliver Cromwell and the English Revolution (1990) and in several
chapters of A.B. Worden, Roundhead Reputations (2001). L.L.
Knoppers, Constructing Cromwell: Ceremony, Portrait and Print 1645-51
(2000) assesses the contemporary projection and representation of
Cromwell. Cromwell’s demise in 1658 has been reinterpreted by H.
McMains, The Death of Oliver Cromwell (2000), though many remain
unconvinced by the account of deliberate poisoning presented there.
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Articles in journals and chapters
in broader collections
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Turning
from books and full-length studies to articles in journals and chapters
in broader collections, there is remarkably little on Cromwell's early
life, though B. Quintrell, 'Oliver Cromwell and distraint of knighthood'
in Bulletin of the Institute of
Historical Research 57 (1984) is informative. A.N.B. Cotton,
'Cromwell and the Self-Denying Ordinance' in History
62 (1977) is the best study of that episode. G.E. Aylmer, 'Was Oliver
Cromwell a member of the army in 1646-7 or not?' in History
56 (1971) and C. Hoover, 'Cromwell's status and pay in 1646-7' in The
Historical Journal 23 (1980) examine Cromwell's position immediately
after the first civil war. D. Farr explores Cromwell's involvement in a
legal dispute around the same time in 'Oliver Cromwell and a 1647 case
in Chancery' in Historical
Research 71 (1998). The later, Irish and Scottish military campaigns
are examined by J.G. Simms, 'Cromwell at Drogheda, 1649' in The Irish Sword 11 (1973-4), Simms, 'Cromwell's siege of Waterford,
1649' in The Irish Sword 4
(1959-60), J. Burke, 'The New Model Army and the problems of siege
warfare, 1649-51' in Irish
Historical Studies 27 (1990) and C.H. Firth, 'The battle of Dunbar'
in Transactions of the Royal
Historical Society new series 14 (1900). Cromwell’s relationship
with the English city where his active military career effectively ended
in September 1651 is explored by S.K. Roberts, ‘Oliver Cromwell and
the City of Worcester’ in Transactions of the Worcestershire
Archaeological Society 3rd series 16 (1998).
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The later stages of
Cromwell's career
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The
specialist article literature is more important on the later stages of
Cromwell's career. A.B. Worden has written a series of perceptive
articles, mainly on Cromwell and religion: 'Toleration and the
Cromwellian Protectorate' in W.J. Sheils (ed), Persecution
and Toleration: Studies in Church History 21 (1984); 'Providence and
politics in Cromwellian England' in Past
& Present 109 (1985); 'Oliver Cromwell and the sin of Achan' in
D. Beales & G. Best (eds), History,
Society and the Church (1985); and, more on literature than
religion, 'The politics of Marvell's Horation Ode' in The
Historical Journal 27 (1984). On the religious theme, see also G.F.
Nuttall, 'Was Cromwell an iconoclast?' in Transactions
of the Congregational History Society 12 (1933-6).
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Cromwell's Protectorate
parliaments
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A
number of articles explore aspects of Cromwell's Protectorate
parliaments: H.R. Trevor-Roper's crucial 1956 article on 'Oliver
Cromwell and his parliaments', which was included in several later
collections and is perhaps most accessible in I. Roots (ed), Cromwell,
A Profile (1973); P. Gaunt, 'Law making in the first Protectorate
Parliament' in C. Jones, M. Newitt & S. Roberts (eds), Politics
and People in Revolutionary England (1986); I. Roots, 'Law making in
the second Protectorate Parliament' in H. Hearder & H.R. Loyn (eds),
British Government and
Administration (1974); P. Gaunt, 'Cromwell's purge? Exclusions and
the first Protectorate Parliament' in Parliamentary
History 6 (1987); C.S. Egloff, 'The search for a Cromwellian
settlement: exclusions from the second Protectorate Parliament' in Parliamentary
History 17 (1998); D. L. Smith, ‘Oliver Cromwell, the first
Protectorate Parliament and religious reform’ in Parliamentary
History 19 (2000); T.A. Wilson & F.J. Merli, 'Naylor's case and
the dilemma of the Protectorate' in University
of Birmingham Historical Journal 10 (1965-6); and C.H. Firth,
'Cromwell and the crown' in English
Historical Review 17 & 18 (1902 & 1903).
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Cromwell’s
ordinances
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I
Roots, ‘Cromwell’s ordinances: the early legislation of the
Protectorate’ in G.E. Aylmer (ed), The Interregnum (1972) and
J.R. Collins, ‘The church settlement of Oliver Cromwell’ in History
87 (2002) explore aspects of the work of Cromwell and the Council in the
opening months of the Protectorate.
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Cromwell's
role
and power as Protector
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Cromwell's
role and power as Protector are assessed in different ways by P. Gaunt,
'"The Single Person's confidants and dependants"? Oliver
Cromwell and his Protectoral councillors' in The
Historical Journal 32 (1989) and A. Woolrych, 'The Cromwellian
Protectorate: a military dictatorship?' in History
75 (1990); Woolrych answers his question firmly in the negative. The
rise and fall of the regime of the Major-Generals are explored by I.
Roots, 'Swordsmen and decimators' in R. Parry (ed), The
English Civil War and After (1970) and C. Durston, 'The fall of
Cromwell's Major-Generals' in English
Historical Review 113 (1998) and ‘“Settling the hearts and
quieting the minds of all good people”: the major-generals and the
puritan minorities of interregnum England’ in History 85
(2000), though the principal arguments and findings of both papers have
now been incorporated in Durston’s book on Cromwell’s
Major-Generals (2001). J Raymond, 'An eyewitness to King Cromwell'
in History Today 47 (1997)
draws heavily on contemporary source material, as does D. Underdown,
'Cromwell and the officers, February 1658' in English
Historical Review 83 (1968). D. Hirst, 'The failure of Godly rule in
the English Republic' in Past
& Present 132 (1991) and Hirst, 'Locating the 1650s in England's
seventeenth century' in History
81 (1996) attempt broader if somewhat pessimistic assessments of the
decade during which Cromwell's power and influence were at their height.
A. Smith, 'The image of Cromwell in folklore and tradition' in Folklore
79 (1968) remains the best study of that fascinating topic. All aspects
of Cromwell’s life and career are, of course, explored in the
Association’s own journal, Cromwelliana, which has been
published annually since the early 1970s.
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Cromwell's
own words
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Perhaps
the best way to approach Cromwell is through his own words. Many of his
letters survive and we also possess texts of some of his public and
state speeches. All the material then known was gathered together and
printed in a very weighty, four-volume collection edited by W.C. Abbott,
The Writings and Speeches of
Oliver Cromwell (1937-47); it was reissued in 1988, though it was
not amended to include the small number of letters which had come to
light since Abbott's original work. An earlier collection, not quite as
full but far more concise and attractive, is T. Carlyle (ed), The
Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell; originally printed in 1845,
it went through many later editions, edited first by Carlyle and then
after his death by others, steadily growing in size as further material
was added. More recently, I. Roots has reproduced all the major speeches
(but not the letters) in Speeches
of Oliver Cromwell (1989). Versions of Cromwell's speeches in the
important debates held by the army in 1647 are printed in C.H. Firth
(ed), The Clarke Papers,
volumes I and II, originally published in 1891 and 1894 respectively,
but recently (1992) both reprinted in a single volume with a new preface
by A. Woolrych.
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