English Civil War

Why did Parliament offer the infamous regicide the crown of England, Scotland, and Ireland? And to what extent was Oliver Cromwell tempted to become king?

History does not reveal the identity of the masked executioner who severed Charles I’s head from his body, or of his assistant who held it up to the waiting crowd. Geoffrey Robertson QC re-examines the evidence.

Robin Evans assesses the contribution of the Welsh to the troubles of 1642-49.

Far from being the bogeymen of history, Geoffrey Robertson QC says that the English regicides were men of principle who established our modern freedoms.

In the twenty-eighth and final essay in this series, Daniel Snowman meets John Morrill, historian of the Civil War, Oliver Cromwell and the recurrent political instability of the ‘Atlantic Archipelago’.

Richard Cust reassesses the thinking behind the biggest military blunder of the English Civil War, Charles I’s decision to fight the New Model Army at Naseby in June 1645.

James Robertson investigates the Lord Protector’s ambitious plans for war with Spain in the Caribbean.

A group of second-year students from Southampton University present the results of a collaborative research project.

David L Smith explains why Cromwell so signally failed to establish harmony with his Parliaments.

Martyn Bennett examines how the terminology we use about the great conflict of the mid-seventeenth century reflects and reinforces the interpretations we make.