Interregnum

Patrick Little asks why Parliament offered the infamous regicide the crown of England, to what extent he was tempted to take it – and why he finally turned it down.

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

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

In this edited version of a lecture given on 25 March 1999, to commemorate the anniversary of Cromwell's birth, John Morrill provides us with a series of snapshots, at different ages, of the troubled visionary who aspired to lead a new chosen people out of the bondage of Stuart tyranny.

Richard Wilkinson argues that Cromwell had what it took to rule Britain but failed to achieve his own idealistic programme.

'Trappings of popery and rags of the beast'. Mince-pies, mummers, holly and church services all fell victim to a determined Puritan attempt to stamp out the celebration of Christmas under the Commonwealth.

Ivan Roots surveys the historiography of the Cromwellian régime.

J. H. M. Salmon looks at Romantic literary interpretations of Oliver Cromwell.