The British Republic 1649-1660

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If you want more than just a documentary...... - Rated
A bit dry if you're expecting a bedtime narrative, but it's packed with loads of information if you want to get below the surface a bit. A balanced assessment of Cromwell (he's not demonised or let off the hook). It gets a bit confusing with all the changes that kept occuring within the government during such a short space of time. But that's not a criticism of the author. I learnt a lot about foreign policy and the conflict for power between the army and parliament.

He includes lots of case histories so you can see how policies affected ordinary people (not always common in history books). There are some punchy quotes for essays (especially the last section)and I'd recommend it to students. Perhaps the author could explain more of the terms he uses (such as 'Fifth Monarchists' and 'Ranters'). He assumes prior readership on the subject.

He has an interesting device of using alternative names for things he thinks have been named pejoratively, for instance the 'Rump' becomes 'Purged Parliament'.

The fact that it's short stops this book being intellectually threatening. A worthwhile read.