Boyer R. Oliver Cromwell and the Puritan Revolt

Boston. D.C.Heath and Co. 1966. — 112 p.Although he became one of the most famous figures in English history, Oliver Cromwell began life as an ordinary country gentleman.
When the English Civil War broke out in 1642, he was a middle-aged father of five children with no military training. Yet within a decade he “mounted himself into the throne of the three kingdoms [England, Wales, and Scotland] without the title of King but with greater power and authority than had ever been exercised or claimed by any King.”These years were the only time in English history since the Norman Conquest in 1066 when the Aristocracy and ruling classes lost control of the country and consequently have perplexed historians ever since.The extracts presented in this book represent the contrasting views of both contemporary and modern writers.