God's Englishman: Oliver Cromwell and the English Revolution

Description

The classic life of Cromwell by one of Britain's great radical historians A nuanced biography of Oliver Cromwell, breaking down Cromwell's life into different parts- fenland farmer and humble backbencher; stalwart of the good old cause and the New Model Army; key figure of the Commonwealth; and finally Lord Protector. Hill leads the reader unsentimentally through Cromwell's life from his beginnings in Huntingdonshire to his brutal end. Hill brings all his considerable knowledge of the period to bear on the relationships 'God's Englishman' had with God and England. Such a detailed understanding of the workings of providence is vital to understanding Cromwell.

Christopher Hill (1912-2003) was educated at St Peter's School, York, and at Balliol College, Oxford, and in 1934 was made a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. In 1936 he became lecturer in modern history at University College, Cardiff, and two years later fellow and tutor in modern history at Balliol. After war service, which included two years in the Russian department of the Foreign Office, he returned to Oxford in 1945. From 1958 until 1965 he was university lecturer in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century history, and from 1965 to 1978 he was Master of Balliol College. His publications include Lenin and the Russian Revolution; Puritanism and Revolution; God's Englishman- Oliver Cromwell and the English Revolution; The World Turned Upside Down; Milton and the English Revolution, which won the Royal Society of Literature Award; A Turbulent, Seditious and Factious People- John Bunyan and His Church, which won the 1989 W. H. Smith Literary Award and The English Bible and the Seventeenth-Century Revolution, which was shortlisted for the 1993 NCR Book Award.

The master ... Hill is the reason why most of us know anything about the 17th century at all -- Martin Kettle * Guardian * One of the finest historians of the age * The Times Literary Supplement *