Cromwell spent only nine months of his eventful life in Ireland, yet he stands accused there of war crimes, religious persecution and ethnic cleansing. In a century of unrelenting, bloody warfare and religious persecution throughout Europe, Cromwell was, in many ways, a product of his times. As commander-in-chief of the army in Ireland, however, the responsibilities for the excesses of the military must be laid firmly at his door, while the harsh nature of the post-war settlement also bears his personal imprint. A warrior of Christ, somewhat like the crusaders of medieval Europe, he acted as God's executioner, convinced throughout the horrors of the legitimacy of his cause, and striving to build a better world for the chosen few.

This book is the first major academic study of the Ulster Plantation in over twenty-five years, newly available in paperback. The pivotal importance of the plantation to the shared histories of Ireland and Britain would be difficult to overstate. It helped secure the English conquest of Ireland, and dramatically transformed Ireland's physical, political, religious and cultural landscapes. The legacies of the plantation are still contested to this day, but as the peace process evolves and the violence of the previous forty years begins to recede into memory, vital space has been created for a timely reappraisal of the plantation process and its role in identity formation within Ulster, Ireland and beyond. This collection of essays by leading scholars in the field offers an important redress in terms of the previous coverage of the plantations, moving away from an exclusive colonial perspective, to include the native Catholic experience, and in so doing will hopefully stimulate further research into this crucial episode in Irish and British history. -- .

The 1641 rebellion is one of the seminal events in Early Modern Irish and British history. Its divisive legacy, based primarily on the sharply contested allegation that the rebellion began with a general massacre of Protestant settlers, is still evident in Ireland today. Indeed, the 1641 'massacres', like the battles at the Boyne (1690) and Somme (1916), played a key role in creating and sustaining a collective Protestant/ British identity in Ulster, in much the same way that the subsequent Cromwellian conquest in the 1650s helped forge a new Irish Catholic national identity. The original and wide-ranging themes chosen by leading international scholars for this volume will ensure that this edited collection becomes required reading for all those interested in the history of early modern Europe. It will also appeal to those engaged in early colonial studies in the Atlantic world and beyond, as the volume adopts a genuinely comparative approach throughout, examining developments in a broad global context.

This is the first truly scholarly edition of all the recorded writings and recorded speech acts of Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) and consists of more than 1,000 texts. Oliver Cromwell, one of Britain's greatest and most controversial generals, rose from lowly provincial origins to preside over the trial and execution of a king, to undertake the most complete conquest of Ireland and Scotland ever achieved, and to spend the last five years of his life as head of state, as Lord Protector of Britain and Ireland. A passionate speaker who claimed to be called by God to overthrow tyranny in church and state, and a powerful advocate for a very broad religious liberty and equality, his speeches and letters reveal the public and the private man more completely than for almost any other early modern political leader. This new edition not only publishes a number of new items, but also edits a large number from recovered originals not previously edited. Every item has its own detailed introduction explaining the status of the text and its context or contexts, but also very full annotation - identifying for example almost every person, place and event mentioned in the text and also - where there is no holograph but also variant copies - all significant differences between variant early copies.

This book is the first major academic study of the Ulster Plantation in over 25 years. The pivotal importance of the Plantation to the shared histories of Ireland and Britain would be difficult to overstate. It helped secure the English conquest of Ireland, and dramatically transformed Ireland's physical, political, religious and cultural landscapes. The legacies of the Plantation are still contested to this day, but as the Peace Process evolves and the violence of the previous forty years begins to recede into memory, vital space has been created for a timely reappraisal of the plantation process and its role in identity formation within Ulster, Ireland and beyond. This collection of essays by leading scholars in the field offers an important redress in terms of the previous coverage of the plantations, moving away from an exclusive colonial perspective, to include the native Catholic experience, and in so doing will hopefully stimulate further research into this crucial episode in Irish and British history. -- .