The focus of this book is the period in which the country lost its king and how Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector. This is used to examine the Commonwealth and the Protectorate where Professor Woolrych challenges accepted views on these areas.
"This is, unmistakably, the work of a master historian, intended to endure."--London Review of Books. Studying one major episode can reveal its influence on the whole course of politics that ensued. The theme of this enlightening volume by a respected professor and historian is nothing less than the demise of the English republic and the eventual emergence of the quasi-monarchy of Cromwell's Protectorate. In particular, it unearths the reasons why the ideal of a republic, ruled by the people's nominated representatives, failed to take root in England.