Cromwell: An Honourable Enemy

By Tom Reilly

Oliver Cromwell is one of the most controversial figures in British history.

Frequently polling as one of the greatest Britons of all time and undoubtedly a key figure in English history, he has nonetheless been held responsible for the deaths of up to 600,000 people during his conquest of Ireland. Whether the massacres and atrocities he committed were justified has been hotly debated throughout the centuries, with the Irish generally viewing him as a brutal dictator intent on wiping out Catholicism.

In this book, however, Irish author Tom Reilly peels back the layers of myth and fiction to get to the objective truth behind the Cromwell story. Challenging nationalistic propaganda on both sides, he makes the case that Cromwell has been much maligned throughout history, allowing the true perpetrators of his alleged war crimes to go unpunished. This controversial work reveals a new perspective on Cromwell and the deaths attributed to him from a time when documented evidence is fraught with inconsistencies.

Tom Reilly (born 1960) is an Irish author and former regional newspaper columnist.