I have just finished reading Ronald Hutton’s 2022 biography of Oliver Cromwell, ‘The Making of Oliver Cromwell‘, and enjoyed it immensely. But be warned, this ain’t no regular biography.

Neither is this:

Hutton does something with the story of Oliver Cromwell that is a gift for an enthusiast but dangerous for a newbie: he skips the obvious stuff. A classic biography is not his goal. In his introduction he discusses his desire to have Oliver Cromwell better ‘contextualized’ than recent historical analysis has allowed. And he delivers! Throughout the book, every word, every action of Cromwell’s is seen through the customs of the day and the manners of the civilization around him. Hutton does this adroitly, without the Word Weight that such examination usually brings. Hey, we all love details, but we already have an Antonia Fraser, thank you very much. Ending the book after the first round of the Civil War, in 1645, the eponymous period itself, is a great decision as his early years are surrounded by the most mystery and therefore need the most help by the kind of contextualization Hutton’s promotes. Further, the story of the English Civil War is just too damn big to tell in one book or one narrative. It’s clear Hutton has read the same tragic results of attempting this as I have. Secondly, he’s a solid historical writer, skilled in the art of re-weaving the phrase, ‘and then a guy said some other guys did something’, which counts for about half of all Historical writing.

As a fan of Oliver Cromwell’s story, I have read a number of his biographies. You have to. One of the best parts of his legend is how many deliberately biased accounts of Oliver Cromwell were written upon the restoration of Charles II as king of England. There was a rush amongst the scholars in the 1660’s to prove they did not support Cromwell by writing deliberately false histories attesting to Oliver’s abiding villainy and evil Satanic nature(not an exaggeration). When added to the hagiographies written during Cromwell’s reign as Lord Protector, the truth gets murky as hell.

In addition, The English Civil War is the beginning of popular propaganda in the form of ‘broadsheets’: hastily printed one page newspapers, with only the news that the faction who published it wanted you to know. There was even a ‘Soldiers Bible’, which was a pamphlet containing only the Bible verses a good Puritan soldier needed. The English Civil War was the cradle of modern Disinformation. That’s the first reason why Cromwell still matters.

The second reason is that many folks have forgotten what a bad idea it is for Government to be involved in religion. I won’t waste time describing why. Read a brief account of the English Civil War and tell me choosing battlefield generals by what kind of Communion they prefer in Church is a good idea.

The third reason is to see how much a single good person can do, even in a time so messed up that Government and Religion were more involved than Talyor Swift and Travis Kelce.

Oliver Cromwell? A good person? Yup. I said it. Even Hutton, who actively shoves all evidence for Cromwell’s duplicitous nature Down Stage Center concedes he was not, at the very least, the villain all the supporters of the Aristocracy would like us to believe.

The fourth reason Cromwell is important is right now is captured by the fact that every reader of Irish decent is pissed off that I called Oliver Cromwell a good person. This is because Cromwell put down a rebellion in the Land o’ Eire and then supervised what can only be called the rape and plunder of the entire country. The third or forth time such a rape and plunder had been forced upon the Irish. Cromwell did it because he believed all Ireland was full of Evil Satanic Catholics who were murdering protestant woman and children. He believed this because this is what he was told for two decades.At no time was Oliver Cromwell walking around thinking, “Bwahaha! I’m being so evil and awful, let’s go take away the land and rights of the Irish! I hate how peaceful and content they are with their lives! Quick, go punch that kitten in the face!” But somehow, things had got to the point with Disinformation, he was able to rationalize the de-Irishing of Ireland while at the same time inviting the Jews back into England and weeping over the death of his own children.

Now replace Ireland with Israel. Yeah. Clio is a hell of a muse.

There’s a aspect to Oliver’s character that I love, which Hutton brings out clearly in his summary of the man. Cromwell was a student. Before he was a puritan, before he was a businessman, before he was a member of parliament, before he was a soldier: he was a student. Hutton points out how when Cromwell makes a mistake, he never makes that same mistake again. From his early conflicts over local land use to mistakes on the battlefield, we watch Cromwell learn as he goes! He accomplishes this at least partly from his literacy, which is a new thing for the as-yet-still-tiny middle class of England. Hutton proves that Cromwell had at least two bibles in his possession, as he quotes from both the King James and the earlier Geneva Bible in an early letter. Quoting extensively from the Bible was one of Cromwell’s best oratorical weapons. We also know he studied printed accounts of the successful tactics of Gustavus Adolphus and applied the successful general’s tactics with much success. Remember, Cromwell never had a single day of formal military training, and yet was undefeated as a commander. Books rule! Oh, unless they are full of lies about Irish Catholics…sigh.

Oliver Cromwell’s effective use of the printed and spoken word, and let us be honest, his effective Manipulation of those words, is something we must study as deeply Cromwell would have studied us.

All this history is repeating itself right now. The story of Cromwell will better prepare you for it.

The Making of Oliver Cromwell by Ronald Hutton can be found in your library and numerous places that aren’t A*****. Professor Hutton also has lectures on Youtube, check ’em out!