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Cromwell - An Honourable Enemy
Author: Antony Cave Orders of the day, Volume 36, Issue 5, 2004
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ReviewTom Reilly Any book written about Cromwell in Ireland is bound to be controversial, and this revisionist account aims to take a fresh look at a contentious episode in British and Irish affairs. Tom Reilly acknowledges this from the start, and then expounds his thesis that Cromwell’s actions in Ireland in 1649-50 need to be stripped of the myths that have accumulated around them and be considered afresh in the light of contemporary evidence and context. The author is a local historian from Drogheda who, whilst not always the most lucid of writers, is enthusiastic in his desire to prove his belief that Cromwell has been unjustly condemned for his actions in Ireland. In particular he maintains that Cromwell’s reputation as a perpetrator of atrocities against civilians is the result of stories spread in the centuries after the Restoration by various opponents to discredit him and the revolutionary regime in England that he represented. In fact Reilly attributes the actions of Cromwell to a successful attempt to save the new Commonwealth by a quick and decisive victory in Ireland, carried out with vigour but according to the rules of war by a well-trained and disciplined army. The book consists of a detailed account of Cromwell’s campaigns in Ireland, including analyses of the two contentious sieges - those of Drogheda and Wexford – where large civilian casualties occurred. The book also contains a bibliography, endnotes, town plans, and appendices of original documents used to illustrate the author’s points. Although the case made has caused some inevitable disagreements, Reilly attempts to be objective, and the appearance of this book suggests that it may be time for a fresh debate on Cromwell’s time in Ireland. By looking again at contemporary documents and casting a sceptical look at later explanations of the campaigns, this book has begun the work of revision and deserves to be read. Antony Cave |
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