By Alan C. Clifford
Charenton Reformed Publishing. 40 pages. £2.50
ISBN 0 9526716 2 X
This booklet is a printed version of a lecture first given to the Protestant Reformation Society. Events before, during and after Cromwell's Protectorate are described in an orderly and helpful way with some occasional comment on the historical events. Cromwell, always a controversial figure, emerges with a judicious balance of praise and criticism.
Nearly half of the booklet is used to describe events leading to the years of Cromwell's power. This tilts the balance of the story unhelpfully, given the space available. For example, it was not really necessary even to mention the Gunpowder Plot.
In the reviewer's opinion, a production which stresses the historical should not introduce the author's correspondence with Mr Major about an obscene AIDS leaflet. It is even more dubious to draw attention to the undesirability of Mr. Blair being married to a Roman Catholic, on the grounds that there is some sort of parallel with Charles I who was also married to a Catholic with disastrous consequences.
In spite of this, the lessons and legacy of the Protectorate are clearly described.
