Examines the nature of the first regime ever to have effective control of the British Isles and the impact that it had on England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and on Britain's international reputation. One of the few stuides to view the period as one of acheivement rather than merely a reactionary regime. Examines the aspirations of the Cromwellian Protectorate and underlines their committemnt to a radical vision, despite the pressures and crises that the regime faced. Examines the international dimension of the rules of Oliver and Richard Cromwell. Containing many key documents of the period and a bibliographical essay, considers A and AS level requirements as well as being valuable to undergraduates and general readers.

Barry Coward is Reader in History at Birkbeck College, University of London

Introduction
PART ONE: THE PROTECTORATE AND THE QUEST FOR REFORMATION
1. The establishment of the Cromwellian Protectorate, December 1653: 'a conservative reaction'?
Barebone's Parliament, July - December 1653
The establishment of the Protectorate, December 1653
2. The First Year of the Cromwellian Protectorate, December 1653 - January 1655
The Instrument of Government and rule by Lord Protector and Council, December 1653 - September 1654
The first Protectorate Parliament, September 1654 - January 1655
3. The Crisis of the Cromwellian Protectorate, February 1655 - June 1656
The Protectorate's siege mentality
Godly rule
4. Stresses within the Cromwellian Protectorate, June 1655 - June 1657
Return to rule with parliament
The case of James Nayler
The militia bill
5. The End of the Cromwellian Protectorate, June 1657 - May 1659
The end of the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell,
The end of the Cromwellian Protectorate
PART TWO: THE IMPACT OF THE PROTECTORATE
6. The Cromwellian Protectorate and the Wider World
The activist role of the Protectorate in international affairs
The Protectorate and the Dutch
The Protectorate and the Baltic
The Protectorate and France and Spain
7. The Cromwellian Protectorate and Scotland and Ireland
Different attitudes to Scotland and Ireland
Similar attitudes to Scotland and Ireland: conquest and reformation
Punitive policies against the Irish and Scots
The Protectorate's British legacy
8. The Cromwellian Protectorate and England and Wales
Opposition
Failure
Acceptance
Change
Conclusion: The persistent grin
Documents