Richard Cromwell : England's Last President

The extraordinary, little-known life of Richard, the manwho succeeded Cromwell and survived the Restoration.

Richard Cromwell succeeded his famous father Oliver as Lord Protector in1658, and resigned 274 days later, making way for Charles II to return toEngland and take the Crown. Born in 1626,Richard was a disappointment to his father. Despite this,Cromwell named Richard as his successor. However, although Richard wasintelligent and not uncharismatic in his own right, but he did not have thedesire to rule as his father had and struggled to establish his authority asLord Protector. Upon the Restoration, Richard was pilloried by his contemporaries. The poet John Dryden, in'Absalom and Achitophel,' described him as 'the foolish Ishbosheth.' He was called 'Queen Sick' by royalists. Despite this, Richard was never tried for treasonand lived to a grand old age, making him thelongest-lived British head of state for three centuries. During a long life inexile, Richard visited the courts of Europe and took part in many adventures,before returning to Hampshire in 1680. This remarkable book isthe first modern biography of Richard Cromwell and offers a profoundreassessment of his life and abilities. As Cromwell's successor, for instance,the role of finding a balance between the army, a war-weary civil society and aParliament stuffed full of disaffected royalists and Presbyterians, would havebeen beyond almost anyone; in effect, his father left him a hospital pass. Italso looks in detail at the complex and difficult relationship between Richardand his overbearing father, Cromwell. What emerges is thefascinating, untold story of a man who was both lead protagonist and survivorof an age of unparallel turbulence.