This is a breathtakingly boring account of what ought to be one of the most fascinating figures in the whole of British history. Unfortunately, Ms. Fraser does her level best to choke the life out of Oliver Cromwell's life story, failing to animate a man who might have done as much to change the eventual trajectory of his country as Alfred I, the first king of England. Clocking in at 1,040 pages, this stuffy chronicle could have had 700 pages easily cut without shirking any worthwhile details.
There is room within historical literature for works that are scholarly and popular. I understand that the former tend to run long in an effort to exhaustively research the subject in hopes of authoring a conclusive work, while the latter favor a more narrative portrayal which inevitably falls short on a few details. I understand the former must be authoritative works of our history, works that take no license with the truth whatsoever, but do they have to be so bloody dry?! Works like this from Ms. Fraser will inevitably give rise to popular, entertaining histories out of sheer frustration with the boredom. Surely some things can be cut so that those of us genuinely interested in the past don't come away yawning from the sheer pointlessness of it all.
Maybe I am spoiled by narrative history. Nonetheless, there must be a better way. Oliver Cromwell defied a king, executed him, and then created a constitutional republic in a 17th century Europe dominated by monarchies. He birthed this republic 120 years before American colonists would do the same. And Ms. Fraser's exactitude has reduced that achievement to mere words on the page. I would've been better served reading Oliver Cromwell's Wikipedia entry than this exercise in Chinese Water Torture. (1/5 Stars)
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