Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #626585 in Books
• Published on: 2000-11-23
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Synopsis
This re-examination of the Cromwellian invasion of Ireland argues that the viewpoint of Cromwell as a genocidal maniac and religious fanatic lacks solid evidence. Placing his conquest within the rules of war at the time, it concludes he was the first successful military conqueror of Ireland.

From the Author
This book is ahead of its time
As author of this book, I feel that many historians in Ireland are not ready yet for 'an honourable' Cromwell - nor indeed are the people of Ireland. I thought that I would change the history books and public opinion about this much maligned historical figure by publishing the truth about Cromwell's Irish campaign. The reaction - among the under forties on the whole - was good, but among historians and the over forties it was bad. They can't seem to accept that an amateur could discover such a fundamental flaw in Irish history ie that neither Cromwell or his men ever engaged in the killing of any unarmed civilians throughout his entire nine month campaign. The facts are there for all to see. But God bless Ireland the past is still the present here and we MUST have our English hate figures - despite the truth. How sad is that?

Tom Reilly Author - Cromwell An Honourable Enemy

Customer Reviews

Publish and Be Damned!
The ambition is good: re-write the history of the greatest bogeyman in Ireland. Unfortunately Reilly merely fits the facts to suit his pre-determined argument. He also ignores other facts, and is simply unaware of others.
Reilly's argument is cobbled together from bits and bobs of later history books, with passages quoted selectively when they suit his argument, and ignored when they don't.
You wouldn't trust a doctor who had never used a stethescope. You wouldn't trust a builder who had never used a hammer. Why would anyone trust a writer who had never looked at any of the original sources that he purports to analyse?

Much Needed Antidote
When I studied this period as an undergraduate there was always something uncomfortable not just about what we studied and believed happened, but also the way the evidence was compiled and used in what appeared to be an uncritical way.

Tom Reilly has shown me why I felt so uncomfortable, - the evidence isn't good & much of it is politically motivated, Despite criticisms in the reviews posted here Reilly clearly knows more about Drogheda & Wexford than any other living writer, and his balancing & use of evidence is clearly explained.

He has clearly touched a nerve, as criticism of an author's literary style (which I found unconventional but enthusiastic) seems to me to be a fairly low point of attack.

The fact is that Cromwell in Ireland is an intensely political matter, even today, and whatever the truth there are many who aren't prepared to hear it. Read this book & believe.

A good revisionist history - and about time too
Nothing will silence an Englishman more suddenly than the vitriol that comes out of an Irishmans mouth after the mere mentioning of the name Oliver Cromwell. Having had first-hand experience of some startlingly personal and acerbic reactions over the years it has long been a personal aim of mine to discover if it was ever justified.

And, this is where I have found enormous value in a book written by an undaunted author such as Reilly is crucial to any quest for the truth. He has effectively had to go against the official history and the educational establishment in Ireland that essentially maintains the view that Cromwell was a murderous contemptible bastard. A man who willingly ordered the butchering of thousands of innocent men, women and children in the towns of Drogheda and Wexford in his campaign to subjugate the rebellious Irish.

What this book does not put in question is that the Royalist military garrisons were put to the sword as was Cromwells right and an accepted custom at the time. Cromwell was eliminating the last vestiges of Royalist power in Ireland, which threatened the Commonwealth. It is also not a dismissal of the consequences of Cromwells actions in Ireland, namely that of the freedom to practice the Catholic faith and the dispossessing of Catholic land. What the author does do however is effectively dismiss the claim that Cromwell actually went out and intentionally killed the civilian population of Ireland at both Drogheda and Wexford. He has essentially done what no other writer has done on the topic properly examined the veracity of the sources and shown that on the whole they are either unreliable due to not being eyewitness accounts, not contemporary, biased by religious hatred or just an attempt to blacken the name of a regicide with the return of the Monarchy. He also ahows that the numbers do not add up as to the claim that entire town populations were killed. Reilly actually shows that Cromwell took care to protect the Irish population throughout his campaign. Despite his intolerant antipathy towards the Catholic Church as well as an uncomfortable (to modern eyes) justification of the massacres as divine retribution for the 1641 Protestant massacres in Ireland he did not go out to teach Ireland a lesson.

This is not to say that Cromwell's invasion was not yet another subjugation of the Irish - to any patriot a foreigner who occupies his land and imposes his will, religion and colonisers upon you will always be a figure of hatred. And Reilly shows that Cromwell did not always have it his own way in Ireland and suffered one the worst military defeats of his career at Clonmel. I feel this book has effectively shown that the sinister reputation of Cromwell - that he was another English devil terrorising Ireland is plainly undeserved and not backed up evidence. How much of this will be swallowed by Irishmen who have long been brought up on these so-called evil deeds? On the basis of a scathing review of this book written by a Jason McElligott - not very much of it. Although, Reilly challenges the yet unchallenged it seems whereas McElligott has written a rival (and shorter) book entitled, Cromwell: Our Chief of Enemies - presumably a nationalist's spin on Antonio Fraser's biography of Cromwell - Our Chief of Men. Credit to Reilly though, he thanks him in his foreword for alerting him to providing proof of his findings and that surely is the chief strength of this book.

As someone of proud Irish parentage, but born and raised in England, I really hope that this book will make a step towards ridding Irish history of nationalistic and crude adherence to propaganda masquerading as History. And maybe one day down the pub I can have a discussion about Ireland and England that doesn't end up in such vitriol and stupefied silence.