English civil war

How weird was Oliver Cromwell?

24 August 2024 9:00 am

The pious people’s champion was not only a sadist and ruthless self-promoter; he could also indulge in infantile horseplay during the pressurised period leading up to the regicide

With Elizabeth Stuart as monarch, might the English civil war have been avoided?

27 November 2021 9:00 am

Many girls dream about their favourite princesses. Elizabeth Stuart, a princess herself, took this fantasy a step further and modelled…

Oliver Cromwell: ruthless in battle – but nice to his men

14 August 2021 9:00 am

One of the first retrospective accounts of Oliver Cromwell’s early career, Andrew Marvell’s ‘An Horatian Ode upon Cromwell’s Return from…

Why Caryl Churchill is massively overrated - and how the National Theatre befriends terror

2 May 2015 9:00 am

Enter Rufus Norris. The new National Theatre boss is perfectly on-message with this debut effort by Caryl Churchill. Her 1976…