The title is from a poem praising Cromwell by John Milton, perhaps the most famous and accomplished poet of the English Commonwealth. Fraser's goal is to "rescue" Oliver Cromwell and rehabilitate his reputation as a statesman and leader, while not glossing over his obvious faults. (Published in the U.S.A. as Cromwell: The Lord Protector).
From Fraser's point of view, one of Cromwell's main flaws was his tendency to lose his temper in the heat of battle and this character flaw explains the Massacre at Drogheda (1649) and much of his conduct fighting the Irish during the English Civil War. His other main character fault was to see events as the result of "providence" which led him into self-justification of his sometimes harsh decisions. The decision to kill Charles I happened (according to Cromwell) because it was willed by God. Cromwell saw himself as the instrument of his creator and often delayed making decisions because he was looking for "signs from God" to confirm his decisions.
Cromwell's character strengths were his decisiveness as a political leader and effectiveness as a war leader. Also Fraser greatly admires Cromwell's ability to rise from modest origins to the pinnacle of political power in England. He understood people and how to gain their loyalty and respect. Fraser counts him as one of greatest leaders history has produced.
Fraser succeeded in "humanising" Cromwell and the book received much critical acclaim when it was published. It succeeded in exploding the myth of Cromwell as a scheming power hungry hypocrite and presented the man as a complex person, a man who changed the course of history but also as a man of his age, not a tyrant, but a person who struggled with his conscience and truly lived according to his beliefs.
Sourcesedit
Fraser, Antonia Cromwell, Our Chief of Men
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cromwell, chief, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this, article, possibly, contains, original, research, please, improve, verifying, claims, made, adding. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article possibly contains original research Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations Statements consisting only of original research should be removed March 2021 Learn how and when to remove this message This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Cromwell Our Chief of Men news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2021 Learn how and when to remove this message Learn how and when to remove this message Cromwell Our Chief of Men by Antonia Fraser is a biography of Oliver Cromwell Cromwell Our Chief of MenAuthorAntonia FraserCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglishSubjectOliver CromwellGenreUnited KingdomPublication date2004 The title is from a poem praising Cromwell by John Milton perhaps the most famous and accomplished poet of the English Commonwealth Fraser s goal is to rescue Oliver Cromwell and rehabilitate his reputation as a statesman and leader while not glossing over his obvious faults Published in the U S A as Cromwell The Lord Protector From Fraser s point of view one of Cromwell s main flaws was his tendency to lose his temper in the heat of battle and this character flaw explains the Massacre at Drogheda 1649 and much of his conduct fighting the Irish during the English Civil War His other main character fault was to see events as the result of providence which led him into self justification of his sometimes harsh decisions The decision to kill Charles I happened according to Cromwell because it was willed by God Cromwell saw himself as the instrument of his creator and often delayed making decisions because he was looking for signs from God to confirm his decisions Cromwell s character strengths were his decisiveness as a political leader and effectiveness as a war leader Also Fraser greatly admires Cromwell s ability to rise from modest origins to the pinnacle of political power in England He understood people and how to gain their loyalty and respect Fraser counts him as one of greatest leaders history has produced Fraser succeeded in humanising Cromwell and the book received much critical acclaim when it was published It succeeded in exploding the myth of Cromwell as a scheming power hungry hypocrite and presented the man as a complex person a man who changed the course of history but also as a man of his age not a tyrant but a person who struggled with his conscience and truly lived according to his beliefs Sources editFraser Antonia Cromwell Our Chief of Men nbsp nbsp This article about a biographical or autobiographical book on a British politician is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cromwell Our Chief of Men amp oldid 1214551819, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
