If you'd like to discover more about the commoner who became the head of the Commonwealth, our experts have suggested some books, weblinks - and, if you really want to pursue your interest, an OU course which explores the man and his legacy in greater detail.

Books
Speeches of Oliver Cromwell
edited by Ivan Roots, published by Dent

Cromwell
Barry Coward, published by Longman

Oliver Cromwell
J. Colin Davis, published by Hodder Arnold

Cromwell, Our Chief of Men
Antonia Fraser, published by Phoenix

Oliver Cromwell
Peter Gaunt, published by Blackwell

God's Englishman: Oliver Cromwell and the English revolution
Christopher Hill, published by Penguin

The British Republic, 1649-60
Ronald Hutton, published by Palgrave Macmillan

Oliver Cromwell: an Illustrated History
Helen Litton, published by Merlin

'Cromwell, Oliver (1599-1658)'
John Morrill
from Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, published by Oxford University Press

Commonwealth to Protectorate
Austin Woolrych, published by Clarendon

Weblinks
BBC History - a biography by John Morrill

The Cromwell Association - includes a wealth of information, perspectives and links

A Century of Troubles - first shown on Channel 4, October-November, 2001; the War episode includes 'Cromwell: New Model Englishman'

British Civil Wars, Commonwealth and Protectorate, 1638-60 - a series of articles by David Plant

Open University Courses
Exploring History: Medieval to Modern, 1400-1700 - This wide-ranging introduction to historical study, aiming to teach the techniques of professional historians as well as present varied case-studies linked by three common themes – state formation, beliefs and ideologies, and producers and consumers. One case study (comprising four units) focuses on the Civil Wars of the British Isles, c.1620–1690.