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1Oliver Cromwell and the Rule of the Puritans in England

By Charles H. Firth

The Life of Cromwell is in part based on an article contributed by the author to the Dictionary of National Biography in 1888, but embodies the result of later researches, and of recently discovered documents such as the Clarke Papers. The battle plans have been specially drawn for this volume by Mr. B. V. Darbishire, and in two cases differ considerably from those generally accepted as correct. The scheme of this series does not permit a discussion of the reasons why these alterations have been made, but the evidence concerning the battles in question has been carefully examined, and any divergence from received accounts is intentional. The reader who wishes to see this subject discussed at length is referred to a study of the battle of Marston Moor printed in Volume XII. of the Transactions of the Royal Historical Society (new series), and to a similar paper on Dunbar which will appear in Volume XIV. The quotations from Cromwell’s letters or speeches are, where necessary, freely abridged. - Summary by C.H. Firth

There is, so far as I have been able to ascertain, no biography of Augustus Caesar - a most curious fact when one considers the extraordinary success of his career and the enormous importance of the work which he accomplished. Perhaps the reason of this apparent neglect may be found in the circumstance that his character is one of the most puzzling of antiquity. In this volume I have attempted to give a clear account of what Augustus achieved in the establishment of the Roman Empire, and at the same time to reveal the man, in so far as he reveals himself by his actions. - Summary Adapted from the Preface

In the following chapters, my object had been to tell the story of the Life and Times of Constantine the Great. Whether he deserves the epithet my readers will judge for themselves; certainly his place in the select list of the immortals is not among the highest. I have tried to write with impartiality - a virtue which one admires the more after a close reading of original authorities who, practically without exception, were bitter and malevolent partisans. - Summary Adapted from the Preface