Pax Britannica: A History of the British Empire

The Army brings back the Rump Parliament, but they quickly regret that decision. In Scotland, George Monck prepares to march. Alice Hunt, Republic, 2024. Martyn Bennet, Oliver Cromwell, 2006. Michael Braddick (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015. Barry Coward, The Cromwellian Protectorate, 2002. Jonathan Healey, The Blazing World, 2023. Paul Lay, Providence Lost: The Rise and Fall of the English Republic, 2020. Anna Keay, The Restless Republic, 2022. Ian Gentles, The New Model Army: Agent of Revolution, 2022. Carla Gardina Pestana, The English Conquest of Jamaica: Oliver Cromwell’s Bid for Empire, 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the death of Oliver Cromwell, his eldest son Richard becomes Lord Protector. Can he balance the competing demands of the army and the republicans? Alice Hunt, Republic, 2024. Martyn Bennet, Oliver Cromwell, 2006. Michael Braddick (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015. Barry Coward, The Cromwellian Protectorate, 2002. Jonathan Healey, The Blazing World, 2023. Paul Lay, Providence Lost: The Rise and Fall of the English Republic, 2020. Anna Keay, The Restless Republic, 2022. Ian Gentles, The New Model Army: Agent of Revolution, 2022. Carla Gardina Pestana, The English Conquest of Jamaica: Oliver Cromwell’s Bid for Empire, 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"I will not seek to set up that which Providence hath destroyed, and laid in the dust, and I would not build Jericho again." Oliver Cromwell refuses to become a king, and a new constitution takes effect. But Cromwell is not long for this world, and the question of succession had still not been settled. Alice Hunt, Republic, 2024. Martyn Bennet, Oliver Cromwell, 2006. Michael Braddick (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015. Barry Coward, The Cromwellian Protectorate, 2002. Jonathan Healey, The Blazing World, 2023. Paul Lay, Providence Lost: The Rise and Fall of the English Republic, 2020. Anna Keay, The Restless Republic, 2022. Ian Gentles, The New Model Army: Agent of Revolution, 2022. Carla Gardina Pestana, The English Conquest of Jamaica: Oliver Cromwell’s Bid for Empire, 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Check out the University of Aberdeen Online Courses: http://on.abdn.ac.uk/online-history-courses⁠ Oliver Cromwell is offered a crown... but will he take it? Alice Hunt, Republic, 2024. Martyn Bennet, Oliver Cromwell, 2006. Michael Braddick (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015. Barry Coward, The Cromwellian Protectorate, 2002. Jonathan Healey, The Blazing World, 2023. Paul Lay, Providence Lost: The Rise and Fall of the English Republic, 2020. Anna Keay, The Restless Republic, 2022. Ian Gentles, The New Model Army: Agent of Revolution, 2022. Carla Gardina Pestana, The English Conquest of Jamaica: Oliver Cromwell’s Bid for Empire, 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Check out the University of Aberdeen Online Courses: http://on.abdn.ac.uk/online-history-courses The Second Protectorate Parliament meets, and the Major-Generals purge a third of the MPs before it even begins. Royalists and Levellers conspire to assassinate Lord Protector Cromwell. Thoughts turn towards a new royal dynasty. Alice Hunt, Republic, 2024. Martyn Bennet, Oliver Cromwell, 2006. Michael Braddick (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015. Barry Coward, The Cromwellian Protectorate, 2002. Jonathan Healey, The Blazing World, 2023. Paul Lay, Providence Lost: The Rise and Fall of the English Republic, 2020. Anna Keay, The Restless Republic, 2022. Ian Gentles, The New Model Army: Agent of Revolution, 2022. Carla Gardina Pestana, The English Conquest of Jamaica: Oliver Cromwell’s Bid for Empire, 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After rebellion and disappointment, Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell fears he has lost God's favour. The only way to restore it is do his work on earth - the moral reformation of England and Wales. Alice Hunt, Republic, 2024. Martyn Bennet, Oliver Cromwell, 2006. Michael Braddick (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015. Barry Coward, The Cromwellian Protectorate, 2002. Jonathan Healey, The Blazing World, 2023. Paul Lay, Providence Lost: The Rise and Fall of the English Republic, 2020. Anna Keay, The Restless Republic, 2022. Ian Gentles, The New Model Army: Agent of Revolution, 2022. Carla Gardina Pestana, The English Conquest of Jamaica: Oliver Cromwell’s Bid for Empire, 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As recently as 1928, a vast swathe of Asia – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Bhutan, Yemen, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait – were bound together under a single imperial banner, an entity known officially as the ‘Indian Empire’, or more simply as the Raj. Sam Dalrymple was kind enough to speak with me about his new book, Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia, and how this enormous entity was divided, before and after British rule came to an end. Order Shattered Lands here: https://lnkfi.re/9482xG?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oliver Cromwell's friend and Secretary of State John Thurloe was also one of the most effective spymasters in English history. Catching the Gerard Plot before they could assassinate the Lord Protector, and uprooting Penruddock's Uprising until it was just Penruddock left, he kept the Protectorate safe from threats. But he could not shield Cromwell from the terrible news of the Western Design. Alice Hunt, Republic, 2024. Martyn Bennet, Oliver Cromwell, 2006. Michael Braddick (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015. Barry Coward, The Cromwellian Protectorate, 2002. Jonathan Healey, The Blazing World, 2023. Paul Lay, Providence Lost: The Rise and Fall of the English Republic, 2020. Anna Keay, The Restless Republic, 2022. Ian Gentles, The New Model Army: Agent of Revolution, 2022. Carla Gardina Pestana, The English Conquest of Jamaica: Oliver Cromwell’s Bid for Empire, 2017. Timothy Noel Peacock, 'Cromwell’s “spymaster”? John Thurloe and rethinking early modern intelligence', The Seventeenth Century, 35, 1. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The army of the Western Design invades Jamaica, and marches unopposed into the capital. But despite English claims of victory, the Jamaican population is not about to let itself be conquered. This episode could not have been written without the following works: Alice Hunt, Republic, 2024. Martyn Bennet, Oliver Cromwell, 2006. Michael Braddick (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015. Barry Coward, The Cromwellian Protectorate, 2002. Jonathan Healey, The Blazing World, 2023. Paul Lay, Providence Lost: The Rise and Fall of the English Republic, 2020. Anna Keay, The Restless Republic, 2022. John Morrill, The Letters, Writings, and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell, Volume 3: 16 December 1653 to 2 September 1658, 2023 John Kenyon and Jane Ohlmeyer, The Civil Wars: A Military History of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1638-1660. Alan MacInnes, The British Revolution, 1629-1660, 2004. Ian Gentles, The New Model Army: Agent of Revolution, 2022. Carla Gardina Pestana, 'Atlantic Mobilities and the Defiance of the Early Quakers', Journal of Early Modern History, 2023. Carla Gardina Pestana, The English Atlantic in the Age of Revolution, 2007. Carla Gardina Pestana, The English Conquest of Jamaica: Oliver Cromwell’s Bid for Empire, 2017. Hilary Beckles, A History of Barbados: From Amerindian Settlement to Caribbean Single Market, 2006 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The fleet of the Western Design arrives off the coast of Hispaniola, and Oliver Cromwell's dream of a Protestant colonial empire seems assured. But it doesn't take long for everything to go wrong...This episode could not have been written without the following works: Alice Hunt, Republic, 2024. Martyn Bennet, Oliver Cromwell, 2006. Michael Braddick (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015. Barry Coward, The Cromwellian Protectorate, 2002. Jonathan Healey, The Blazing World, 2023. Paul Lay, Providence Lost: The Rise and Fall of the English Republic, 2020. Anna Keay, The Restless Republic, 2022. John Morrill, The Letters, Writings, and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell, Volume 3: 16 December 1653 to 2 September 1658, 2023 John Kenyon and Jane Ohlmeyer, The Civil Wars: A Military History of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1638-1660. Alan MacInnes, The British Revolution, 1629-1660, 2004. Ian Gentles, The New Model Army: Agent of Revolution, 2022. Carla Gardina Pestana, 'Atlantic Mobilities and the Defiance of the Early Quakers', Journal of Early Modern History, 2023. Carla Gardina Pestana, The English Atlantic in the Age of Revolution, 2007. Carla Gardina Pestana, The English Conquest of Jamaica: Oliver Cromwell’s Bid for Empire, 2017. Hilary Beckles, A History of Barbados: From Amerindian Settlement to Caribbean Single Market, 2006 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices