Oliver Cromwell and his Warts

'Oliver Cromwell lays buried and dead, Hee haw buried and dead', according to a traditional Suffolk nursery rhyme, but a wealth of information on this infamous character both alive and dead is to be found in this new paperback. Myths continue to abound about Cromwell, including the whereabouts of his embalmed head, supposedly buried in the grounds of his old Cambridge college. However the salient biographical facts about his life, from a relatively obscure upbringing in Huntingdon to his installation as Lord Protector following the collapse of the Barebones Parliament, are all included. Whether you can winkle out such details from the relentless 'dead funny' tone depends on your appetite for the 'Horrible History' approach. The original 1066 and All That remains my preference for its memorable wit and underlying assumption that you already possess the basic facts, albeit buried in some cobwebby corner of your memory. The premise for the current series is that history is 'dead boring' unless enlivened with a joke or three a page and a generous helping of gore. One only hopes that the reader can distinguish 'Ollie's secret diary' from the real facts about the Civil War. An extent of 176pp may be more than the average 12+ pupil will need as resource material for project work unless they are truly smitten by the 'Horrible History' bug.