Cromwell
Building a new world on the ruins of the old
After all this drama, what kind of England ultimately emerged?
Raw and immersive tale of the Civil War
The siege of Basing House encompasses all of England in microcosm
Pulsating panorama of a complex decade
A new history of the Interregnum rescues this forgotten period of history from oblivion
The Critic Books Podcast: The Restless Republic
What happened in the decade Britain was without a monarch?
A puritan but not a fanatic
Simon Heffer reviews Providence Lost: The Rise and Fall of Cromwell’s Protectorate by Paul Lay
There is a lushness to this expanded Letters
There is frequent reporting of local news, often betraying a hobbit-like
preoccupation with the availability of beer
A Phoenix rises
Professor Jo Phoenix’s legal triumph is also a triumph for free speech
Women MPs should be representing women’s interests
It was ludicrous to talk about microaggressions in the aftermath of an alkaline attack
Torygeddon
The Conservatives face an extinction level election, but there’s still time for some prehistoric bloodletting
Encouraging evil for the common good
Mansfield does not condemn him: rather refreshingly he exhilarates in Machiavelli’s genius
Explaining the “gender pay gap”
It does not exist — or, at least, not as you might have thought
Vibe supremacy
The right has a coolness problem, and Ben Shapiro rapping is not going to help
Kilkenny’s golden age
A fascinating exploration of Irish history could have been better and more comprehensively illustrated
Those WhatsApp groups in full
Thirteen reasons to ban politicians from smartphones
Were lockdowns ethical?
Questionable benefits were emphasised above obvious and dramatic harms
Stopping the devolution ratchet
More devolution will not solve the worst consequences of devolution
