Oliver Cromwell

“He’ll be no righter for a broken head,” Oliver Cromwell’s mother warns, as the household waits for the men who may help send him straight into trouble. But the common is at stake—and no one in the family can persuade him to let it go.

In Ely, on an early summer evening in 1639, Cromwell’s family gathers as John Hampden and Henry Ireton arrive, bringing the country’s unrest to the doorstep. The Earl of Bedford means to claim common land where local people have long fished and grazed cattle; tomorrow, Cromwell intends to resist. Around the sewing table, argument meets affection and sharp humor, while the dispute over one stretch of ground opens onto a larger question: should the King’s judges serve the Crown, or the law? Cromwell’s mother has seen too many broken heads. Can courage preserve the people’s rights without costing more than anyone can bear?

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