…but only because the incomparable Captain Ed has weighed in with this e-mail:

Rich,
This debate about Oliver Cromwell is one of the reasons I love The Corner: the intellectual review of commonly accepted understandings and their exposure to truth.
I would add this to the debate: Read Churchill’s History of the English-Speaking Peoples. He warns readers not to buy into the legend of Cromwell’s beneficence. He calls Cromwell a bloody tyrant and explains why, and Ireland is one of his criteria. I wish I had my copy handy for a quote, but someone will certainly reach for it soon.