The Death of Oliver Cromwell

Named a Choice Outstanding Academic Book for 2000.

With his sharp, fast-moving prose, McMains often is entertaining and provocative.... [and] may well lend a veneer of respectability to these conspiracy theories. He demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of the period, and he marshals a formidable array of details to support his assertions.

~Booklist

McMains builds a powerful if circumstantial case for death by poisoning.... A fascinating historical whodunit that is exceedingly well told.

~Choice

McMains puts forth here an audacious theory—and argues for it strongly with evidence drawn from an impressive array of seventeenth-century sources.... A fascinating study.

~Dale B.J. Randall

Engagingly explores questions that have never been conclusively answered.... For anyone interested in Cromwell or the Restoration, this book is a must-read.

~Historically Speaking

An absorbing book, engagingly written.... There is plenty in the book to command the attention of the professional historian, as well as the general reader.

~H-Net Reviews

Before this book one could say that Cromwell may have been poisoned or died of other causes. Now one can say, based on the evidence here, that Cromwell was likely poisoned and who the poisoner and his accomplices likely were.

~Martin J. Havran

Takes the readers through the variety of illnesses afflicting seventeenth century persons, the toxicology of various potions and a careful examination of manuscript sources, each of which points to the probability that Cromwell died of poisoning.... Fascinating and informative.

~Seventeenth-Century News