Robert Tombs is a cavalier and a Tory historian - an endangered species

This is from his article in the Telegraph yesterday.

'If we are to dabble in history, let us dabble properly. Charles had his faults but, as one of the leading historians of the period puts it, his parliamentary opponents were more bloodthirsty, far more bigoted, and vastly more paranoid in their vision of the world. The parliamentary side in the Civil War had at its core a sort of Christian Taliban, backed for their own reasons by a major element of the Establishment – the parliament side included much of the old aristocracy. Such a mixture of ideological extremism and Establishment self-interest may for some readers evoke our present toils: I could not possible comment.
'Charles I always had more popular support, which is why he had to be executed. We then enjoyed a parliamentary government whose aspirations included torturing witches, closing the theatres, hanging unmarried mothers, removing Catholic children from their parents, and abolishing Christmas because of its “carnal and sensual delights”. Not surprisingly, the restoration of the monarchy was met with popular rejoicing.'