The Embalmed Head of Oliver Cromwell: A Memoir: The Complete History of the Head of the Ruler of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland ... With Collected Tales and Gathered Illustrati - Softcover

Hartzman, Marc

Softcover

ISBN 10: 098623933X ISBN 13: 9780986239335

Publisher: Curious Publications, 2016

Synopsis

Oliver Cromwell led the charge in the beheading of England's King Charles I in 1649. But little did he know that his own head would soon roll. And roll and roll-for the next three hundred years across the Commonwealth. The execution of Charles I ended the monarchy, and Cromwell became the Lord Protector of England until his own death from natural causes in 1658. His body was embalmed and buried in Westminster Abbey, only to be exhumed by King Charles II three years later. The new king had restored the monarchy and wished to avenge his father's death by hanging Cromwell and beheading him posthumously. Now, for the first time, the memoirs of Oliver Cromwell's embalmed head have surfaced, making it the first account of any world leader-or any human being for that matter-chronicling the afterlife. This remarkable memoir recounts its journey through the centuries, beginning with Cromwell's decapitation and the head's impalement on a post at Westminster Hall, where it stayed for more than twenty years before being freed by a heavy storm. Over the centuries, the head enjoyed a series of unexpected adventures, encountering a host of bizarre and well-known characters-from its many owners, curious anatomists and misled but obsessed phrenologists to other preserved decapitated heads and impostor Cromwell heads. These escapades came to an end only after the head was donated to Cromwell's alma mater, Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge, where it was eventually buried for good in 1960.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Darkness followed my decapitation as I was transported in a sack to my next destination: a spiked post atop Westminster Hall. There, I was skewered with an iron point upon an oak stake, which a royal henchman gleefully thrust upward into the space once occupied by my neck, straight through the top of my embalmed head, penetrating the skull. Fortunately, the sensation of pain had perished with life, but the indignity stung mightily. With my head elevated high above the crowds milling about on the streets, it was as if I were ascending toward Heaven, yet forever tethered to the depths of Hell.

About the Author

Marc Hartzman has long held a fascination with the bizarre tales and characters that occupy history. Many of them fill the pages of his books, specifically The Embalmed Head of Oliver Cromwell: A Memoir (Curious Publications), American Sideshow: An Encyclopedia of History's Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers (Tarcher/Penguin) and God Made Me Do It: True Stories of the Worst Advice the Lord Has Ever Given His Followers (Sourcebooks). He is also the author of Found on eBay: 101 Genuinely Bizarre Items From the World's Online Yard Sale (Universe/Rizzoli) and The Anti-Social Network Journal: A Private Place For All the Thoughts, Ideas and Plans You Don't Want To Share (Knock Knock). In addition, Hartzman has been a contributor to the Weird News sections of AOL and The Huffington Post. He maintains a career as an award-winning Executive Creative Director at a New York advertising agency. He currently lives in New Rochelle, New York, with his wife, Liz, daughters Lela and Scarlett, cats Barnum and Bailey, and Patrick the bearded dragon.

About this edition

• Publisher: Curious Publications
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 098623933X
• ISBN 13: 9780986239335
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 346