Riley, Jonathon The Colonial Ironsides. English Expeditions under the Commonwealth and Protectorate, 1650-1660

The "Colonial Ironsides" is a comprehensive survey of the role played by Oliver Cromwells expeditionary forces in subduing Royalist outposts abroad after the conclusion of the Civil Wars in the Three Kingdoms, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, the Scillies, the West Indies and North America. Beyond that, the book details the launch of the Western Design against Spain in the Caribbean and during its course, the failure of the expedition against San Domingo and the conquest of Jamaica. In Europe, the book studies the role of Cromwells expeditionary brigade, and Charles IIs army in exile, in the struggle between France and Spain in the Low Countries during the last years of the Protectorate: the Battle of the Dunes, the sieges of Dunkirk, Ypres, Oudenaarde and other towns leading to the acquisition of Dunkirk and Mardyke as a British colony on the Continent, the first since the loss of Calais under Mary Tudor.
The book is, in some ways, a prequel to the authors earlier book published by Helion, "The Last Ironsides. The English Expedition to Portugal 16621668". As such it shows how the troops that later went to Portugal and Tangier after Charles IIs restoration in 1660 came to be at Dunkirk. Overall, the book rediscovers a series of episodes in British military history that have been forgotten, not detailed fully since Victorian times. No other modern books describe the full extent of this period of conflict, although there are books which detail several of the campaigns. This decade of early expeditionary warfare marked a change in English foreign policy from raiding the colonies of others, chiefly Spain, to becoming an imperial power.

In addition, the book describes the beginning of the "Western Design" against Spain in the Caribbean and its course, the failure of the expedition against San Domingo and the conquest of Jamaica. In Europe, the book examines the role of Cromwell's Expeditionary Brigade and Charles II's Army in Exile in the struggle between France and Spain in the Netherlands during the final years of the Protectorate: the Battle of the Dunes, the sieges of Dunkirk, Ypres, Oudenaarde and other towns leading to the acquisition of Dunkirk and Mardyke as British colonies on the Continent, the first since the loss of Calais under Mary Tudor.
As such, the book shows how the troops that later went to Portugal and Tangier after the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 came to Dunkirk. Overall, the book rediscovers a number of episodes in British military history that have been forgotten since the Victorian era and are no longer described in detail. No other modern book describes the full extent of this period of conflict, although there are books detailing some of the campaigns. This decade of early expeditionary warfare marked a shift in English foreign policy from raids on foreign colonies, particularly against Spain, to a quest for imperial power.