By this time he had radically revised his earlier view of Cromwell as a prototype of modern dictators, and with the same courage and integrity that moved his friend Dame Veronica Wedgwood to replace her earlier study of the Earl of Strafford with a completley new and altogether better book on the man, he too produced a totally fresh appraisal. The result remains arguably the most recommendable medium- length biography of Cromwell since Sir Charles Firth's classic of 1900. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 (1966) also enjoyed great and deserved success. Ashley's other books of this period, including The Stuarts in Love (1963) and Life in Stuart England (1964), were slighter but highly readable.With his retirement, and with the help of a two-year research fellowship at Loughborough University, Ashley's rate of publication notably increased. Space forbids even a mention of all his books, and some indeed are reworkings, for a different readership or with a different emphasis, of topics that he had treated earlier.

But the tally includes expert life-and-times studies of Charles II, James II, Prince Rupert, General Monk (1977; one of his best books), and most unexpectedly King John and William I. Ashley's deep interest in character is displayed at its ripest in Charles I and Oliver Cromwell (1987), and there is no falling-off in his last book, The Battle of Naseby and the Fall of King Charles I (1992), though he was 85 when it appeared. Meanwhile, his work had been receiving the recognition that it deserved: the CBE in 1978, and in the following year a DLitt from his old university, which particularly pleased him.Maurice Ashley was generous with his time, despite his many commitments. He was a devoted President of the Cromwell Association from 1961 to 1977, and he readily accepted invitations to talk to undergraduate and other historical societies.