This work investigates the economic and political mechanisms of the Cromwellian land settlement in Ireland, specifically focusing on the role of the 'Adventurers' who financed the military campaign. Karl S. Bottigheimer utilizes extensive archival records and financial ledgers to reconstruct the complex relationship between English capital investment and the subsequent redistribution of Irish land. The author argues that the settlement was not merely a military conquest but a calculated financial enterprise that fundamentally altered the socio-economic landscape of 17th-century Ireland.

Historians recognize this text as a definitive study on the financial underpinnings of the Cromwellian settlement. Scholars frequently cite the book for its meticulous use of primary source data to explain the transition of land ownership during this period.