A brilliant history of Ireland in the 20th century -- authoritative, highly readable and controversial -- from Ireland’s premier historian.

“This will be a history of Ireland in the 20th century. It will begin with the scene-setting previous years, how the 19th century and the politics of the past culminated to create the 1916 Rebellion, and from that, the Sinn Fein movement, the IRA, the Anglo-Irish War, the Civil War, and beyond those events, the sort of ‘noises off’ war which accompanied the partitioning of the country during this period and set up the Six County State we know today as ‘Ulster.’

“I then intend to give not merely a linear history of events North and South in the two States, but also to examine the culture of the two States, the Orange Order for example, the power of the Roman Catholic Church, North and South.
“This will mean examining the workings of censorship, the attitudes of the people, and the churches which form them, the educational system, and the ‘feel’ of the country as much as the facts.

“For of course, above all, this book must be accessible to a general reader, while at the same time being of a standard which will make it of value to a professor or a history teacher, as is for example, my Michael Collins book, or my book on the IRA.”

-- Tim Pat Coogan


From the Hardcover edition.