The problems of modern Ireland have attracted the attention of many British political leaders from Gladstone to Major. Attempts to formulate a 'solution' have been governed by the British perception of what the problem is, and by the structures, as well as the ideas of British party politics and British political life: Ireland was never a laboratory in which dispassionate political experiments could be conducted. Modern Ireland has been shaped by British policy, and this has itself been influenced by British political habits and traditions, social and economic reforms, and new governmental institutions have been applied by politicians both of the left and the right. The 'Framework Documents' represent the latest attempt to achieve what Gladstone, David Lloyd George and Neville Chamberlain sought, and failed to achieve: a lasting settlement of the political divisions within Ireland, and between Ireland the Great Britain. This book places the Irish question in the wider context of the history of the British Isles, and thus seeks to explain its special place in British history as the 'Oldest Question', and as a question for contemporary Britain. Fully revised and with a new chapter to bring the analysis up to 1996, this new edition of Professor Boyce's work will be widely acclaimed.

Circumstances placed John Redmond and the Irish Parliamentary Party at the center of British politics in 1912. After more than a century of struggle, Irish nationalists looked likely to return a parliament to Dublin that would allow the Irish people, as one nation, to determine their own domestic affairs. Staunch Ulster Unionists stood in opposition, determined to reject Home Rule for their region. Alongside them were Unionist Party members who declared that such an action would destroy the British Empire, wreck the constitution, and possibly foment a civil war. Over the next decade, the Home Rulers saw their cause betrayed and their party destroyed. Asquith, Lloyd George, and Winston Churchill all served to undercut Redmond and his supporters in the interests of political expediency. Four years of war in Europe, followed by four years of conflict in Ireland, led to a more radical approach to the Irish question that allowed Sinn Fein and the Irish Republican Army to make the nationalist cause their own. By 1922, Eamon de Valera, Michael Collins, James Craig and their followers took possession of a divided Ireland embittered by the enmity of two Irish identities and the strains of factional strife.

Modern Ireland has been shaped by British policy, and this has itself been influenced by British political habits and traditions. Social and economic reforms, and new governmental institutions, have been applied by politicians both of the left and the right. The 'Framework Documents' represent the latest attempt to achieve what Gladstone, David Lloyd George and Neville Chamberlain sought, yet failed, to achieve: a lasting settlement of the political divisions within Ireland, and between Ireland and Great Britain. This book places the Irish question in the wider context of the history of the British Isles, and thus seeks to explain its special place in British history as the 'Oldest Question', and as a question for contemporary Britain. Fully revised and with a new chapter to bring the analysis up to 1996, this new edition of Professor Boyce's work will be widely welcomed.

Eighteenth-century Britons were frequently anxious about the threat of invasion, military weakness, possible financial collapse and potential revolution. Anthony Page argues that between 1744 and 1815, Britain fought a 'Seventy Years War' with France. This invaluable study: - Argues for a new periodization of eighteenth-century British history, and explains the politics and course of Anglo-French war - Explores Britain's 'fiscal-naval' state and its role in the expansion of empire and industrial revolution - Highlights links between war, Enlightenment and the evolution of modern British culture and politics Synthesizing recent research on political, military, economic, social and cultural history, Page demonstrates how Anglo-French war influenced the revolutionary era and helped to shape the first age of global imperialism.

Gregory Claeys explores the reception of the French Revolution in Britain through the medium of its leading interpreters. Claeys argues that the major figures - Thomas Paine, Edmund Burke, Mary Wollstonecraft, William Godwin and John Thelwall - collectively laid the foundations for political debate for the following century, and longer.

The conflict in Northern Ireland since 1969 has cost over 3,600 lives and about 100,000 people in Northern Ireland live in a household where someone has been injured in a troubles-related incident. This has been a key issue in British and Irish politics and the recent peace process in Northern Ireland and the current ‘War on Terrorism’ has stimulated international involvement and a desire to ‘learn the lessons’ of ‘the troubles’. Although Northern Ireland has a population of just 1.5 million people it is one of the most researched territories of the world. There is considerable controversy over the interpretation of the history of Northern Ireland, not least since 1969. This new addition to the Seminar Studies in History Series provides a comprehensive introduction to the difficult topic, reviewing different perspectives on the recent history of the conflict in Northern Ireland while at the same time providing an authoritative overview. Each book in the Seminar Studies in History series provides a concise and reliable introduction to complex events and debates. Written by acknowledged experts and supported by extracts from historical Documents, a Chronology, Glossary, Who’s Who of key figures and Guide to Further Reading, Seminar Studies in History are the essential guides to understanding a topic.

On a stormy night in 1286, a man fell off his horse and broke his neck, setting two kingdoms on a 300-year course of war. Edward I seized the opportunity to pursue English claims to overlordship of Scotland; William Wallace and Robert Bruce headed the 'patriotic' resistance. Their collision shaped the history, politics and nationhood of the two realms, and dragged in a third with the formation of the Franco-Scottish Auld Alliance. It also created a unique society on both sides of the Anglo-Scottish border. What prevented peace from breaking out? And how, at the dawn of the seventeenth century, could a Scottish king succeed, peacefully and unopposed, to the Auld Enemy's throne? Andy King and Claire Etty trace the fractious relationship between England and Scotland from the death of Alexander III to the accession of James VI as James I of England. Spanning medieval and early modern history, this book is the ideal starting point for students studying Anglo-Scottish relations up to the Union.

The Anglo-Irish war of 1919-1921 was an international historical landmark: the first successful revolution against British rule and the beginning of the end of the Empire. But the Irish revolutionaries did not win their struggle on the battlefield - their key victory was in mobilising public opinion in Britain and the rest of the world. Journalists and writers flocked to Ireland, where the increasingly brutal conflict was seen as the crucible for settling some of the key issues of the new world order emerging from the ruins of the First World War. On trial was the British Empire's claim to be the champion of civilisation as well as the principle of self-determination proclaimed by the American president Woodrow Wilson."The News from Ireland" vividly explores the work of British and American correspondents in Ireland as well as other foreign journalists and literary figures. It offers a penetrating and persuasive assessment of the Irish revolution's place in a key moment of world history as well as the role of the press and journalism in the conflict. This important book will be essential reading for anyone interested in Irish history and how our understanding of history generally is shaped by the media.

This marvellous new book sets the developments in the government of England under the early Tudors in the context of recent work on the fifteenth century and on continental Europe.

More than two decades after the Northern Ireland peace agreement, conflict still flares between deprived Protestant/Unionist/ Loyalist and Catholic/Nationalist/Republican working-class interface communities, who remain divided by numerous 'peace walls'. In light of Brexit, the Irish border issue and the power-sharing impasse progress in local peacebuilding has stalled. This might even jeopardise the overall peace process. Within this context, this book explores, largely empirically, the nature and causes of conflict at the interface. An attempt is also made to provide an outlook on peace in Northern Ireland and to highlight potential lessons for other conflict-ridden, divided societies.