Ireland has rarely been out of the news during the past thirty years. Whether as a war-zone in which Catholic nationalists and Protestant Unionists struggled for supremacy, a case study in conflict resolution or an economy that for a time promised to make the Irish among the wealthiest people on the planet, the two Irelands have truly captured the world's imagination. Yet single-volume histories of Ireland are rare. Here, Thomas Bartlett, one of the country's leading historians, sets out a fascinating new history that ranges from prehistory to the present. Integrating politics, society and culture, he offers an authoritative historical road map that shows exactly how – and why – Ireland, north and south, arrived at where it is today. This is an indispensable guide to both the legacies of the past for Ireland's present and to the problems confronting north and south in the contemporary world.
- An acclaimed new history of Ireland from the Iron Age to the present by one of the country's leading historians
- Sets Irish history within the context of developments in Europe, the United States and the British Empire
- Extensively illustrated
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Reviews & endorsements
'Based on wide reading, clearly structured, elegantly expressed, spiced with a sardonic wit, steering a skilful course through the treacherous ideological rapids of Irish historiography, Bartlett's Ireland deserves to become a classic.' J. Joseph Lee, New York University and author of Ireland 1912–1985
'Vivid and nuanced, personal and scholarly, this audacious survey of the Irish past and present is magisterial in its range, but full of novelistic details, unexpected insights and wry observation. Professor Bartlett has the gift of explanation without simplification'. Declan Kiberd, author of Inventing Ireland: The Literature of the Modern Nation
'There are other single volume histories which cover the Iron Age through to the present but this accomplished and judicious book is by far the best, and will be read with interest and favour by both scholars and a wider audience. It will naturally take its place alongside the most distinguished survey-writing on Irish history.' Alvin Jackson, author of Home Rule: An Irish History, 1800–2000
'Thomas Bartlett's Ireland: A History is a hugely sobering and stimulating read and a great deal more than yet just another history of Ireland. For anyone genuinely interested in the make-up and ethos of … our country and in who we are, it is not to be missed.' Galway Advertiser
'Every decade in a country's history needs a new overview of its past. Tom Bartlett has presented us with a very fine one indeed … All historians live in hope that the framers of policies for the future might take some lessons from their work. Lord knows today they are in need of some new inspiration. Hopefully they will find it in this even-handed, often irreverent, frequently humorous and beautifully written new work by Tom Bartlett.' The Irish Times
'Ireland: A History is consistently readable, engaging and fresh. A bevy of survey Irish histories are currently available … this is superior to them all.' History Ireland
'Ireland: A History is compulsive reading … There is a vigorous freshness here, not so much the exploding of ancient clichés but the discovery of new implications to them.' The Australian
'When so much passion has entered into the making and writing of Irish history, a dispassionate narrative must be applauded. But beneath the smooth flow of Thomas Bartlett's writing there is a pulse of controlled anger. It is this attribute, rarely breaking the surface, which raises an exemplary text into a classic.' Tony Barnard, The Times Literary Supplement
'Bartlett's engrossing volume … is a tinder box for the reader's imagination. It will rank among the best monographs of Irish historians … This handsome hardback is an ideal read for the long holiday evenings at the end of the year …' Books Ireland
'… this one-volume history of Ireland is a well-written work of superb scholarship and is highly recommended to everyone who has an interest in Irish history.' The Irish Catholic
'… constantly interesting, constantly surprising …' The Sign
' … a very popular and readable study that combines balance with sympathy regarding a history that is fraught with controversies …' Contemporary Review
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Product details
- Date Published: June 2011
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9781107422346
- length: 641 pages
- dimensions: 247 x 175 x 28 mm
- weight: 1.25kg
- contains: 95 b/w illus. 11 maps
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
1. Early Ireland, AD 431–1169
2. From lordship to kingdom: Ireland, 1169–1541
3. The making of Protestant Ireland, 1541–1691
4. Ireland's long eighteenth century, 1691–1830
5. From Union to disunion: Ireland, 1830–1914
6. The making of the two Irelands, 1914–1945
7. Hubris and nemesis: the two Irelands, 1945–2010.
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Author
Thomas Bartlett, University of Aberdeen
Thomas Bartlett is Professor of Irish History at the School of Divinity, History and Philosophy, University of Aberdeen. His previous publications include The Fall and Rise of the Irish Nation: The Catholic Question, 1690–1830 (1992), A Military History of Ireland (1996, with Keith Jeffery) and Revolutionary Dublin: The Letters of Francis Higgins to Dublin Castle, 1795–1801 (2004).