This timely introduction presents a clear, balanced account of the rapid and complex events from 1880 leading up to the formation of the Irish Free State in 1922.

A gripping narrative of the most critical years in modern Ireland's history, from Charles Townshend The protracted, terrible fight for independence pitted the Irish against the British and the Irish against other Irish. It was both a physical battle of shocking violence against a regime increasingly seen as alien and unacceptable and an intellectual battle for a new sort of country. The damage done, the betrayals and grim compromises put the new nation into a state of trauma for at least a generation, but at a nearly unacceptable cost the struggle ended: a new republic was born. Charles Townshend's Easter 1916 opened up the astonishing events around the Rising for a new generation and in The Republic he deals, with the same unflinchingly wish to get to the truth behind the legend, with the most critical years in Ireland's history. There has been a great temptation to view these years through the prisms of martyrology and good-and-evil. The picture painted by Townshend is far more nuanced and sceptical - but also never loses sight of the ordinary forms of heroism performed by Irish men and women trapped in extraordinary times. Reviews: 'Electric ... [a] magisterial and essential book' Irish Times About the author: Charles Townshend is the author of the highly praised Easter 1916:The Irish Rebellion. His other books include The British Campaigns in Ireland, 1919-21 and When God Made Hell: The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Making of Iraq, 1914-21.

The Irish Revolution at the beginning of the twentieth century spawned the creation of the modern Irish state. This is the first full length analysis to offer a comprehensive framework of that revolution in its totality, taking into account the broad range of social, economic and political developments as well as the IRA's campaign of guerrilla warfare and the British response to it. Drawing on such previously unpublished sources as the Irish Department of Defense's Military History Bureau, the author paints a broad picture of the people and the key events in the Irish struggle for independence. The book also breaks new ground in presenting much of the behind the scenes debate within the British Government in the prosecution of its policies in response to the revolt in Ireland. British official frustration provoked by the acceptance of D���¡il Eireann by the majority of the Irish people and the independent institutions it sought to set in place is also explicitly chronicled. New light is shed on the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations as well as on the divisions within Irish nationalism before and indeed afterwards which culminated in the Irish Civil War. The role of external forces including public opinion in the United States and British competing obligations at home and abroad are also covered. Considerable attention is given to the development of democratic government in the fledgling Irish Free State in the midst of domestic upheaval, and to the broader effort at nation building which followed after the Civil War.

How the Irish Revolution was shaped by international actors and events The Irish War of Independence is often understood as the culmination of centuries of political unrest between Ireland and the English. However, the conflict also has a vitally important yet vastly understudied international dimension. The Irish Revolution: A Global History reassesses the conflict as an inherently transnational event, examining how circumstances and individuals abroad shaped the course Ireland’s struggle for independence. Bringing together leading international scholars of modern Ireland, its diaspora, and the British Empire, this volume discusses the Irish revolution in a truly global sense. The text situates the conflict in the wider context of the international flourishing of anti-colonial movements following World War I. Despite the differences between these movements, their proponents communicated extensively with each other, learning from and engaging with other revolutionaries in anti-imperial metropoles such as Paris, London, and New York. The contributors to this volume argue that Irish nationalists at home and abroad were intimately involved in this exchange, from mobilizing Ireland’s vast diaspora in support of Irish independence to engaging directly with radical causes elsewhere. The Irish Revolution is a vital work for all those interested in Irish history, providing a new understanding of Ireland’s place in the evolving postwar world.

This concise study of Ireland’s revolutionary years charts the demise of the home rule movement and the rise of militant nationalism that led eventually to the partition of Ireland and independence for southern Ireland. The book provides a clear chronology of events but also adopts a thematic approach to ensure that the role of women and labour are examined, in addition to the principal political and military developments during the period. Incorporating the most recent literature on the period, it provides a good introduction to some of the most controversial debates on the subject, including the extent of sectarianism, the nature of violence and the motivation of guerrilla fighters. The supplementary documents have been chosen carefully to provide a wide-ranging perspective of political views, including those of constitutional nationalists, republicans, unionists, the British government and the labour movement. The Irish Revolution 1916-1923 is ideal for students and interested readers at all levels, providing a diverse range of primary sources and the tools to unlock them.

The renowned Irish historian delivers “an excellent scholarly reevaluation” of the 1916 Easter Rebellion and the turbulent decade that followed (Library Journal). On Easter Monday of 1916, the Irish Republican Brotherhood launched an armed uprising against British rule that would continue for six days. But Easter Rising was only the beginning of an ongoing revolutionary struggle. In A Nation and Not a Rabble, Diarmaid Ferriter presents a fresh look at Ireland from 1913-1923, drawing from newly available historical sources as well as the testimonies of the people who lived and fought through this extraordinary period. Ferriter highlights the gulf between rhetoric and reality in politics and violence, the role of women, the battle for material survival, the impact of key Irish unionist and republican leaders, as well as conflicts over health, land, religion, law and order, and welfare.

The period from 1913 to 1923 in Ireland's history of rebellion, is undoubtedly the most significant. The period takes in the revival of interest in all things Irish around 1913, the heroic Easter Rising of 1916, the bloody War of Independence 1919-1921 and the bitter Civil War of 1922-1923. Here for the first time, are images of those two episodes, the people, the places, city and country, with insightful commentary describing the context of each photograph. This book gives the reader glimpses of what happened and what life was like during the Irish revolution through photographs of the time. Photographs played an increasingly important role as the Irish struggle for independence took hold, first as memorabilia after the Easter Rising, later as propaganda and were also of vital importance in 'the intelligence war' fought between the IRA and the British. Includes previously unpublished photos sourced from private collections, the Irish Military Archives, Kilmainham Gaol and British military museums.