'There are in print approximately two dozen general histories of Ireland in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. this is the best...' History [US]
Map. Introduction. PART ONE UNDER STRAIN: FROM UNION TO FAMINE. 1. Politics: O'Conell Innovation and Ambiguity. 2. Society: Agrarian Crisis and Population Collapse. 3. Religion: The Birthpangs of Modernity. PART TWO WINNERS AND LOSERS: FROM FAMINE TO PARTITION. 4. Society: Agricola Victor. 5. Politics: Nationalism and Localism. 6. Religion: Triumphs and Stockades. PART THREE PROMISED LANDS: IRELAND SINCE 1921. 7. Politics: An Island Now Formally Divided. 8. Society: Stagnation, Boom, Slump, Boom. 9. Religion: Piety and its Spoils. Bibliography. Index.