This is a study of the treaty of 1921 which ended the Anglo-Irish War and laid the foundations for today's independent Republic of Ireland. It also gave legal effect to the partition of Ireland and created the conditions which have led to today's problems in Northern Ireland. The book gives an insight into the minds and compulsions of those on the negotiating teams led on the Irish side by Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins and, on the British, by Lloyd George, Lord Birkenhead, Austen Chamberlain and Winston Churchill.