The Irish revolution and its aftermath, 1916-1923

"This is the first full-length analysis of the Irish revolution in its totality, taking into account the wide 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 Drawing on previously unpublished sources, the author paints a broad picture of the people and the key events in the Irish struggle for independence." "The book breaks new ground in detailing the behind-the-scenes debate within the British Cabinet in dealing with the revolt in Ireland. British official frustration provoked by the acceptance of Dail Eireann and its mandate by the majority of the Irish people is also 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 the Civil War." "This is the first major work to review the Irish Revolution and its long-term reverberations to the end of the twentieth century, and its includes the official texts of all the agreements between Britain and Ireland since 1921"--Jacket.