The second volume of essays on Irish military history, is a facsimile version of the original articles from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The articles were first published in the Irish Sword, the journal of the Military History Society of Ireland. The Society was founded in 1949 with the aim of promoting the study of Irish military history, defined as the history of warfare in Ireland and of Irishmen in war. Each contribution to the second volume has been chosen because it is regarded as authoritative. The authors include scholars, professional soldiers, diplomats and a distinguished international journalist. The study of Irish units in the British army is represented by J A MacCauley's account of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. The first world war is the context of Terence Denman's analysis of the conflicts, military and political, that underlay the formation of the 10th (Irish) Division, Patrick MacCarthy examines the post-war history of the five Irish regiments that were selected for disbandment in 1922 in the wake of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. There are articles devoted to Ireland and the American civil war and General P J Hally gives an account of the military aspects of the 1916 Easter rising in Dublin. The civil war of 1922-3 is examined from a pro-treaty perspective by Michael Hopkinson and from the perspective of the treaty's opponents by Brian P Murphy. The divisions of the period resurface in Brian Hanley's study of the Volunteer Reserve of 1933 in relationship to the IRA. The organisation and capability of the army during the Second World War is considered by Donal O'Carroll, Eunan O'Halpin discusses aspects of military intelligence, Noel Dorr discusses the development of UN peacekeeping concepts over the last fifty years from an Irish perspective. Robert Fisk considers the role of the Irish in UNIFIL (United Nations interim force in Lebanon) between 1978 and 1995 and David Taylor relates his experience with UNIFIL as company commander in 1979-80 and as a battalion commander in 1992.

Begins a series for undergraduates and general readers without specialized knowledge that will focus on particular themes throughout different historical periods and conclude with a bibliographical essay. The 16 essays are grouped according to major historiographical debates into sections on nation

Rescuing the Crimean War from the shadows, Lara Kriegel demonstrates the centrality of a Victorian war to the making of modern Britain.

[Illustrated with over two hundred and sixty maps, photos and portraits, of the battles, individuals and places involved in the Crimean War] Lady Alicia Blackwood née Lambart, (1818 - 30 July 1913) was an English painter and nurse, married to the Rev. James Stevenson Blackwood. As she recounts in A Narrative of Personal Experiences & Impressions during a Residence on the Bosphorus throughout the Crimean War (1881), Lady Alicia Blackwood and her husband "were deeply moved to go out" after hearing of "the battle of Inkerman, that terribly hard-fought struggle". Dr. Blackwood obtained a chaplaincy to the forces; Lady Alicia and two young women friends accompanied him, determined to find some way to help. Lady Alicia applied to Florence Nightingale at Scutari in Dec. 1854. Nightingale's opinion of ladies who came out to assist the hospitals was generally low, but she took to Lady Balckwood and she was delegated by Nightingale to create and manage an unofficial hospital for the wives, widows and children of soldiers in Scutari. In a letter of March 18, 1855, Nightingale disparagingly refers to the women and children as Allobroges, the shrieking camp followers of the ancient Gauls. In her account, Lady Alicia describes the horrific conditions under which she found them, "as much sinned against as sinning", and discusses the changes she was able to make for their relief as part of her work. Blackwood's respect for Nightingale and her work are evident throughout her account, which is both vivid and enjoyable to read.