Richard English's brilliant new book, now available in paperback, is a compelling narrative history of Irish nationalism, in which events are not merely recounted but analysed. Full of rich detail, drawn from years of original research and also from the extensive specialist literature on the subject, it offers explanations of why Irish nationalists have believed and acted as they have, why their ideas and strategies have changed over time, and what effect Irish nationalism has had in shaping modern Ireland. It takes us from the Ulster Plantation to Home Rule, from the Famine of 1847 to the Hunger Strikes of the 1970s, from Parnell to Pearse, from Wolfe Tone to Gerry Adams, from the bitter struggle of the Civil War to the uneasy peace of the early twenty-first century. Is it imaginable that Ireland might – as some have suggested – be about to enter a post-nationalist period? Or will Irish nationalism remain a defining force on the island in future years? 'a courageous and successful attempt to synthesise the entire story between two covers for the neophyte and for the exhausted specialist alike' Tom Garvin, Irish Times

Boyce examines the relationship between ideas and political and social reality. A new final chapter considers the development of nationalism in both parts of Ireland, and places the phenomenon of nationalism in a contemporary and European setting

Focusing on the era in which the modern idea of nationalism emerged as a way of establishing the preferred political, cultural, and social order for society, this book demonstrates that across different European societies the most important constituent of nationalism has been a specific understanding of the nation's historical past. Analysing Ireland and Germany, two largely unconnected societies in which the past was peculiarly contemporary in politics and where the meaning of the nation was highly contested, this volume examines how narratives of origins, religion, territory and race produced by historians who were central figures in the cultural and intellectual histories of both countries interacted; it also explores the similarities and differences between the interactions in these societies. Histories of Nationalism in Ireland and Germany investigates whether we can speak of a particular common form of nationalism in Europe. The book draws attention to cultural and intellectual links between the Irish and the Germans during this period, and what this meant for how people in either society understood their national identity in a pivotal time for the development of the historical discipline in Europe. Contributing to a growing body of research on the 'transnationality' of nationalism, this new study of a hitherto-unexplored area will be of interest to historians of modern Germany and Ireland, comparative and transnational historians, and students and scholars of nationalism, as well as those interested in the relationship between biography and writing history.

Studies of Irish nationalism have been primarily historical in scope and overwhelmingly male in content. Too often, the ‘shadow of the gunman’ has dominated. Little recognition has been given to the part women have played, yet over the centuries they have undertaken a variety of roles – as combatants, prisoners, writers and politicians. In this exciting new book the full range of women’s contribution to the Irish nationalist movement is explored by writers whose interests range from the historical and sociological to the literary and cultural. From the little known contribution of women to the earliest nationalist uprisings of the 1600s and 1700s, to their active participation in the republican campaigns of the twentieth century, different chapters consider the changing contexts of female militancy and the challenge this has posed to masculine images and structures. Using a wide range of sources, including textual analysis, archives and documents, newspapers and autobiographies, interviews and action research, individual writers examine sensitive and highly complex debates around women’s role in situations of conflict. At the cutting edge of contemporary scholarship, this is a major contribution to wider feminist debates about the gendering of nationalism, raising questions about the extent to which women’s rights, demands and concerns can ever be fully accommodated within nationalist movements.

London-born and reared, Art O'Brien's journey from wealthy electrical engineer to leader of Irish militant nationalism in London was, by any measure, quite extraordinary. This book uses the life of O'Brien (1872-1949) as a central axis on which to construct an analysis of Irish nationalism in London from 1900 to 1925. O'Brien was a member of the Gaelic League, Sinn Féin, the Irish Volunteers, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and the Irish Self-Determination League of Great Britain. He also established a prisoner relief organization and had significant involvement in gun-running for the 1916 rising and the War of Independence. Appointed London envoy of Dáil Éireann in 1919, he was a close confidant of Michael Collins, Arthur Griffith, and Éamon de Valera, and was a mediator in various peace initiatives between the British and Sinn Féin during 1920 and 1921. Yet, despite his extensive contribution to the Irish revolution, little is known of O'Brien's activities. Based on rigorous research in British and Irish archives, this book recounts the vital contribution O'Brien made to the prosecution of the Irish revolution. It also recounts the hitherto little-known story of Irish cultural, political, and militant nationalism in London between 1900 and 1925.

Presents a narrative history of Irish nationalism. Drawn from original research and from specialist literature on the subject, this book offers explanations of why Irish nationalists have believed and acted as they have, why their ideas and strategies have changed over time, and what effect Irish nationalism has had in shaping modern Ireland.

In this insightful work, David Brundage tells a dramatic story of more 200 years of American activism in the cause of Ireland, from the 1798 Irish rebellion to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.