This is a detailed, single volume analysis of Britain's changing position in the world during the twentieth century. It places British policy making in the appropriate domestic and international contexts, offers an alternative to the more negative, 'decline'-obsessed assessments of Britain's role and influence in global affairs. This book suggests that Britain's leaders did a better job than some historians think. Michael Turner, in order to understand why they took the options they did, investigates their motives and aims within the international environment within which they operated. >

Sinn Fein is one of the most controversial and uncompromising parties in Irish politics. Brian Feeney presents a comprehensive account of the role of Sinn Fein in Irish history since the inception of the movement in 1905 when Arthur Griffith first published The Sinn Fein Policy. Sinn Fein has survived an extraordinary history in politics and has seen some of the most famous names in Irish history pass through its ranks. This book examines the party in terms of the men who have led it and their progress through the electoral mechanism, the party's relationship with the IRA and the British and Irish governments, and, of course, its role in the current peace process. This is an important and timely book from an esteemed journalist, and an impartial analysis of Sinn Fein's involvement in Irish politics, north and south, over the last hundred years.

This is a study of the post war break-up of the British Empire, organized chronologically and written in narrative form. As the great imperial power before 1939, Britain played a leading role in the great post-war shift in the relationship between the West and the Third World, which we call "decolonization". From the abandonment of the raj in India to the eventual entry into the European Community, there were revolutionary changes in Britain's long tradition of aloofness from Europe and pursuit of world power. The author examines the reasons for the British giving up their Asian and African colonies after 1945 asking whether nationalism in colonial societies or indifference in Britain was the key factor in the dissolution of the British Empire. Was the decay of British power and influence an inevitable consequence of imperial decline? Did British policies in the last phase of empire reflect an acceptance of decline or the hope that it would be postponed indefinitely by timely concessions? He also questions the significance of the Suez crisis and the Falklands war. Geoffrey Warner also wrote " Britain, Egypt and the Middle East".

Flamboyant, cultured and refined, aristocracy is often seen as a national treasure. Lords of Misrule takes a different view and considers the role of an aristocracy behaving badly. This is a book about the political, social and moral failings of aristocracy and the ways in which they have featured in political rhetoric. Drawing on the views of critics of aristocracy, it explores the dark side of power without responsibility. Less 'patrician paragons' than dissolute and debauched debtors, the aristocrats featured here undermined, rather than augmented, the fabric of national life. For the first time, Lords of Misrule recaptures the views of those radicals and reformers who were prepared to contemplate a Britain without aristocrats.

An English eccentric and adventurer, Tom Harrisson (1911-1976) sought knowledge and renown in a dizzying number of fields, while breaking most of the rules of "civilized" society. This hugely enjoyable story of his extravagant, controversial life offers a sympathetic and insightful look at a charismatic figure who offended as many people as he impressed at the twilight of colonialism on the fringes of the British empire.

By age twenty-one, Harrisson had carried out pioneering ornithological research and explored the flora and fauna of Northern Borneo. While still in his twenties, he wrote a best-selling book based on his experiences living among cannibals in the South Pacific. The next decade found Harrisson applying the techniques of bird-watching to his fellow Britons in what became Mass-Observation, a precursor to modern market research. Later, he won the DSO for parachuting into Borneo behind enemy lines and organizing an army of blow-piping headhunters who eventually killed more than a thousand Japanese soldiers.

After the war Harrisson settled in Borneo, where, as curator of the Sarawak Museum, he transformed it into a model and inspiration for the region; he led efforts to save the orangutan, the green sea turtle, and other endangered species; he discovered the oldest modern human skull known at the time; he published widely in the scientific and popular press, and appeared frequently on the BBC and British television.

A man with tremendous breadth of interest and vision, Harrisson continually sought ways to connect knowledge across disciplines, alienating in the process more narrowly focused alien academics who resented his encroachments -- and his lack of a universitydegree. Yet a number of his ideas, particularly in anthropology and archaeology, seem modern today.

The Most Offending Soul Alive is the rousing and compelling story of a man who has been called one of the most remarkable men of his generation. It portrays an individual of irresistible energy, magnetism, and imagination, but also shows Harrisson to be an emotionally troubled man, who spent much of his life fighting to gain respect from the academic world, despite the fact that he despised many of its values. A hard-drinking, hard driving egotist, full of ambition, curiosity, and pent-up rage, he never had -- during his long career and afterwards -- the recognition he sought and deserved for his many achievements.

This book provides a detailed, student-friendly overview of Ireland in the twenty first century and the remarkable economic and social transformations that have occurred since the late 1980s. The "Celtic Tiger" phenomenon has made Ireland the focus of much attention in recent years. Other countries have openly declared that they want to follow the Irish economic and social model. Yet there is no book that gives a comprehensive, spatially-informed analysis of the Irish experience. This book fills that gap. Divided into four parts -- planning and development, the economy, the political landscape, and population and social issues -- the chapters provide an explanation of a particular aspect of Ireland and Irish life accompanied by illustrative material. In particular, the authors reveal how the transformations that have occurred are uneven and unequal in their effects across the country and highlight the challenges now facing Irish society and policy-makers. Written by experts in the field, it is a key text for those wishing to understand the contemporary Irish economic and social landscape.

This book tells the story of changes in the social structure of Britain from 1900 to the mid 1980s. It incorporates and is a sequel to Trends in British Society since 1900, a compilation by a distinguishd group of social scientists at the University of Oxford, and the only comprehensive collection of British social statistics for the twentieth century as a whole.

'In Modern Love, Marcus Collins sets out to survey the changing expectations men and women have brought to their relationships with one another.' Damian Thompson, Daily Telegraph Drawing on social, economic and political history, Modern Love explains for the first time at book length how relations changed between men and women in Britain in the twentieth century. Marcus Collins shows how men and women's expectations from life radically shifted and converged, describing how we moved from inhabiting our separate spheres with wholly different prospects and values towards the ideal, if not quite the actuality, of equality, mutuality, companionship and friendship. 'Enlightening...Collins charts the progress of a radical turn-of-the-century idea that men and women could achieve joyful intimacy if only they got to know one another as equals ...he elegantly demonstrates the power of public perception in determining whether or not we manage to be happy in love.' Decca Aitkenhead, New Statesman 'From the Victorians to Bridget Jones, it's a miracle women actually have relationships...Marcus Collins gets back to basics and allows us to hear the voices of ordinary women and men for ourselves'. Rachel Cooke, Observer 'Rather a well-mannered history of those who have sought to make marriage a better thing. The questions he raises...are just as compelling today as they were a century ago.' Lesley White, Sunday Times

Were World Wars I and II inevitable? Were they necessary wars? Or were they products of calamitous failures of judgment?
In this monumental and provocative history, Patrick Buchanan makes the case that, if not for the blunders of British statesmen-Winston Churchill first among them-the horrors of two world wars and the Holocaust might have been avoided and the British Empire might never have collapsed into ruins. Half a century of murderous oppression of scores of millions under the iron boot of Communist tyranny might never have happened, and Europe's central role in world affairs might have been sustained for many generations.
Among the British and Churchillian errors were:
- The secret decision of a tiny cabal in the inner Cabinet in 1906 to take Britain straight to war against Germany, should she invade France
- The vengeful Treaty of Versailles that mutilated Germany, leaving her bitter, betrayed, and receptive to the appeal of Adolf Hitler
- Britain's capitulation, at Churchill's urging, to American pressure to sever the Anglo-Japanese alliance, insulting and isolating Japan, pushing her onto the path of militarism and conquest
- The greatest mistake in British history: the unsolicited war guarantee to Poland of March 1939, ensuring the Second World War
Certain to create controversy and spirited argument, "Churchill, Hitler, and "the Unnecessary War"" is a grand and bold insight into the historic failures of judgment that ended centuries of European rule and guaranteed a future no one who lived in that vanished world could ever have envisioned.

After a late and shaky start because of the jealousies of local agricultural societies, the Welsh National Agricultural Society founded in 1904 (to be renamed the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society in 1922) was to surmount many problems and difficulties in its first seventy years or so to become by the 1980s one of the three major agricultural societies in the United Kingdom. This remarkable success story is traced by David Howell in fourteen chapters which cover the holding of the show at Aberystwyth from 1904 to 1909, the migratory years between 1910 and 1962 when some 37 'canvass towns' were erected at different centres in north and south Wales in alternative years, and the society's fortunes on the permanent site at Llanelwedd from 1963.

Takes a trip back to 1971 to see what was happening in Blackpool - and also recalls the wider world events of that year. This book offers a brief historical introduction and illustrations from 1971 that cover the tramway and street scenes of Blackpool, Lytham and Fleetwood.

The Girl from Hockley is a new, revised edition bringing together in one new volume this remarkable story. Born into the industrial slums of Birmingham in 1903, Kathleen Dayus became a legend in her own time. She vividly recalls her Edwardian childhood and her life as a young munitions worker during the war, marriage and life below the poverty line in the 1920s. Early widowhood and the Depression forced her to relinquish her children to Dr Barnado's homes until, eight long years later, she could afford a home for them again. Her autobiography is a testament to the indomitable spirit, humour and verve that characterised her life. Her extraordinary memory for the sights, sounds and smells of her youth, her marvellous sense of the comic and above all her spirited refusal to do anything but live life to the full, deservedly made her one of the most compelling storytellers of our time.

Liam A" Duibhir charts the struggle for independence, both militarily and politically, in Donegal from before the events of Easter 1916 until the truce in 1921.Donegal has long been seen as one of the quietest counties during the War of Independence but this reputation belies an intriguing story of how republican sentiment grew in the county. From the first mention of Sinn Fein, through the conscription crisis and the success of the 1918 elections, A" Duibhir charts the rise of the new political leadership in Donegal and how they built their own system of justice and local government.Alongside the practical politics, he also highlights the role of the IRB and the activities of the volunteers in resisting and thwarting the British efforts to retain control and impose order. Featuring new information and a fresh look at events of the period, The Donegal Awakening offers an updated account of this crucial period.

The shot was fired at point blank range by Sean Culhane hitting Swanzy, as he later claimed, behind the right ear and exiting on the other side of his head between his ear and his eye. Almost simultaneously Dick Murphy, the other Cork man, fired a volley at Swanzy. As he fell further shots were fired into his body with McCorley pausing to deliver the coup de grace.Many RIC officers were killed during this period but the murders of Divisional Commissioner Colonel Smyth and District Inspector Swanzy led to unprecedented reprisals against the Catholic population in the towns of Banbridge, Dromore and Lisburn.Lawlor traces the events which led to serious sectarian rioting and the burning of Catholic owned property over a period of three months in 1920 and details, for the first time, the extent of the destruction and loss of life in these towns. The sectarian violence in Belfast during 1920-1922 has been well documented but the scale of the violence in Belfast was such that events which took place in other towns, while mentioned, were never explored in detail. Lawlor highlights the importance of Cork and the killing of Tomas MacCurtain in the tragic events that later came to pass in the north.

The 1998 Belfast Agreement promised to release citizens of Northern Ireland from the grip of paramilitarism. However, almost a decade later, Loyalist paramilitaries were still on the battlefield. After the Peace examines the delayed business of Loyalist demilitarization and explains why it included more fits than starts in the decade since formal peace and how Loyalist paramilitary recalcitrance has affected everyday Loyalists.

Drawing on interviews with current and former Loyalist paramilitary men, community workers, and government officials, Carolyn Gallaher charts the trenchant divisions that emerged during the run-up to peace and thwart demilitarization today. After the Peace demonstrates that some Loyalist paramilitary men want to rebuild their communities and join the political process. They pledge a break with violence and the criminality that sustained their struggle. Others vow not to surrender and refuse to set aside their guns. These units operate under a Loyalist banner but increasingly resemble criminal fiefdoms. In the wake of this internecine power struggle, demilitarization has all but stalled.

Gallaher documents the battle for the heart of Loyalism in varied settings, from the attempt to define Ulster Scots as a language to deadly feuds between UVF, UDA, and LVF contingents. After the Peace brings the story of Loyalist paramilitaries up to date and sheds light on the residual violence that persists in the post-accord era.

The difficulties that have dogged the Northern Ireland peace process and the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement are rarely out of the headlines. This book gives a uniquely up-to-date insight into one of the issues at stake for the people of Northern Ireland - the long-term impact of political violence on the civil population. The result of extensive research among local communities, and drawing on survey and interview evidence, Northern Ireland After the Good Friday Agreement sets this issue within the context of past conflict and the continuing sectarian violence of the present. In particular it presents the views of ordinary people about their personal experiences of political violence and the impact it has had upon their lives. Moreover, it shows how the Troubles have affected the young people of the region, and looks at the problems facing a society coming out of a protracted period of low-intensity conflict.

Between the world wars, unemployment spread throughout the industrialized world like a disease. Focusing on the United States, Britain, and Europe, Matt Perrry compares and contrasts popular attitudes and the government response toward unemployment.Looking beyond statistics and economic cycles, Perry investigates the human impact of unemployment. He uncovers the experience of being jobless from the perspective of those who lived through it, their employers and their communities. He uses oral history, memoirs, literary accounts, and newspaper articles to reveal the reality of unemployment.Perry argues that the scale of the crisis has been minimized by historianswho have tended to emphasize that prolonged unemployment was the problem of the distressed fringe.Finally, Perry argues that the lessons of the 1930s have direct relevance today since the structural problems of industrial capitalism remain inherent.

This is the life story of Meini Dunlevy, born in Massachusetts of County Kerry parents. Meini was rearded in he grandparents' house in Dunquin. When she was 19, she eloped with an island widower to the Great Blasket, where she worked as a nurse and midwife for 36 years. Returning widowed to Dunquin, she died in 1967, aged 91. Meini's story, recorded by the author from her own accounts and those of her friends and relatives in Dunquin, is an evocation of a forceful personality and a reconstruction of a way of life that has passed.

The hotly anticipated memoir of one of New Labour's three founding architects. Peter Mandelson is one of the most influential politicians of modern times. The Third Man is his story -- of a life played out in the backroom and then on the frontline of the Labour Party during its unprecedented three terms in government. Much of the book is devoted to the defining political relationships of Peter Mandelson's life -- with Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Charting what he terms the 'soap-opera' years of the Labour government, his book is certain to ruffle many feathers. Forced to resign from Cabinet twice in three years, Peter Mandelson has cut a divisive figure through British politics but his time as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland gained him many supporters. He was a highly regarded European Commissioner before being brought back into British politics by Gordon Brown in 2008 to serve as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, and as First Secretary. Containing a mixture of autobiography, personal reflection and political history, The Third Man draws heavily on detailed diary notes that Peter Mandelson took during the events, discussions and meetings that shaped the government and the Labour Party over 25 years. He began writing the book while serving as European Commissioner, and has been completing it since leaving office in May. Much has been written about Peter Mandelson as the person at the heart of the New Labour project but this is the first time we have heard the unvarnished truth from the man himself. The Third Man is set to become the most talked about political memoir of the year.

Part of the "Past in Perspective" series, this text provides a concise introduction to the events which led to the partition of Ireland, with a discussion of the subsequent development of the two Irish states which emerged from the events of 1920-1922. The author is even-handed in his treatment of the two Irish states and their politics, and deals sensitively with a very complex affair, especially when he deals with post-1968 developments. In addition to a core of chapters which explore a major theme in depth and from a number of angles, this book begins with a survey of the ways in which its theme has been treated in the past by historians and other writers; it includes a section of contemporary documents substantial enough to give an accurate flavour of the relevant theme, and it ends with a bibliography to give the guidance to further study. By these means, as well as the inexpensive format, the series aims to convey the facination of Irish history to a wider public.

This book will provide a ground-breaking introduction to the history of poverty and welfare in modern Ireland in the era of the Irish poor law. As the first study to address poor relief and health care together, this book will fill an important gap in the existing literature providing a much-needed introduction to, and assessment of, the evolution of social welfare in nineteenth and early-twentieth century Ireland. The collection also addresses a number of related issues, including private philanthropy, the attitudes of landowners towards poor relief and the crisis of the poor law during the Great Famine of 1845-50. Together this interlinking set of contributions will both survey current research and suggest new areas for investigation thus it is hoped, proving a further stimulus to the growing field of Irish welfare history.