First published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

'A brilliant feat of compression. Mitchison has produced that rare thing, an original textbook. She has done a real service to Scotland.' - The Observer

Beginning in about 6000 BC, this comprehensive history of Ireland spans the ages and takes the reader up to the present day. It covers the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages, describing Irish tombs, artefacts and buildings; the arrival of Christianity in Ireland; the Golden Age (500-800 AD) when Irish scholars were the most renowned in Europe; the great Viking period; the takeover of Ireland by Henry II in 1171; the long and painful association with England; the struggle between Protestant and Catholic, colonial settler and native Irishman; and the fight for independence, achieved by the South in 1921.