The presentation is not only learned but cool, objective, unimpassioned & yet almost always alive & compassionate as well...As a reference book alone it is immensely valuable...As an example of a humane, scholarly, expert history, Prof. Beckett's book will be difficult to surpass.'--D.B. Quinn, Belfast Telegraph [He] has brilliantly succeeded. The book is admirably constructed & written with clarity & economy which carry the narrative unflaggingly thru to the end...This excellent book supersedes all previous histories of modern Ireland.--F.S.L. Lyons, New StatesmanPrefacePacta Hibernia Ireland in the early seventeenth centuryProtestant & recusant: the constitutional struggle, 1603-41 The war of the three kingdomsConfiscation & settlementRestoration Ireland'The glorious memory'The emergence of the Protestant nationThe economic & social basis of the Protestant nationThe rise of the patriots The winning of a constitution'Grattan's parliament'The impact of revolutionThe end of the Irish parliamentFrom union to Catholic emancipationO'Connell & the policy of repeal The great famineLand & politics, 1850-70The beginnings of the home rule movement"The uncrowned king'The policy of conciliation, 1891-1905The home rule crisis, 1906-14The revolution in Ireland, 1914-23Select BibliographyIndexMaps