June 2003

Decimated by famine and emigration and divided by British rule, the people of Ireland sought unity in Home Rule. Home Rule bound together the varieties of Irish nationalism. It has united British and Irish politicians in the quest for an agreed settlement in Ireland: it has linked Ulster Unionists and Irish Nationalists. The story of Home Rule is central to the political experience of both modern Ireland and Britain.

In this book, the author examines the development of Home Rule and devolution in Ireland from the nineteenth century to the present. It traces some of the main themes in Irish peace-making from their late Victorian roots to the beginnings of the millennium: it explores the origins of the Good Friday Agreement, and many of the interconnections between Irish political history and contemporary affairs. The book offers an incisive reappraisal of different political leaders through the period. Drawing on new archival material, the book illuminates a crucial aspect of Irish and British history over a two-hundred-year span.