The Second World War was a titanic struggle against totalitarianism. It involved civilian populations – in the production of ships and armaments and as victims of aerial bombardments – as never before. In this respect, Belfast played an important role. The more it became vital to the war effort the greater was the risk that it would be subjected to a blitz from the Luftwaffe. In spite of that, it remained woefully unprepared for attack. For Belfast, like Coventry, there was to be no gradua...

Following the suppression of the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916, the British Army court-martialled almost 200 prisoners. Around ninety of them received death sentences, but the death penalty was confirmed only for the fifteen men considered to be the leaders. All fifteen were executed. Until 1999, official British records of these fifteen trials were kept a close secret, and in 2001 further material was released, including the trial of Countess Markievicz and important evidence about the ...

On Easter Monday, between 1,000 and 1,500 Irish Volunteers and members of the Irish Citizen Army seized the General Post Office and other key locations in Dublin. The intention of their leaders, including Patrick Pearse and James Connolly, was to end British rule in Ireland and establish an independent thirty-two county Irish republic. For a week battle raged in the Irish capital until the Rising collapsed. The rebel leaders were executed soon afterwards, though in death t...

First published in 1999, this volume was the third in a trilogy on the 'problem' of Northern Ireland. It examines the political content of the unionist and nationalist 'ideologies' which have emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Ireland. The focus of the book is also to examine and assess the impact of unionist and nationalist thinking and commitment on political and economic life in the twentieth century.