Nick Maxwell

Land, Politics and Nationalism: a study of the Irish Land Question Philip Bull (Gill and Macmillan, £14.99) ISBN 0-7171-2191-7

Over the past quarter century the Irish land question has been the subject of a barrage of historical inquiry. Traditional nationalist interpretations have been deconstructed and inverted, the class composition and objectives of agrarian movements dissected, and the triangular political relationships between these organisations, landowners and the British government examined in depth. Building on this … Read more

Unionism in Modern Ireland: new perspectives on politics and culture, Richard English and Graham Walker (eds.) Rethinking Unionism: an alternative vision for Ireland, Norman Porter

Unionism in Modern Ireland: new perspectives on politics and culture Richard English and Graham Walker (eds.) (Gill and Macmillan, £12.99) ISB: 0-7171-2465-7 Rethinking Unionism: an alternative vision for Ireland Norman Porter (Blackstaff, £10.99) ISBN 0-85640-585-X When I was a student in London in the late 1940s I was much impressed by Harold Laski’s love of … Read more

Conquest and Union: Fashioning a British State 1485-1725 Steven G. Ellis and Sarah Barber (eds.) (Longman, hb £36, pb £14.99) ISBN 0-5822-0964-1, 0-5822-0963-3

It is hardly more than twenty years since John Pocock first called for the creation of the ‘unknown subject’ (as he called it) of British History. Although the concept has not yet managed to penetrate to book shops (where shelves labelled ‘British History’ tend to be occupied by old-fashioned ‘popular’ histories of England). It is … Read more