Land and Revolution: Nationalist Politics in the West of Ireland 1891-1921 - Softcover

Campbell, Fergus

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199541507 ISBN 13: 9780199541508

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA, 2008

Synopsis

In the 1890s, most of the inhabitants of the west of Ireland experienced great poverty and hardship, living-as they did-on farms that were too small to provide them with a reasonable standard of living. By 1921, however, the living conditions of many of them had been transformed by a series of Land Acts that revolutionized the system of land holding in Ireland. This book examines agrarian conflict in Ireland during the neglected period between the death of Parnell (1891) and the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty (1921) and demonstrates that land reform was often introduced in response to popular protest. Whereas earlier accounts have tended to examine Irish political history from the perspective of British governments or nationalist leaders, this book breaks new ground by providing an account of popular political activity in late nineteenth-and twentieth-century Ireland. For the first time, the social background, ideas, and activities of grass-roots political activists are systematically explored, as are the class conflicts that threatened to fragment the unity of the nationalist movement in rural communities. By reinserting the activism of ordinary people into the broader historical record, Dr Campbell suggests new interpretations of a number of critical developments including the failure of "constructive unionism" the origins of Sinn Féin, and the nature and dynamics of the Irish revolution (1916-23) Using the recently released archives of the Bureau of Military History, the story of the war of independence in the western county of Galway is told in the words of both the Irish Republican Army and its enemies. Land and Revolution transforms our understanding of late nineteenth-and early twentieth-century Irish history, and also contributes to comparative studies of nationalism, revolution, and agrarian protest.

About this title

Review

Review from previous edition '...the most thorough analysis of the social profile of political activists in this period... This is a weighty contribution to Irish historiography and is certainly among the best of the recent local studies of the Irish Revolution.' (- Matthew Kelly, English Historical Review)

'Dr Campbell is a true revisionist. He revises historical opinions in the light of his own original research... [a] thought-provoking and scholarly work.' (- The Irish Times)

About the Author

Fergus Campbell is a Lecturer at the University of Newcastle.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0199541507
• ISBN 13: 9780199541508
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 376