Ireland and Empire

A growing number of historians, political commentators, and cultural critics have sought to analyse Ireland's past and present in colonial terms. For some, including Irish Republicans, it is the only proper framework for understanding Ireland. Others reject the very use of the colonial label for Ireland's history; while using the term for the present can arouse outrage, especially amongst Ulster Unionists. This book evaluates and analyses these controversies, which range from debates over the ancient and medieval past to those in current literary and postcolonial theory. Scholarly, at times polemical, it is the most comprehensive study of these themes ever to appear. It will undoubtedly arouse sharp controversy.