Ireland : the Union and its aftermath2003

Oliver MacDonagh described the first version of Ireland: The Union and its Aftermath, published in 1968, as 'a very small book with very large themes'. The book rapidly reached the status of a classic and remains a thought-provoking survey of the history of Ireland from the Act of Union of 1800 until modern times. MacDonagh regarded the Act of Union as the most important single factor in shaping Ireland as a nation in the modern world. Although subordination to Britain had influenced Irish development before 1800, it took a rapidly different form under the Act of Union: 'The experience of being assimilated by, and resisting assimilation into, a powerful and alien empire -- perhaps the master-culture of the nineteenth century -- was truly traumatic.' Book jacket.