Product Description

Volatile and dynamic, Ulster has for centuries been at the eye of the storm between Ireland and Britain, the complexity of its history embroiling its people and baffling the outside world. A History of Ulster achieves what few other books have attempted a comprehensive account of the province, spanning nine thousand years of social, political and economic life: the early settlements; the Viking and Norman invasions; the plantations and the Penal Laws; the rise of the United Irishmen and Orangeism; the Act of Union; emigration and the Great Famine; the linen industry and shipbuilding; the Home Rule crisis and partition; the Second World War and the blitz; civil rights and the turmoil of the current troubles. First published in 1992, A History of Ulster was an instant success with historians and the wider reading public, and quickly became established as the definitive book on the subject. For this edition Jonathan Bardon has written an introductory chapter covering events since 1992. His description of the process that saw the region emerge from thirty years of brutal conflict and move haltingly towards peace is a fitting coda to this classic of Irish history. Through compelling narrative and masterly use of contemporary sources, this major new history disentangles the past and captures Ulster in all its energy and obduracy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #82059 in Books
• Published on: 2005-02-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 942 pages

Review
'It is an essential companion for the journalist, the politician, the professional academic and teacher, the analyst and commentator, and the general reader.' Maurice Hayes, Irish Independent. 'This is a book of breathtaking range - the fullest, fairest and most professional history ever written of this disputed part of Ireland.' Marianne Elliot, Fortnight.

About the Author
JONATHAN BARDON was born in 1941 and educated at Trinity College Dublin and Queen's University. He has lived in Belfast since 1963, teaching history. His other publications include Belfast: 1000 Years (1985) , If You Ever Go To Dublin Town: A Historic Guide to the City's Street Names (1988) and Belfast: a century (1999).

Customer Reviews

A very comprehensive reference book.
This is a very comprehensive reference book, describing the history of Ulster from about 7000 BC to 1992 AD. Jonathan Bardon has put the emphasis on contemporary quotations, which give a good flavour of the events being described. Because the book is over 900 pages long, he is able to deal with subject material in a considerable detail - for example, 200 pages are devoted to the troubled years from 1969 to 1992. Fortnight magazine has described this book as "the fullest, fairest and most professional history ever written of this disputed part of Ireland".

A MUST for anyone wishing to understand Northern Ireland
As a Northerner myself, I find this book the best on the subject that I've ever read. Indeed, it is a quite outstanding volume. Bardon, a Southerner who teaches in the North, is very detailed, always interesting, always fairly balanced and completely impartial. This is no polemic for one side or the other; it simply tells it as it was, history in all its messy, confusing, frustrating detail. It helps one make sense (well, more sense) of the current situation in Northern Ireland. It is a seriously large book, but it is well worth the effort.

Heavyweight history
PHEW! Just reached the end of this behemoth (830 pages of text). This really is the heavyweight history of Ulster.
If you have little or no knowledge about the region, Bardon's Shorter Illustrated History of Ulster is a better starting point, but if you are ready to put the time in this longer version is well worth the effort.
My one major criticism is that the 2005 edition effectively finishes in 1992 with the preface outlining the period from 1992-2001.So it is not as up to date as it might be and progress in the past ten years has been rapid.
As a minor point, all the maps and illustrations are tucked away at the back rather than being attached to the relevant bits of text. This hinders the explanation of some points particularly where geography is important - such as in trying to fathom the internecine rivalries of the Ulster clans ( I ended up digging out a map which ended up following the book around for the few weeks I took to read it).
Having said that Bardon wades into the minefield (sometimes a literal one) of Ulster history with verve, aplomb and admirable impartiality to produce a thoroughly engaging account of nearly 9000 years of history.