Land and Revolution by Fergus Campbell
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.
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 *
'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 *
Fergus Campbell was born at Carlisle, England on 15 March 1970. He was educated at St. Margaret Mary's and the Newman school, Carlisle, before attending Wadham College, Oxford and Bristol University. He has taught at the Queen's University, Belfast, NUI Maynooth and Newcastle University where he is
currently a lecturer in modern British and Irish history.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780199541508 |
| ISBN 10 | 0199541507 |
| Title | Land and Revolution |
| Author | Fergus Campbell |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Year published | 2008-10-02 |
| Number of pages | 378 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |