This is a good readable general history of Ireland, though I hadn't realised when I first downloaded it, that it only goes up to the mid 1960s (so largely before the main period of "The Troubles"). The first three sections of the book, first published in the 1950s, only go up to 1921, with the addition in this edition of a final section "After the Treaty" and a revised introduction bringing the text up to the then present day in the 1960s. My main problem with the book was that the the first three sections covering the history of Ireland up to 1921 divided the material into three themes: nationalism; land and people; and culture and religion. These themes were too overlapping for me, and hindered rather than helped an understanding of the chronological flow of events and longer term developments.

That said, I learned a lot and this was a useful introduction for the general reader, though of necessity outdated in its coverage. It is good to understand how the crucial relationship with Britain and the sectarian divide in Irish society have arisen and evolved, with all the nuances that these can involve (for example, in the 18th to early 20th centuries, there was quite a strong element of Protestantism in Irish nationalism, whereas the latter is generally thought of now as being exclusively Catholic). There were some other striking factors, such as: the deep concern caused by mass emigration from Ireland - in 1950 for example, 1.5% of the population emigrated and the author claims (though I find this a bit hard to accept given the horrors of WWII in particular) that Ireland was the only country in the world whose population declined in the first half of the 20th century; and the very primitive condition of much of the Irish economy, especially its agriculture, until into the second half of the 20th century. A fascinating read. ( )