Ireland and Empire

A growing number of historians, political commentators, and cultural critics have sought to analyze 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; amongst some Ulster Unionists the term is greeted with outrage. This book evaluates and analyzes 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.

Introduction
Contexts and Concepts
The Past in the Present
Irish Nationalists and the Colonial Image
British Imperialists and Their Critics
Chroniclers and Revisionists
Colonialism, Criticism, and Cultural Theory
The Irish Republic as Postcolonial Polity
Northern Ireland after 1968: An Anticolonial Struggle?
Ulster Unionism: A Colonial Culture?
Comparative Perspectives
Conclusions
Bibliography, Index