The Partition of Ireland and the Troubles: The History of Northern Ireland from the Irish Civil War to the Good Friday Agreement

By: Charles River Editors

Narrated by: Colin Fluxman

“The Honorable Member must remember that in the South they boasted of a Catholic State. They still boast of Southern Ireland being a Catholic State. All I boast of is that we are a Protestant Parliament and a Protestant State. It would be rather interesting for historians of the future to compare a Catholic State launched in the South with a Protestant State launched in the North and to see which gets on the better and prospers the more.” (Sir James Craig)

One of the most bitter and divisive struggles in the history of the British Isles, and in the history of the British Empire, played out over the question of Home Rule and Irish independence, and then later still as the British province of Northern Ireland grappled within itself for the right to secede from the United Kingdom or the right to remain.

What is it within this complicated relationship that has kept this strange duality of mutual love and hate at play? A rendition of “Danny Boy” has the power to reduce both Irishmen and Englishmen to tears, and yet they have torn at one another in a violent conflict that can be traced to the very dawn of their contact.

This history of the British Isles themselves is in part responsible. The fraternal difficulties of two neighbors so closely aligned, but so unequally endowed, can be blamed for much of the trouble. The imperialist tendencies of the English themselves, tendencies that created an empire that embodied the best and worst of humanity, alienated them from not only the Irish, but the Scots and Welsh too. However, the British also extended that colonial duality to other great societies of the world, India not least among them, without the same enduring suspicion and hostility. There is certainly something much more than the sum of its parts in this curious combination of love and loathing that characterizes the Anglo-Irish relationship.

The Partition of Ireland and the Troubles: The History of Northern Ireland from the Irish Civil War to the Good Friday Agreement analyzes the tumultuous events that marked the creation of Northern Ireland, and the conflicts fueled by the partition. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Northern Ireland like never before.

©2018 Charles River Editors (P)2018 Charles River Editors

Very Good

Insightful and concise, sheds much light on the motivations of various factions in a complicated situation. Only critique would be to find a narrator who can properly pronounce Irish pace names.

Cursory overview

A decent, very brief overview of the events, from a perspective biased towards the British position. The narrator mispronounces essentially every Irish word, which is a bit distracting. A reasonable introduction, but definitely incomplete.

The Partition and the Troubles, slightly biased

This is a good, not great, brief look at the conflict in Northern Ireland, from a slightly British or Ulster POV. The author does a decent job discussing personalities and slight ideological differences in different Northern Irish leaders and skirts across many of the incidents, including a fair look at motivations on both sides. What is largely missing, however, is Ulster violence. I would call it a good introduction but it is too biased to be the first thing one hears about the issue.

Interesting overview, narrator doesn’t stop for breath

The book is an interesting summary of events between the Irish Civil War and the Good Friday agreement (though the narration was not particularly interesting or riveting). Please note that the narrator has a distinctly British accent. I don’t know Irish names but from other reviews it seems they were not pronounced correctly. My biggest issue with the narrator was that he didn’t stop to catch his breath at the correct times and so the book feels like it goes on and on and on. Changing narration speed doesn’t help as the pauses do exist; just in the wrong places. The narrator’s intonations in the middle of a sentence oftentimes signaled the end of a sentence and so confused me a lot. It was not very easy to focus on the material. I’m not familiar with Irish history to know if this was one-sided. It just seems to me that England likes to hold onto power for far too long - be it in Egypt, India, Ireland, or wherever else.

Tough Topic, Stiff British Accent

This was a brief summary that highlighted major negotiations and included an overview of the influence of American Presidents with Irish family history. The fight for freedom in Ireland is a sensitive, and the country is sincere about its history. Something about hearing it performed in the stiffness of a British accent did not sit in my ear well. I plan to find the book in a local library and try to read it the old fashioned way.

Not great

Bit of a slap in the face being narrated by a posh Brit who can't be bothered to pronounce the Irish words properly. Dáil Éireann, Éire, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. Seems to be very British POV.

A Good Overview

This is a good overview that hits all the big events and people: DeValera, Michael Collins, the Battle of the Bogside, etc.

interesting

Good short history of The Troubles. I was amused and bemused at it being read by a very proper BBC English Male with some appalling wrong pronunciations of place names. i listened to in during a single road trip of 3 hours or so.

Narrated without paused or emotion - mind numbing

While the facts in the book are good, and need to be told, the narrator rushes through the reading with a monotone that is mind numbing. There is no inflection, and every sentence runs into the next - read like the longest run-on-sentence in history
If you want to purchase something to put you to sleep, this will do it. Just don’t know play while driving or you might fall asleep at the wheel.