The Making of Modern Ireland 1603-1923

by J.C. Beckett

Technically this book is a masterly the collection, sorting, selecting & balancing of material has meant an immense amount of hard & highly skilful work. The presentation is not only learned but cool, objective, unimpassioned & yet almost always alive & compassionate as well...As a reference book alone it is immensely valuable...As an example of a humane, scholarly, expert history, Prof. Beckett's book will be difficult to surpass.'--D.B. Quinn, Belfast Telegraph [He] has brilliantly succeeded. The book is admirably constructed & written with clarity & economy which carry the narrative unflaggingly thru to the end...This excellent book supersedes all previous histories of modern Ireland.--F.S.L. Lyons, New StatesmanPrefacePacta Hibernia Ireland in the early seventeenth centuryProtestant & the constitutional struggle, 1603-41 The war of the three kingdomsConfiscation & settlementRestoration Ireland'The glorious memory'The emergence of the Protestant nationThe economic & social basis of the Protestant nationThe rise of the patriots The winning of a constitution'Grattan's parliament'The impact of revolutionThe end of the Irish parliamentFrom union to Catholic emancipationO'Connell & the policy of repeal The great famineLand & politics, 1850-70The beginnings of the home rule movement"The uncrowned king'The policy of conciliation, 1891-1905The home rule crisis, 1906-14The revolution in Ireland, 1914-23Select BibliographyIndexMaps

Genres: History, Ireland, Nonfiction, Irish Literature, World History

514 pages, Paperback

First published May 23, 1966

About the author

James Camlin Beckett was a Northern Irish historian.

Reviews

[Steve]

. . .

[Jack Glynne-Jones]

Just read the final quarter of the book, from 1850 onwards. Not an easy read for a beginner, but I feel I have a good foundation to build on now.

[Michael Armstrong]

Just the right level of detail for me.
The Faber Finds edition I used had very small print and a myriad of typographical errors (poor OCR of the original?)

[Simon]

J C Beckett's masterly survey of Irish history from the 17th to the early 20th centuries, though now itself half a century old, has stood the test of time. It remains a comprehensive, fair and above all highly readable textbook. Though it has taken me from "the Glorious Twelfth" to "St Paddy's Day" to read it from cover to cover (having owned my copy for 40 years!), I now have a solid foundation on which to base my study of the last century of Irish history, as yet again Ireland moves into an uncertain future, so many of the issues of a hundred years ago still unresolved.

[Michael Linton]

This was a challenging book to read if you didn't have the background of Ireland to begin with. You need to understand how Ireland was in 1603 and the different groups there at the time. It just starts off as the story was already happening (which it was). I learned a little but I need a more basic book. Also, it provided a lot of details in terms of the passage of bills and who was in power in that I didn't understand how it affected the people.

[Kevin]

Great read, covered a lot of ground and weaved nicely how one era moved into another.

[Charles Curran]

If you want to know a bit about Ireland…