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These Divided Isles: Britain and Ireland, Past and Future
A vital history from the award-winning Financial Times journalist Philip Stephens on the dramatic century since the Anglo-Irish Treaty and partition.
Ireland and Britain's relationship is as intertwined as it has so often been violent and traumatic. In These Divided Isles the award-winning author and journalist Philip Stephens tells the vital, riveting history that focuses on the dramatic century since the Anglo-Irish Treaty and on the unfinished business of partition, revealing how the past has shaped the present and will inform the future of both nations.
Telling the story from both sides of the Irish Sea and cutting through the layers of grievance and prejudice, Philips explores the emotional intimacy and enmity of a relationship shaped by close familial ties and clashing national identities. It's a story written by big political leaders - David Lloyd George, Michael Collins, Winston Churchill and Eamon de Valera - and the millions of Irish emigrants who crossed from Ireland to Britain to begin new lives.
Today demography, Brexit and political logic have brought the possibility of Irish unity into view. Grounded in decades of personal contact and interviews with key policymakers across Britain and Europe, Stephens maps this complex relationship and asks how Ireland might deploy its history to inform its future rather than hold it in place.
Ireland and Britain's relationship is as intertwined as it has so often been violent and traumatic. In These Divided Isles the award-winning author and journalist Philip Stephens tells the vital, riveting history that focuses on the dramatic century since the Anglo-Irish Treaty and on the unfinished business of partition, revealing how the past has shaped the present and will inform the future of both nations.
Telling the story from both sides of the Irish Sea and cutting through the layers of grievance and prejudice, Philips explores the emotional intimacy and enmity of a relationship shaped by close familial ties and clashing national identities. It's a story written by big political leaders - David Lloyd George, Michael Collins, Winston Churchill and Eamon de Valera - and the millions of Irish emigrants who crossed from Ireland to Britain to begin new lives.
Today demography, Brexit and political logic have brought the possibility of Irish unity into view. Grounded in decades of personal contact and interviews with key policymakers across Britain and Europe, Stephens maps this complex relationship and asks how Ireland might deploy its history to inform its future rather than hold it in place.
- GenresHistory
369 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 26, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 4, 2025
This is an excellent book about Anglo Irish relations over the past 120 years or so. It is thoroughly researched and well written, with an elegant turn of phrase. While he explains all the various sides in the bitter and sometimes violent history of these isles, the author is not afraid to express his opinion: unsurprisingly, Boris Johnston does not emerge as a hero.
December 20, 2025
Interesting read about the history of partition in Ireland, and where do we go from here
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews