Belfast and Derry in Revolt: A New History of the Start of the Troubles

by Simon Prince, Geoffrey Warner

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a civil war started in Northern Ireland. This book tells that story through Belfast and Derry, using original archival research to trace how multiple and overlapping conflicts unfolded on their streets. The Troubles grew out of a political process that mobilised opponents and defenders of the Stormont regime, and which also dragged London and Dublin into the crisis. Drawing upon government papers, police reports, army files, intelligence summaries, evidence to inquiries and parish chronicles, this book sheds fresh light on key events such as the 5 October 1968 march, the Battle of the Bogside, the Belfast riots of August 1969, the ‘Battle of St Matthew’s’ (June 1970) and the Falls Road curfew (July 1970). Prince and Warner offer us two richly-detailed, engaging narratives that intertwine to present a new history of the start of the Troubles in Belfast and Derry—one that also establishes a foundation for comparison with similar developments elsewhere in the world.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ireland

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2011

Reviews

[Craig Werner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Densely detailed, at times to the detriment of the narrative and thematic flow. But the most convincing take on the origins of the Troubles that I've encountered. The authors (one covers Derry, the other Belfast--for some reason the Goodreads title omits Warner's name) do their best to be judicious in their treatment of the "two" sides. But more importantly, they make it clear that both the Catholic and Protests--republican and unionist--sides were riven by internal disputes. The take home is that the binary clash of the Troubles wasn's inherent or preordained but created by the events of the mid and late Sixties.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent in spots, and very readable. The focus on Belfast and Derry is smart and keeps it relatively contained and the narrative moving forward. A couple of factual errors, some half-hearted use of theory and the lack of a complete bibliography limit it considerably.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simon Prince and Geoffrey Warner consider the beginnings of the Northern Ireland "Troubles" in the late 1960s by focusing on events in Belfast and Londonderry. Specialists have criticised this book's approach and conclusions, but I thought it was a useful way to examine the beginning of "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland's first and second cities. It further convinced me that people on both sides were being played against each other to discredit Terence O'Neill's unionist government at Stormont. Northern Ireland would have been spared a lot of misery, and the union would probably be in a much stronger position if he had been left in peace.

[Harry Hyder-Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book covering quite an unexamined area of British history - how was violence produced in Northern Ireland at the end of the 1960s after decades of peace?