A NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2021'A model of research and analysis ... Townshend's concise
and intelligent book tells a painful story that is probably not yet over' Simon Heffer Daily
Telegraph A compelling history of the turbulent journey to Irish independence published for
the centenary of the Partition In the aftermath of the horrors of the Irish Famine the grim
distrustful relationship between Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom deteriorated into a
generations-long argument about 'Home Rule'. The unprecedented nature of the Irish problem -
with most Irish people wanting to break away from the world's largest Empire - made it
extraordinarily difficult for either side to come up with a compromise. For many years actual
independence seemed inconceivable. And then as these bitter disputes continued it became
clear that under no circumstances would the Protestants be party to any of it. The Partition is
a remarkable clear-sighted and thoughtful account of how two unthinkable events - full Irish
independence and the creation of the state of Northern Ireland - came to pass. The Irish
nationalist claim to leave ran into a loyalist demand to remain increasingly centred on the
north-eastern Protestant community threatening large-scale violent resistance. Here Charles
Townshend lays out what is ultimately a tragic story as partition became the only answer to an
otherwise insoluble problem. The settlement of the Irish question drew in every major
politician conjured up heroes and villains led to civil war and finally to Ulster's
catastrophic Troubles. The hard border has always been seen as a failure of both British and
Irish statecraft but has endured now for a century. The Partition brilliantly brings to life
the contingency and uncertainty that created it. 'A timely and important book ... so much of
its content remains relevant to understanding contemporary preoccupations and controversies'
Diarmaid Ferriter Irish Times
