Britain and Ireland: A Concise History

Britain and Ireland recounts the history of the two states – the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (Éire) – and four nations – the Irish, the Welsh, the Scottish and the English – from prehistory to the present.

Chapters are organised chronologically starting in 4000 BCE, coming through the Roman occupation, the Reformation, the Industrial Revolution and the formation of the British Empire. Coming up to the present day, this new edition has expanded material on post-1800 Irish history, with particular emphasis on the Famine, Home Rule, the Irish Civil War, partition, the Troubles, the Good Friday Agreement and the Brexit fallout. Later chapters also have increased emphasis on national developments including Thatcherism, Blairism, monarchy, austerity, devolution, the Scottish referendum and international relations with the US, Europe and the Commonwealth, ending with the ongoing impact of COVID-19 and climate change.

Accompanied by illustrations and information boxes, and with an increased selection of documents with questions to challenge students of British and Irish studies, the book presents not only the story of what happened in the British Isles, but its interdependence with Europe and the rest of the world.

Jürgen Kramer is Emeritus Professor of British Cultural Studies at the University of Dortmund. He is the author of Culture and Intercultural Studies (1990), British Cultural Studies (1997) and Taking Stock: 35 Essays from 35 Years of Studying English-Speaking Cultures (2011). A collection of essays entitled Empire, Exile and the Exotic: Studies on Robert Louis Stevenson, Joseph Conrad and the Sea is in preparation. He co-edited the Journal for the Study of British Cultures (1994–2006).