[QuarterBoreGunner]

I've been ruminating on the way of the world recently; my wife and I are just begining to...uhm.. try and start a family... and I so I've been doing more thinking on all the troubles in the world. I guess this is the mantle you accept when you decide to contribute to the gene pool at large...

Anyway. I know that the Middle East, the Balkans and most of sub-Saharan Africa have been killing each other for the greater part of 1000 years and that the hope of someone coming up with a quick fix is entirely un reasonable... but talk to me about Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

I'm looking for a history of, what they call 'the troubles'; how did it start? What are the historical antecedants? Am I wrong in the belief that this is a relatively recent struggle? How did it start? I know, on the surface, that it's a catholic vs. protestant fight; I've seen the orangemen on the BBC during the marching season. I'm just looking for a little more insight.

[Destructo6]

You're going to have to go back about 500 years for the whole story. Starting with William of Orange (c1680) might cut things down a bit. It's a lot more than I could post here or really remember offhand.

There are literally thousands of Irish history books, so pick one that seems readable and have at it.
I've seen the orangemen on the BBC during the marching season.
Orangemen...William of Orange...connection...

For the Middle East, I will reccommend Arthur Goldschmidt's "A Consise History of the Middle East." It's quite readable. Bernard Lewis is a little less readable, but he's very prolific and well respected.

[Pendragon]

The history in the isles is pretty rough.

Protestant king oppresses catholics, catholic ruler oppresses protestants, etc.

The pattern is repeated through out the history of man. We fight, kill, destroy and enslave those who are different than us.

Different is scary, scary things might be dangerous, dangerous things should be eliminated - just in case.

Most groups seem to think their little conflict is special or important or more interesting, etc.

[JohnBT]

www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/troubles/origins/origins.shtml

[JPL]

The start of it was in 1394 when Britain's Richard II invaded Ireland.

It went downhill from there.

[cuchulainn]

Any major bookstore will have scores of books on Irish history, including the Irish/English conflict, both long-term history and the 20th Century conflict.

Be careful before you buy though -- it's a topic that tends to generate propagandist history from all three sides. Take some times to page through the book first (maybe read some reviews too).

If you're looking for good works on the 20th Century conflict, try any books by Tim Pat Coogan -- he's covered The Troubles for the Dublin Times for decades and does a pretty good job of remaining neutral (actually, his neutrality comes off as excessively sterile, but he's readable). The two books of his that I've read are The IRA, a History and The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins

The Long War: The IRA and Sinn Fein 1985 to Today by Brendan O'Brien seemed fairly balanced to me too.

[cuchulainn]

The start of it was in 1394 when Britain's Richard II invaded Ireland. Actually, I'd date it earlier with Pope Adrian IV's papal bull in 1155 giving Henry II the "right" to invade Ireland to convert the Irish to Roman Catholicism.

That's right, it all started with the English trying to turn the Irish into Roman Catholics -- Irish Christianity (a la St. Patrick) had survived the fall of the Roman Empire and developed and flourished independently of Rome for centuries. Henry II wanted the land and Adrian wanted the souls and thus they struck the deal. It probably didn't hurt that Adrian was the only English-born pope.

Adrian bull translated into modern English: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/medieval/bullad.htm

[QuarterBoreGunner]

Thank you gentlemen; I see a trip to Barnes & Nobles is in order.

[Telperion]

I was planning on posting a thread asking the same a while back. Any recommendation for a brief book (one volume, <500 pages) that is the best introduction?

[cuchulainn]

Any recommendation for a brief book (one volume, <500 pages) that is the best introduction? It's a bit dated, but R.F. Foster's Modern Ireland: 1600 - 1972 is basically a textbook. (Foster also was the editor of The Oxford History of Ireland, which is a must-read on Irish history)