Carson The Man Who Divided Ireland

The partition of Ireland in 1921, and the birth of Northern Ireland as a political entity, was the work of one man above all. Edward Carson, born in Dublin in 1854, was a brilliant lawyer whose cross-questioning of Oscar Wilde at his libel trial brought about Wilde's downfall. An inspiring orator and a political heavyweight at Westminster, his defence of Unionism in the years before the First World War, and of the rights of Ulster not to be swamped in an independent Ireland, made a united Ireland a political imposibility. While some of his actions were denounced in England as close to treason, Carson's idealism and religious tolerance were untypical of the sectarian bigotry that marred the later history of Northern Ireland. Carson: The Man Who Divided Ireland is the first modern biography of a major figure in both British and Irish politics.

Illustrations Introduction 1 Dublin 2 Home Rule 3 London 4 Oscar Wilde 5 The End of Unionist Government 6 The Naval Cadet 7 The House of Lords 8 The Conservative Leadership 9 Asquith's Home Rule Bill 10 Ulster 11 Marconi 12 The Curragh 13 Craigavon 14 War and Peace 15 Opposition 16 The Fall of Asquith 17 Final Attempt Notes Bibliography Index