Ireland During the Second World War Farewell to Plato's Cave

In the first book detailing the social and economic history of Ireland during the Second World War, Bryce Evans reveals the real story of the Irish emergency. Revealing just how precarious the Irish state's economic position was at the time, the book examines the consequences of Winston Churchill's economic war against neutral Ireland.

It explores how the Irish government coped with the crisis and how ordinary Irish people reacted to emergency state control of the domestic marketplace. A hidden history of black markets, smugglers, rogues and rebels emerges, providing a fascinating slice of real life in Ireland during a crucial period in world history. As the first comparison of economic and social conditions in Ireland with those of the other European neutral states – Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Portugal – the book will make essential reading for the informed general reader, students and academics alike.

Bryce Evans is Lecturer in Modern History at Liverpool Hope University, UK.

Introduction: Farewell to Plato's Cave
1. Anglo-Irish Trade and Business Relations
2. Moral Policemen of the Domestic Economy
3. Conditions in Town and Country
4. Smuggling
5. Church and State
6. Coercion in the Countryside
7. The State and the Small Man
Conclusions
Bibliography
Index