Out of stock

Northern Ireland’s ’68: Civil Rights, Global Revolt and the Origins of the Troubles

65.00

Simon Prince

Foreword by John Bew

The Troubles may have developed into a sectarian conflict, but the violence was sparked by a small band of leftists who wanted Derry in October 1968 to be a repeat of Paris in May 1968. Drawing upon a wealth of new sources and scholarship, Simon Prince offers a fresh and compelling interpretation of the civil rights movement of 1968 and the origins of The Troubles.

Out of stock

ISBN: 9780716528692 Categories: , , ,

Description

The Troubles may have developed into a sectarian conflict, but the violence was sparked by a small band of leftists who wanted Derry in October 1968 to be a repeat of Paris in May 1968. Like their French comrades, Northern Ireland’s sixty-eighters had assumed that street fighting would lead to political struggle. The struggle that followed, however, was between communities rather than classes. In the divided society of Northern Ireland, the interaction of the global and the local that was the hallmark of 1968 had tragic consequences.

Drawing upon a wealth of new sources and scholarship, Simon Prince offers a fresh and compelling interpretation of the civil rights movement of 1968 and the origins of The Troubles. The authoritative and enthralling narrative weaves together accounts of high politics and grassroots protests, mass movements and individuals, and international trends and historic divisions. Prince shows how events in Northern Ireland and around the world were interlinked during 1968.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Unionism and its State

2. Nationalism and its Discontents

3. Republicanism and Socialism

4. The Civil Rights Campaign

5. Paris, London, Rome, Berlin, Derry

6. The Derry Disturbances

7. The Unionist Reaction

8. People’s Democracy

Conclusion

About the Author

Simon Prince is a Junior Research Fellow at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford.  He completed his PhD at Cambridge University on the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland and has delivered seminar papers on related topics at Cambridge University and at the National University of Ireland.