Contemporary History in Context

Rose, P.

In a new book about Northern Ireland historian Peter Rose argues that if Harold Wilson's government in the late sixties had pursued a different policy the province might have been spared The Troubles. Wilson had promised the Catholics that they would be granted their civil rights. However, new evidence suggests that Westminster was deliberately gagged to prevent MPs demanding that the Stormont administration ended discrimination in the province. Had the government acted on intelligence of growing Catholic unrest, it could have prevented the rise of the Provisional IRA without provoking an unmanageable Protestant backlash. The book draws upon recently released official documents and interviews with many key politicians and civil servants of the period to examine the failure of British policy to prevent the troubles.

Details

Published by: Palgrave Macmillan

Publication Date: 1999-09-20

Format: Hardcover

ISBN-13: 9780312224349

DOI: 10.1057/9780230288676

Dimensions: 216cm x140cm

Pages: 216