Ulster : Conflict and Consent

If after 20 years of civil unrest and terrorist outrage the Ulster problem seems insoluble, so much greater is the urgency for a fresh examination of possible solutions against the background of a new assessment of all aspects - political, economic, religious, constitutional and social - of the situation.

In "Ulster: Conflict and Consent" Tom Wilson provides such an assessment, looking at how many of the old complaints, fuelled by ancient myths that give rise to irreconcilable conflict about national identity, have led to significant change.

Yet the continuing constitutional uncertainty hampers economic development and encourages the IRA to sustain its terrorist campaign, and Tom Wilson shows how that uncertainty is unnecessary and thus an obstacle to a possible resolution of the Ulster question.

This book is written with the authority of one who has often advised the Northern Ireland government on political and economic matters, and provides an overview of the complexities and subtleties of the most difficult issue that Britain faces.

A useful introduction for students and specialists, this book will also be of interest to a more general audience.