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Few countries in the world have such a compelling, individual, and stirring history as Ireland. This new volume, the latest in the widely acclaimed Oxford Illustrated Histories series, offers the most authoritative account of Irish history yet published for the general reader. Written by an expert team of scholars--all of whom are native to Ireland--this richly illustrated work takes us from the very earliest prehistoric communities and first Christian settlements, through centuries of turbulent change and creativity, to the present day. Unlike earlier one-volume histories, which have tended toward oversimplification, this book emphasizes the paradoxes and ambiguities of Irish history, presenting a much more realistic picture. Why, for instance, are there such intense variations in agriculture, prosperity, and political affiliation in an island that compasses such a small area? And why do Victorian norms prevail in certain areas of 20th-century Irish life? In each chapter, the author marks new paths, redefining the preoccupations of the Irish and casting a cold eye on their ruling pieties.