Customer Reviews

Hope Against History: The Course of Conflict in Northern Ireland

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In Hope Against History, Jack Holland combines excellent writing with razor-sharp analysis in one of the best books about the Troubles I have ever read. His is an honest account of the last 30 years in Northern Ireland, from the civil rights movement and the birth of the Provisional IRA and the loyalist paramilitaries to the signing of the Good Friday agreement. It also offers a logical and well-researched analysis of why and how the Provisional IRA lost the war. Hope Against History is a must for all readers of Irish history.

Having family in Belfast I found this book to be both interesting and factual. It is difficult at best to try to understand the ins and outs of the "Troubles", but Holland takes a neutral approach in explaining how events have transpired since 1966. I found new information that makes me think that both sides screwed up the peace process and how the English are just as ruthless as the IRA, if maybe not more so. The book cleared up a few questions I had on Bloody Sunday and other pertinent dates in this war. Holland should be commended for keeping the details interesting and at the same time informative. The "Troubles" will never really be a victory for either side but at least it is a little easier to see how things have progressed or regressed through the years. It is hard to stop a war, especially one thats been off and on since the 1100s. May peace be with both sides and the killing stops.

As I followed the progress of the Good Friday agreement (or, rather, lack thereof), I realized that I knew little about the Northern Irish Troubles before 1995 or so. My salvation came in the shape of this book, which recounts the major events between 1966 and 1998 clearly and intelligibly. It is easy to become lost in the endless cycle of violence and even more violent retribution, yet somehow Holland keeps it focused and readable. His viewpoint even seems to remain objective throughout--surprising, surprising all the hot blood surrounding the issues he discusses. I found it a compelling (albeit grisly) read and have a better understanding for it.

Hope against History is an accessible, fascinating account and could easily be used as a textbook on the "troubles" of Northern Ireland. Holland provides all the gritty details of life in the war torn ghettoes of Belfast and Derry and does a great job of bringing the conflict to life for the reader. Not only is it a fine history of the conflict but a very engaging portrayal of Northern Ireland culture, both protestant and catholic. A must read for anyone with even a passing interest in Irish or British history and a wonderfully quick read for those well acquainted with all the violence and horror of the Troubles.

This history of the Troubles is chocked full of people and places involved with the Northern Ireland Struggle. The volume of names shows the depth of research conducted by the author. Hope Against History gives a good basis to begin in dpeth reading on the various actors involved. This book clarifies the divisions in the military and political struggle.

Holland deserves credit for writing a book that makes the Troubles accessible to readers who really don't know much about it, but I have to say, having read other books on the subject (Coogan, Bell, Moloney) and having followed events in NI for years, I found his analysis too often simplistic and facile, particularly as relates to the recent Peace Process. Read Ed Moloney's "Secret History of the IRA" and you'll know what I'm talking about.

a great book that shows the complexities of a war in which the IRA both won and lost, and in which the british government and prodestent paramilitaries played an active role in both fostering and finally helping to end.