This collection makes a special contribution to the development of the "new British history"—which seeks to explore in a comparative framework the history of the national entities that constitute the two islands of the Atlantic Archipelago. The contributors represent the four constituent national communities, and their essays provide a further corrective to the Anglocentric bias of traditional British history. Generally the book sheds light on current debates concerning "the Union" and devolution as well as on Britain's historic and continuing "Irish problem."