thegeneral: Phoenix's work was the first to analyse the political affects of partition on the Nationalist community in the North and it is particularly interesting as a result. He examines how the political scene was affected by the events of the Rising and the War of Independence and how the Home Rule Party was competing with Sinn Féin. The events of the Treaty settlement and life under Stormont are analysed also.… (more)

thegeneral: This is an important book as it was one of the first to give an indepth examination of the foundation and gestation of the SDLP. The role, genius, skills and flaws of John Hume, the main character, are outlined in equal measure with an analysis of the short and long-term effects they had on his party. The Good Friday or Belfast Agreement can be seen to have had its genesis in SDLP policy documents from 1975 onwards and it encapsulates their thinking completely. Furthermore the book outlines how Sinn Féin came to endorse both this language and analysis and, as the conclusion implied, subsequently supplanted the SDLP as the main Northern nationalist party as a result. The book documented how reliant the SDLP was on Hume and how having little desire for a vibrant grassroots organisation can see a party being supplanted.… (more)

thegeneral: This is a very impressive book. In general historical analyses of the SDLP are sadly lacking despite their significant role in brokering the PIRA ceasefire in 1994 and the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 while vast reams have been written about Provisional Sinn Féin and the PIRA. In this book both parties are directly compared from their foundation up until 2004 and changes in their policies are analysed throughout this time. The book clearly demonstrates how much of SDLP policy that was developed in the 1970s found its way into the GFA while also analysing how Sinn Féin’s political position continued to change until it came to be indistinguishable from the SDLP. The sacrifices made by the SDLP are also demonstrated and their weaker political organisation could not compete with Sinn Féin once the latter had been fully cleansed in America, Europe and the rest of the world.… (more)