George Boyce – författare

This book combines an analysis of the ideas and policies that governed the British experience of decolonization. It shows how the British, perhaps more correctly the English, political tradition, with its emphasis on experience over abstract theory, was integral to the way in which the empire was regarded as being transformed rather than lost. This was a significant aspect of the relatively painless British loss of empire. It places the process of decolonization in its wider context, tracing the twentieth-century domestic and international conditions that hastened decolonization, and, through a close analysis of not only the policy choices but also the language of British imperialism, it throws new light on the British way of managing both the expansion and contraction of empire.

This book combines an analysis of the ideas and policies that governed the British experience of decolonization. It shows how the British, perhaps more correctly the English, political tradition, with its emphasis on experience over abstract theory, was integral to the way in which the empire was regarded as being transformed rather than lost. This was a significant aspect of the relatively painless British loss of empire. It places the process of decolonization in its wider context, tracing the twentieth-century domestic and international conditions that hastened decolonization, and, through a close analysis of not only the policy choices but also the language of British imperialism, it throws new light on the British way of managing both the expansion and contraction of empire.

The problems of modern Ireland have attracted the attention of many British political leaders from Gladstone to Major. Attempts to formulate a 'solution' have been governed by the British perception of what the problem is, and by the structures, as well as the ideas of British party politics and British political life: Ireland was never a laboratory in which dispassionate political experiments could be conducted. Modern Ireland has been shaped by British policy, and this has itself been influenced by British political habits and traditions, social and economic reforms, and new governmental institutions have been applied by politicians both of the left and the right. The 'Framework Documents' represent the latest attempt to achieve what Gladstone, David Lloyd George and Neville Chamberlain sought, and failed to achieve: a lasting settlement of the political divisions within Ireland, and between Ireland the Great Britain. This book places the Irish question in the wider context of the history of the British Isles, and thus seeks to explain its special place in British history as the 'Oldest Question', and as a question for contemporary Britain. Fully revised and with a new chapter to bring the analysis up to 1996, this new edition of Professor Boyce's work will be widely acclaimed.

The Falklands War of 1982 was a small war, but one with large resonances. The Argentine invasion of the one of the few remaining British colonies on 2 April might have been prevented by a more coherent British foreign policy, better intelligence analysis, and military precautions; and once the crisis began, it could have possibly ended by negotiation. Instead it involved both countries in a short, but intense, conflict which cost the lives of 255 British, and 625 Argentine, personnel.The Falklands War- Examines the interaction between military force and diplomacy, shedding light on their often hidden relationship- Explores the deeply personal response of the British and Argentine public to the conflict- Assesses the relationship between the Government and the media, and considers the interpretation of the war in Britain- Analyses the effect of the conflict on the concept of 'Thatcher's Britain'The Falklands War exemplified what one historian has called the 'myriad faces of war'. It was the last war which Britain fought outside a coalition or an international organisation, and, far from being marginal to Britain's key role as part of the defence system against the Soviet threat, it held a mirror up to the face of the British people in the late twentieth century.Authoritative and clear, this is the ideal introduction for anyone with an interest in one of Britain's most significant military engagements, its impact and consequences.

This book traces the history of Ireland from the Catholic Emancipation of 1829 to the establishment of the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland in 1922. The book argues that partition was the only way of limiting civil war in a country where democracy was inextricably linked to sectarianism. The book also examines the role of the British government in effecting this transtition.

Between 1885 and 1921 the question of Irish Home Rule became increasingly focused on the province of Ulster, and especially on Ulster Unionist responses to a Dublin parliament. This book explores the making of a specifically Ulster dimension to this crisis and its impact on Ulster politics. D. George Boyce and Alan O'Day also trace its outcome in the partition of Ireland and the establishment of a Home Rule parliament in Northern Ireland - an outcome which still has resonances today.