Description
Book SynopsisThis title provides an authoritative account of the wars between Britain and Ireland in the 17th century.William III's defeat of James II's Catholic army at the Battle of the Boyne on 1 July 1690 ended the Stuart dynasty's last hope of survival. It has also been central, together with the siege of Londonderry, to the foundation myth of Northern Ireland. John Childs, the leading military historian of the period, gives a clear and authoritative account of the campaign in all its stages.
Trade ReviewChild's book is especially noteworthy in that naval operations during this war are examined thoroughly, and he is good on the battlefield tactic of the contestants. Off the battlefield, Childs is adept at unravelling the command rivalries that undermined the Jacobite war effort...In his preface, Childs writes modestly that 'an Englishman coming late in his career to the history of Ireland is constantly aware of his ignorance': but his concerns are misplaced, for he easily sails over the hurdles. * The International History Review, September 2009 *
There is much to commend in Child's work...a lively writing style with occasional flashes of humor and a high-spirited gleeful delight in the trivial. The general reader and the military historian can dip into this book with profit. * The Historian, 2010 *
Table of ContentsMaps; Abbreviations; Note on dates; Note on distances; Note on spelling and punctuation; Note on maps and place names; Preface; 1. Preliminaries, 1688; 2. Practical Matters; 3. Towards War, 1689; 4. The Break of Dromore and the retreat to Coleraine; 5. Clady and the Ards Peninsula. 6. The Defence of Derry and Enniskillen; 7. General Kirke; 8. Endurance; 9. The relief of Derry and Newtownbutler; 10. A tired Old Man; 11. Sligo and Dundalk; 12. Winter operations, 1689-90; 13. The Battle of Boyne; 14. From Dublin to Limerick; 15. The first siege of Limerick; 16. Cork and Kinsale; 17. A war of posts and ambuscades; 18. Spring 1691; 19. Ballymore and Athlone; 20. Aughrim and Galway; 21. The Curious Affair at Sligo, or the banalities of the small war; 22. The second siege of Limerick; 23. Dispersal; Notes; Select bibliography; Index.
