The crisis of Ulster Unionism and the future of Northern Ireland

The fissures that have split the United Kingdom in the last decades have run through Northern Ireland. Since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the fragile peace has been threatened by Brexit, the rise and fall of the D U P and the failure of power-sharing arrangement between the main parties at the Stormont Assembly. As the very future of Northern Ireland is now in jeopardy, will Britain face up to its imperial legacy and address the deep inequalities that remain in the aftermath of the Troubles, and the uneven development of the 'New Ireland'?

Geoffrey Bell offers an insightful history of Ulster Unionism from the 1960s to the present day. In recent years this has come to a crisis point. What is the future of the Union in the post-Brexit reality? How will the relationship between Northern Ireland and Westminster develop? Can the United Kingdom survive?

"Powerful...I agree with much of what Bell says...A committed supporter of reunification...[Bell] has written extensively, and with disdain, about the history of unionism." - Sunday Times

"[Bell] offers a portrait of a community in political and demographic decline - but which will be vital to the success of any future reunification ... a solid if sombre case that there is no end in sight to "division, prejudice and inequality" in a future united state." - Financial Times

"A clear and concise explanation of how Northern Ireland got to where it is today and how support for Unionism continues to fragment. That is no easy task. Geoff Bell succeeds." - Counterfire

"An excellent survey of Unionism in Northern Ireland" - Chartist