The history and legacy of the war that shaped the Irish political landscape for decades, by Ireland's most prominent historian.

THE IRISH BESTSELLER 'Ferriter has richly earned his reputation as one of Ireland's leading historians' Irish Independent 'Absorbing ... A fascinating exploration of the Civil War and its impact on Ireland and Irish politics' Irish Times In June 1922, just seven months after Sinn Féin negotiators signed a compromise treaty with representatives of the British government to create the Irish Free State, Ireland collapsed into civil war. While the body count suggests it was far less devastating than other European civil wars, it had a harrowing impact on the country and cast a long shadow, socially, economically and politically, which included both public rows and recriminations and deep, often private traumas. Drawing on many previously unpublished sources and newly released archival material, one of Ireland's most renowned historians lays bare the course and impact of the war and how this tragedy shaped modern Ireland.

"Simply outstanding ... Between Two Hells takes us closer to the messy truth behind independent Ireland's birth pangs than ever before" - Irish Independent

"Original and arresting" - Sunday Times Ireland

"Meticulously researched, judiciously balanced and unflinching ... breaks new ground" - Sunday Business Post

"Excellent ... Diarmaid Ferriter, Ireland's best-known and most prolific historian ... enriches lucid and judicious accounts of events and personalities with fresh archival evidence" - BBC History Magazine

"Fascinating ... absorbing" - Irish Times

"Praise for A Nation and Not a Rabble: 'Very illuminating detail...simply setting violent events in context is a step forward. Thoughtful, balanced, even handed" - Irish Times

"Ferriter's book is of such comprehensive and original scope...immensely readable and impressive" - Sunday Business Post

"...The mighty mind this book comes from... rightly renowned for his voracious learning" - Sunday Times

"Tugs at the tapestry of myths surrounding the independence struggle and the civil war that followed...A tremendous feat of documentation" - The Independent