"Between 1885 and 1921 Irish Home Rule became increasingly focused on the province of Ulster, and especially on Ulster Unionist resistance to the prospect of submission to a Nationalist dominated parliament in Dublin. British, Irish and imperial issues were consequently fought out on narrow ground. As Ulster Unionists moved from defiance to the threat of armed resistance, raising the possibility of civil war throughout the United Kingdom, they helped to radicalise Irish Nationalism. this present British political parties, and the public, with a serious moral dilemma: how justifiable was it to place a distinct community under a majority whose supremacy was hated and feared by the Ulster Protestant minority? Furthermore, how did the resolution of this question help to turn the Ulster Protestant minority into a majority in six counties in Ulster? Using new material and new theoretical approaches, this collection of wide-ranging essays explores these issues from various angles. In so doing, it illuminates one of the most significant political and moral questions ever to confront the United Kingdom, and the attempts made to resolve it. Together these essays provide the first recourse for students and teachers, and are essential reading for all with an interest in the history of this troubled region of Northern Ireland." -- Back cover.