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"Irish historians have not been kind to Henry Cooke (the Black Man). Some have described him as a fiery demagogue; some as a canting hypocrite who imported violent anti-Catholicism from his native Derry into Belfast; and others as a man determined to establish the perpetual dominance of the Protestants in Ireland. But, as Andrew Boyd explains in ""Montgomery and the Black Man"", Henry Cooke was not the lone bigot that so many imagine him to have been. His anti-Catholic demonstrations in Belfast were often part of much wider demonstrations throughout the whole of the United Kingdom. Anti-Catholicism was a dominant feature in the politics and theology of Victorian England. Henry Cooke was undoubtedly a highly influential and eloquent enemy of the Catholic Church. Yet he might well have been a doctor of medicine, a scientist or a professor of literature had he not chosen to be a Presbyterian minister. He was above all never afraid to confront those whom he believed to be his enemies. ""Montgomery and the Black Man"" deals with both Henry Cooke and his rival Henry Montgomery and claims that neither of those two eminent Victorian clergymen were exactly what popular tradition has so far assumed them to be."

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9781856075176

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Andrew Boyd, now retired, was a broadcaster, journalist and political commentator for more years than he cares to remember. Starting in 1969 with Holy War in Belfast he has published seven books on different aspects of the Northern Ireland problem and three on the history and ethos of the trade unions in Ireland. He has also written profiles of Jack White, first commander of the Irish Citizen Army, and of Jim Connell, the Irishman who write 'The Red Flag'. His essay on R. R. Madden, author of The Lives and Times of the United Irishmen, is in the 2005 edition of Seanchas Ard Mhacha.

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