Overview

Ireland is Britain's closest neighbor--the sea crossing from Scotland measures only twelve miles. Ireland was also its first conquered territory in what became Britain's empire. The two nation's stories have been intertwined since Anglo-Norman invaders crossed the Irish Sea during the twelfth century. These Troubled Isles tells the extraordinary history of the past century in this tumultuous relationship, from the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1922 to the present day. This is a tale of deep division between Catholic nationalism and Protestant unionism, of wars and terrorist violence, and of occasional moments of great courage on the part of British and Irish leaders. Today, the post-Brexit weakening of the United Kingdom's constitutional ties has coincided with the march of demography in Northern Ireland as the Protestant unionist majority continues to shrink. Sinn Fein's historic string of electoral victories in Northern Ireland since 2022 has once more resurfaced the unfinished business of partition. Here, Philip Stephens explores how Ireland might escape its troubled past by deploying history to inform the future rather than hold it in place.

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Philips Stephens is an award-winning journalist and contributing editor at the Financial Times, where he was previously director of the Editorial Board and chief political commentator. Both British and Irish, having been brought up in London with roots in Co Mayo, his illustrious career has landed him unique access to foreign policymakers in Britain and around the world. Stephens has won the David Watt Prize for Outstanding Political Journalism and Political Journalist of the Year in the British Press Awards. He is the author of Politics and the Pound, Tony Blair, and Britain Alone, but These Troubled Isles is his first book to be published in America. Philip lives in England. Martyn Swain is a former NATO simultaneous interpreter. For more than thirty years, he interpreted in French and English for the world's senior diplomats and international organizations. He interpreted personally for Nelson Mandela shortly after his release from prison in South Africa in 1990. He is a professional audiobook narrator (APA and PANA member) with a home studio. He has significant titles (Christopher Hitchens, KJ Charles, John Marco Allegro, Bob van Laerhoven, Jung, Clausewitz, Heidegger, Popper, Thomas Aquinas, among others) to his credit. In the 1980s, he spent four years traveling the world by motorbike, summiting Kilimanjaro, and crossing the South Atlantic under sail. Martyn's French is native speaker level. He also speaks German and Spanish. He has acted on stage and screen, produced and voiced content for current affairs radio, and tutored in media and presentation skills.

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