The Green Divide: An Illustrated History of the Irish Civil War

The Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 proved to be the rock on which the Irish nationalist consensus, formed during the preceding decade, foundered. A split between the pro- and anti-Treaty sides grew and both positions became entrenched. No side wanted a war, but as events unfolded, there was an inexorable descent towards armed strife and the Irish Civil War began. As the conflict expanded, the anti-Treaty IRA retreated to remote areas and fought a guerrilla war. The anti-Treaty side had already lost the struggle by March 1923, when IRA Chief-of-Staff Liam Lynch was shot on a bleak mountainside. The events of the conflict of 1922-23 are brought alive and explained in a readable and clear style, in this richly illustrated book, with over 400 photographs and images.