the conduct of contemporary affairs, Loughlin fires insight after insight straight at his targets: it is thus a pity that he too raises no questions about the state of Irish historiography and its all-Ireland bird's-eye view. It is, indeed, almost overwhelming to be confronted with the wholly convincing argument that unionists lost out because of a sea change in the nature of Britishness, then left without any consideration whatsoever of the consequences for the writing of Northern Ireland's history. To Loughlin, the real dichotomy for unionists has not been the varieties of Irishness one, but more the North-South divide which everyone recognises in England. This, he explains, was fluid up until the late nineteenth century, at which point the image of the hard, industrial and non-conformist Briton began to lose out to the gentle, rural and Anglican/ tolerant alternative. As this succeeded a period in which the advent of objective history made it increasingly difficult to perpetuate traditional prejudices against Roman Catholics, the effect was to deprive Ulster Unionists of their traditional levels of support in Great Britain. This, if true, seems about as fine an explanation of Irish historical events and present senses of alienation as can be imagined, so we have much cause to thank Loughlin for his willingness to write within a UK context. It is even more impressive to consider his claim that Germany invaded Belgium in order to stave off Home Rule for Ireland, nestled as it is amongst other remarks which make it seem as natural to treat Northern Ireland as a part of a British Isles scene as it has seemed unnatural in the past.

Loughlin's research stands out as exemplary, although the errata slip pointing us towards a section on overseas projections of images does hint at some last minute or sloppy work. Additionally, he tells us that just ten of the soldiers of the Ulster Division were Roman Catholics, though in fact there were 174 in its 15th (Young Citizen Volunteers) Battalion upon formation in October, 1914. Apart from that, it is hard to fault his research. That most minor of minor local newspapers - the Tyrone Constitution - crops up several times, casting light on very local attitudes and allowing the view of, rather than from, Belfast to be developed. Buried away in the text is the fascinating announcement that the bones of victims of the 1641 massacre were unearthed in 1891, at which point they must have become a formidable evocation of the past. Of the young men and women of 1968 he notes that they were most motivated by the desire for industry and houses - and backs it up.

If there is a flaw in his approach, it is that he is far more skilled in research than writing. Indeed, at times the pettiness of some of the comments is amazing. For instance, Loughlin argues that: 'As a culturally distinct community Ulster Unionists can be defined as an ethnic group, but an ethnic group is not necessarily the same