Ireland's Czar

James H. Murphy, Professor of English at DePaul University, Chicago, is a leading scholar of nineteenth-century Ireland, working in political history and the history of fiction. Recent books include Irish Novelists and the Victorian Age (2011) and, as editor, The Oxford History of the Irish Book, Vol. 4, The Irish Book in English, 1800-91 (2011).

• Contents: Acknowledgements; List of Abbreviations; Introduction: Inhabiting the Lord Lieutenancy; Government and Monarchy; Church and Amnesty; Land and Fenians; Coercion and Home Rule; Hartington and Westmeath; Callan and Universities; Reshuffle and Departure; Empress and Land War; Return and Treaty; Murder and Prosecution; Crimes Act and Police; Massacre and Tyranny; Accusing Spirits and Local Government; Franchise and Dynamite; Visits and Invasion; Castle and Commons; Central Board and Royalty; Maamtrasna and Hawarden; Gladstone and Chamberlain; Parnell and Spencer; Conclusion: Eroding the Link; Notes; Index.

'James Murphy has performed historians a great service by shedding light on one of Ireland's less well-known viceroys in his latest book ... This work adds to the recent trend among historians of nineteenth-century Ireland to investigate Dublin castle administration in more detail.'Journal of Liberal History, Summer 2016 'This substantial and authoritative book argues that the "bifurcated government" of Ireland from Westminster and Dublin Castle allowed all the odium of coercion to fall on Spencer.' October 2014, Donal McCartney, The Irish Times 'Spencer's approach to Ireland mirrored that of his political mentor, Gladstone. He believed in firm government - coercion as deemed necessary to preserve law and order - but accompanied by real reform in the areas of land, education, religion and infrastructure.' September 2014 Felix M Larkin, The Irish Catholic