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RIDDELL, PATRICK: : FIRE OVER ULSTER

LONDON.HAMISH HAMILTON,1970.

ISBN 0241019125.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.NFINE/VG-.No owner inscrpt,but price-clipped dw/dj.Glossy red+ black,street rioting scenic photograph to front panel of dw/dj with white lettering,white spine with b/w lettering,and palin green rear panel; with ninimal shelf-wear but several closed tears of varying but small size,some but not all,also with minimal loss,to all edges other than head+ foot of spine/backstrip.Closed tears,splits with some miniscule chipping and loss but with sellotape strengthening/repair both externally and internally.Top+fore-edges mildly toned with faint,sporadic dust-flecking to top edges and very faint,sporadic foxing/spotting to fore-edges; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - text body near pristine and no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners - appears unread,apart from my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,unblemished,sharp-cornered,original plain red cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt letters+publisher's colophon to spine/ backstrip and clean plain white endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,vii -xivpp+3-208pp [paginated] includes acknowledgements,author's own foreword, Pts I+2 comprising 6 chapters and an Interlude and 4 chapters respectively,and a 2pp bibliography; plus [unpaginated] half-title+ title pages,a dedication,individual Pts separator pages and 2pp blanks at the rear. A book in a remarkable state of preservation (dw/dj aside) and cleanliness not normally encountered in a book of this age. 'Fire Over Ulster' is an indictment of ignorance and intolerance,and the author spares no one in his unbiased and poignant expose of a serious situation and its causes.As he says in his Foreword: 'The story of Ireland is a sorry one.The English,throughout the centuries of their oppression of Ireland,never really tried to understand the Irish'.And,he contends, they do not make the attempt today.He recalls the vital help given by Ulster to Britain in two world wars,both militarily and industrially.This loyal assistance has been forgotten,the politicians at Westminster preferring to criticise Ulster for its present state of affairs rather than spare a word of gratitude for past deeds. But it is not the English who receive the sharpest analysis,it is the Irish themselves.Mr Riddell is impartial in his judgement.Harsh words are reserved for the Irish Roman Catholic Hierarchy as well as for the Orange Order,for Ian Paisley as much as Bernadette Devlin. And,setting his dissection of the recent appalling events which have injured Belfast, Londonderry and indeed the whole of Ulster against an historical background,he has been able to show the path to near-ruin.There are few heroes on this particular stage,although Lord Graigavon,Ulster's first Prime Minister,and Terence O'Neill emerge almost unscathed,and the play is inevitably confused,containing as it does so many elements of prejudice,bitterness and sheer contrary stubborness; but Patrick Riddell has brought great clarity,and charity,to bear on these fogged issues.'Who could write a book about the Irish and be certain of anything? he wonders.Without doubt,however,he has succeeded in weaving together a large number of things,from the anti-British behaviour of De Valera during the last war,through the findings of the Cameron Commission to the superiority of the Ulster economy over that of the Irish Republic,into a most convincing book. 'Fire Over Ulster' presents the facts with scrupulous fairness and gives the best available picture of a country torn by controversy. Partick Riddell was born in Belfast in 1904.He entered the Ulster Civil Service in 1922,and later worked as a civil servant in London.After repeated attempts to join the Armed Forces from 1939,he was finally admitted to the Royal Marines in 1943,and served in the Mediterranean. He re-entered the Ulster Civil Service after demobilisation,and retired in 1960 to become a full-time writer and columnist for the Belfast 'Sunday News'.He has written over seventy radio plays for the BBC,as well as half-a-dozen stage plays. Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas customers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! ** N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these desinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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