"'...either they or we must be ruined' "concluded Archbishop William King of Protestant Catholic relations in Ireland. And this, argues Padraig Lenihan, was the default state of relations between the two communities throughout the 17th century.

This groundbreaking and controversial new study tells the story of two nations in Ireland; an Irish Catholic nation and a Protestant nation, emerging from a blood-stained century. This survey confronts the violence and enmity inherent in the consolidation of conquest. This was the age of:

- the Ulster plantation

- Cromwell's conquest and post-war settlement.

- the battles of the Boyne and Aughrim, the sieges of Derry and Limerick.

- the economic and parliamentary foundations of Protestant ascendancy.

Lenihan contends that the overriding grand narrative of this period was one of conflict and dispossession as the native elite""was progressively displaced""by a new colonial ruling class. This struggle was not confined to war but also had cultural, religious, economic and social reverberations. At times the darkness was relieved throughout the period by episodes of peaceful cooperation. "Consolidating Conquest" places events in Ireland in the context of three Stuart kingdoms, religious rivalry within and between those kingdoms, and the shifting balance of power as monarchy and commonwealth, Whitehall and Westminster, fought for ultimate power.

If the project of creating a common Irish national identity, embracing Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter was for the most part a failure, and divisions between 'native' and 'newcomer' froze into permanence, then the explanation must be sought in the catastrophic seventeenth-century. "Consolidating Conquest" shows how this failure has left a legacy of contending histories which offer material for latter day triumphalism and victimhood. For any student wishing to understand Ireland's troubled past and complex present, this book is essential reading.

Padraig Lenihan lectures in history at the University of Limerick. His recent publications include, "Conquest and Resistance: War in 17th Century Ireland" (2001) and "1690 the Battle of the Boyne" (2003).""

1. Reform to conquest 1534-1603 2. Consolidating conquest 3.Plantation 1608-22 4. English, Old and New 1613-40 5. Rising 1641-42 6. God or King? 1642-49 7. Cromwellian conquest and settlement 1649-59 8. Charles II 1660-85 9. James II 1685-91 10. Parliament, patronage and 'patriots' 1692-1727 11. Land and people Conclusion: Wars and Peace