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BECKETT, IAN F.W., EDITOR. The Army and the Curragh Incident, 1914. Publications of the Army Records Society Vol. 2.
Bodley Head / Army Records Society, London, 1986, first edition.. 456 pp, 8vo (8 3/4" H), hard cover in dust jacket. ISBN 0370307380 "The events at the Curragh Camp near Dublin on 20/21 March 1914, and the drama continued in London over the following nine days, have a special significance in British military his tory. The outline of the story is well enough known: Brig.-General Hubert Gough and fellow-officers in the 3rd Cavalry Brigade threatened to resign rather than implement what seemed to them a policy of coercing Ulster into accepting Irish Ho m e R u l e ; Gough secured a written guarantee from J.E.B. Seely, Secretary of State for War, that the army would not be so employed; Asquith's Liberal cabinet, however, repudiated the guarantee, which led Seely to resign, along with the Chief of th e I mp er ia l General Staff Field Marshal Sir John French and the Adjutant General Lt-General Sir John Spencer Ewart. Although sometimes erroneously referred to as a 'Mutiny', the Curragh Incident does remain one of the very few occasions in mo der n ti mes wh en th e army asserted itself in face of the civil power in peacetime..The Incident has hitherto generally been seen in terms either of a Liberal plot to coerce Ulster or of a military plot to thwart the democratic process. By emp hasi si ng the wide r i mpa ct of the Incident on the army, this selection of original documents illuminates a number of aspects that have gone unremarked. The army's increasing concern that it might be drawn into civil war in Ulster is illustrated , and th e a ccep ted v ersi on o f events in Ireland and London is shown in a new light. New evidence shows the impact of the Curragh Incident on the army outside Ireland, and on the Royal Navy's attitude. The common assumption that Asquith's as suming the off ice o f Secr etary of S tate for War on 31 March 1914 closed the Incident is shown here to be false - the morale of the army and the officer corps continued to be affected by the Incident and its aftermath right up to the outbreak of the Great War. (Thi s book) throw s impo rtant new light both on British militay history and the ever present Irish 'problem'." Previous owner's small stamp on front pastedown, very light browning to pages, tiny stain on front hinge, bump to top of spine and r ear hin ge area, two ti ny ligh t marks on rear board, light browning to edges of textblock. Dust jacket has small color surface paper loss (scuff) with tiny perforation and heavy creasing at top of rear hinge/spine area - mi nor edge wrinkl ing els ewhere, minor rub bing. V ery Good -/Very Good-.
Offered for US$ 36.00 by: Capricorn Books - Book number: 18617
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