Carson's Army

The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) was established in January 1913, as a militant expression of Ulster Unionist opposition to the Third Home Rule Bill. Academic historians have tended to overlook Ulster Loyalism. This book provides the first comprehensive study of the UVF in this period, considering in detail the composition of the officer corps, the marked regional recruiting differences, the ideologies involved, the arming and equipping of the UVF and the contingency plans made by UVF Headquarters in the event of Home Rule being imposed on Ulster. Using previously neglected sources, it demonstrates that the UVF was better armed and less well-trained, with the involvement of fewer British army officers than previous historians have allowed, and suggests that the UVF was quite capable of seizing control of Ulster and installing the Ulster Provisional Government in the event of Home Rule being implemented in 1914. This book will be essential reading for military and Irish historians and their students, and will interest any general reader interested in modern paramilitary forces.

ISBN 0719073715   Pages 256 ISBN13 9780719073717 (What's this?)   Volumes 001 Publisher Manchester University Press   Weight (grammes) 454 Imprint Manchester University Press   Published in Manchester Format Hardback   Height (mm) 216 Publication date 01 Nov 2007   Width (mm) 138 Library of Congress DA990   Spine width (mm) 27 DEWEY 941.60821   Academic level Undergraduate, Postgraduate DEWEY edition DC22

		List of tables
		Acknowledgements
		List of abbreviations
		Map
		Introduction		1
1		The origins of Ulster Unionist militancy, 1885-1912		15
2		'An armed democracy'? The social composition and ideological basis of the UVF		45
3		Command, control and military efficiency		76
4		Parades and propaganda: the public face of the UVF		116
5		Arms, equipment and finance		135
6		War and decline, 1914-19		163
7		The revival and demise of the UVF, 1920-22		190
		Conclusion		205
		Select bibliography		210
		Index		227

"An impressive piece of work which is certain to be the standard account for many years to come." Dr John Newsinger, Bath Spa University"

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