John Fanning dedicated his life to the study and understanding of history, earning his doctorate from Cambridge University. His academic career spanned prestigious institutions in the US, UK, and Ireland, where he ultimately became Professor Emeritus of Modern History. Fanning played a significant role in the Northern Irish peace process, advocating for dialogue and securing American involvement. His profound contribution to Irish scholarship is further evidenced by his chief editorship of the Dictionary of Irish Biography.
This is a magisterial narrative of the most turbulent decade in Anglo-Irish history: a decade of unleashed passions that came close to destroying the parliamentary system and to causing civil war in the United Kingdom. It was a time, argues Ronan Fanning, when violence and the threat of violence trumped democratic politics.