Historical. May 2006. Posted July 2014. Revised and re-posted May 2018.
The essay accounts for the major events and changes that took place in Ireland during the first half of the 17th century and compares them with modern perceptions of this period in an attempt to understand the dynamics of myth and fact in present-day tensions in Northern Ireland.
Historical. May 1996. Posted June 2014. Revised and re-posted May 2018.
In the midst of the war between England and revolutionary France, a minority of craftsmen rose up in revolt in the heart of industrial Northern England. They were named the “the Luddites”. Indignant at seeing their livelihoods and freedoms threatened by the increased use of machinery, they protested, rioted, and carried out sabotage.
The essay accounts for the conditions and events which led to the activities of the Luddites, the nature of those activities and the organisation of the Luddites, and how the British government responded to the situation.