"Even more so than the Young Ireland rising of 1848, the Fenian rebellion was an unqualified fiasco." So states Professor Hachey in the introduction to Britain and Irish Separatism. He goes from there to analyze the almost forty years of unsuccessful efforts by Irish and British leaders to reach a constitutional solution to "the Irish question," a failure that culminated in the resurgence of revolutionary separatism, the Easter Rising of 1916, and the growth of Sinn Fein. The Irish War for Independence and the Partition Compromise of 1921 are explored in detail, as is the relationship between Irish separatism and American politics, and the international impact of a free Ireland. - Back cover.