This book is a shorter companion book to The Real History of Ireland: Warts and All. It deals systematically with the social and economic aspects of Ireland from the earliest days until 1921. Many books with regard to the history of Ireland suffer to a greater or lesser degree of political or ideological distortion. It was always the author's aim to get at the actual facts of Irish history and to paint a picture with warts and all. Events are placed in their historical context and not in the context of later political propaganda.