s new edition of Emmet O'Connor's classic and pioneering work on Irish labor history, providing an introduction for the general reader and a synopsis for the specialist. The first edition, which covered 1824 to 1960, has been updated to the year 2000 with the inclusion of three new chapters on developments in the Republic and Northern Ireland. In addition to providing a challenging overview of labor's past, O'Connor addresses industrial relations and political issues of contemporary relevance. He has taken full account of new research on labor and argued that events in Ireland can only be understood in an international context.