In The Shortest History of Ireland, James Hawes presents Irish history as a whole new story that is as captivating as a novel: galloping from the Ice Age to the present, this book will completely change the way people see the Irish past – and future.

For the first time, Hawes charts the absolute centrality of Ireland's links to its real Mainland – Europe – and to its exiled children in America. For centuries Europe provided hope in the face of near-genocidal colonisation – and then Greater Ireland (as it was sometimes called) across the Atlantic took over: the Fenian rebels had a grand HQ on Union Square, and the orders for the 1916 Easter Rising were wired from New York. The modern revelation of Ireland since JFK's iconic 1963 visit as a land naturally peaceful and prosperous has been enabled by America and the EEC/EU, often in the teeth of Westminster. Today, Ireland just has to sidestep – with their help – the last, toxic wreckage of the British Empire, and that fascinating past will flow into a bright future.

This is popular history at its thrilling best.