The Home Rule Bill, passed by the British parliament in 1912, was due, when it came into effect in 1914, to give Ireland some control over her own affairs for the first time since the Act of Union in 1800. However, this was postponed when the First World War broke out and by the time the war had ended the political landscape in Ireland had changed irrevocably. The respected historians who have contributed to this book examine the reaction to the Home Rule Bill across many shades of political opinion across these islands and give a fascinating analysis of what might have been if external events had not overtaken local ones.