Based on contemporary materials and a synthesis of the works of recent scholars, Frances Godwin James’s monograph clarifies the role of Ireland in the British Empire and compares Ireland with the American colonies. A large part of the book is devoted to political history and treats such subjects as the settlement of the Treaty of Limerick at the end of the war of 1689–1691, the shaping or Irish governmental structure during Anne’s reign, the growth of an Irish opposition group under George I, and imperial events during the reign of George II.