A Union Forever

David Sim examines how Irish nationalists and their American sympathizers tried to convince legislators and statesmen to use the global influence of the United States to achieve Irish independence.

David Sim is Lecturer in US History at University College London.

With this book, David Sim extends that growing understanding of the importance of Ireland and its American diaspora into the period from the 1840s to the 1890s. One intriguing aspect of the book is that Sim admits from the start that the Irish-American effort to enlist the United States in an attempt to free Ireland failed. The book is an important contribution to a number of fields. By exploring the role of nonstate actors and public opinion on American foreign relations, A Union Forever adds to the growing exploration of that topic. In its treatment of Irish American nationalism's interest in harnessing American policy, the book expands our understanding of the history of Irish America. Because Sim covers all of this in light of the evolving Anglo-American relationship during the eighteenth century, he provides a better lens through which to explain how the later 'special relationship' evolved. It is an important read for historians of Ireland, Irish America, and American foreign relations.

William Jenkins:

Sim demonstrates a fine eye for nuance in a well-researched and clearly written study that contributes significantly to works on Irish American nationalism, transnational political history, and the history of U.S. foreign policy.

Jason Opal, McGill University, author of Beyond the Farm: National Ambitions in Rural New England:

In A Union Forever, David Sim brilliantly illuminates the role of Irish nationals and nationalism in Anglo-American relations during the nineteenth century. Sim has crafted a convincing narrative about this central issue in the history of American foreign relations and the wider Atlantic world.

Brian Schoen, Ohio University, author of The Fragile Fabric of Union: Cotton, Federal Politics, and the Global Origins of the Civil War:

Bringing the nineteenth-century histories of Ireland and the United States together, David Sim offers an indispensable account of both, one that reveals how numerous domestic and foreign policy concerns conspired to initially elevate but ultimately undermine American support for Irish nationhood. Deeply researched, analytically precise, nuanced, and clearly written, A Union Forever is transnational political history at its best!

David A. Wilson, University of Toronto, author of United Irishmen, United States:

A Union Forever is a perceptive and persuasive analysis of the ways in which Irish American nationalists attempted to exploit Anglo-American tensions to advance the cause of Irish independence even as American statesmen attempted to fit 'the Irish Question' into their own domestic and diplomatic goals. David Sim effectively brings out the central irony of Irish American nationalist activities: A campaign that was intended to create the space for Irish independence by driving Britan and the United States further apart actually resulted in closer Anglo-American cooperation on the key issues of citizenship, neutrality, and extradition.