Parkinson, Alan F.

PERSONAL:

Male.

ADDRESSES:

Office—London South Bank University, 103 Borough Rd., London SE1 0AA, England. E-mail—parkinaf@lsbu.ac.uk.

CAREER:

Academic. London South Bank University, London, England, senior lecturer in history and education.

WRITINGS:

Ulster Loyalism and the British Media, Four Courts Press (Dublin, Ireland), 1998.

Belfast's Unholy War: The Troubles of the 1920s, Four Courts Press (Dublin, Ireland), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS:

Alan F. Parkinson is senior lecturer in history and education at South Bank University in London, England. He is also the author of two books, Ulster Loyalism and the British Media, published in 1998, and Belfast's Unholy War: The Troubles of the 1920s, published in 2004. Belfast's Unholy War looks at street violence in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in the early 1920s during the Irish War of Independence; most of the street violence was part of a guerrilla campaign leveled against the British government in Ireland by the Irish Republican Army. Specifically, the book seeks to answer why so many civilians in Belfast during that time were attacked by fellow citizens, the army, and the police. According to Irish Literary Supplement critic Aoife Bhreatnach, "Although the book contains invaluable information, it regrettably does little to illuminate the often ugly human motives behind violence in Northern Ireland. Since the author points out that the events of 1920-22 profoundly affected the psyche of both communities for decades, it is a pity that little more than the ‘bloody, gloomy and nihilistic’ aspects of the story emerge from this book. … Hate, murder and politics in Northern Ireland awaits systematic analysis." Bhreatnach also noted that Belfast's Unholy War "is a fluidly written and coherent book. The index is a particularly useful feature, giving victims' names as well as the appellations given to particularly gruesome incidents, such as the Kincaid Terrace murders."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, March 1, 1999, J.H. Wiener, review of Ulster Loyalism and the British Media, p. 1329; July 1, 2005, D.M. Cregier, review of Belfast's Unholy War: The Troubles of the 1920s.

Contemporary Review, January 1, 1999, George Evans, review of Ulster Loyalism and the British Media, p. 43.

English Historical Review, December 1, 2005, Richard English, review of Belfast's Unholy War, p. 1462.

Irish Literary Supplement, March 22, 2006, Aoife Bhreatnach, review of Belfast's Unholy War, p. 15.

Journal of British Studies, April 1, 2007, Patrick Maume, review of Belfast's Unholy War, p. 457.

Journal of Modern History, June 1, 2007, Peter Hart, review of Belfast's Unholy War, p. 427.

Reference & Research Book News, February 1, 1999, review of Ulster Loyalism and the British Media, p. 115; February 1, 2005, review of Belfast's Unholy War, p. 38.

Times Literary Supplement, November 27, 1998, review of Ulster Loyalism and the British Media, p. 33.

ONLINE

Four Courts Press Web site,http://www.fourcourtspress.ie/ (August 12, 2008), author profile.

London South Bank University Web site,http://www.phonebook.lsbu.ac.uk/ (August 12, 2008), author profile.