"Fatal Influence challenges and revises many widely held assumptions about a pivotal moment in both British and Irish history and persuasively demonstrates that Ireland's impact on British politics lasted far longer and was far greater than has been realized. It explores the Irish partition and the often conflicting motives that led to this momentous decision; dividing the country into two parts, which merely created what one politician at the time called its "elements of dynamite." These elements were thrown into an already unstable political situation in Britain, with three political parties-- Liberals, Conservatives, and Labour--all vying for a place in that nation's traditional two-party system. The book brings together some of the most colorful characters of 20th-century British and Irish history, from Winston Churchill and Michael Collins to David Lloyd George and Eamon de Valera.