This authoritative and comprehensive history of Ireland covers the entire history of the island from the Ice Age to the peace process in 100 short episodes. In this thoughtful analysis of Irish society, Bardon integrates the significant cultural and literary history of Ireland with its political and social past. Based on the hugely popular BBC radio series A Short History of Ireland, each episode stands alone, providing a snippet of Irish history in five minutes' reading. In turn, to read each episode in sequence from beginning to end provides a magisterial history of Europe's most western land.

Jonathan Bardon was one of Ireland's most eminent historians. A former lecturer in history at Queen's University, Belfast, he was the author of numerous books now widely acknowledged as classic works of Irish history, including A History of Ulster (1992), The Plantation of Ulster (2011) and A History of Ireland in 250 Episodes (2008), and presented several radio series for BBC Ulster. In 2002, he was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for his 'services to community life' in Northern Ireland. Jonathan died in 2020.