Divide and Rule — W.A. Harbinson

Lagan River, Black Mountain is an immense work of fiction, a 2-volume novel dramatising the whole history of 'the Troubles' in Northern Ireland through individuals drawn from both sides of the divide. Beginning where the first volume, The Long Slide, left off, when war broke out in the province and the British Army moved in, Book 2, DIVIDE AND RULE, takes the story on from there to the precarious peace initiative of 1996. With its broad gallery of finely drawn characters, young and old, good and bad, DIVIDE AND RULE covers another period of nearly thirty years, as 'sectarian' Belfast becomes 'criminalised' Belfast, political ideals crumble into corruption, and the leading individuals, as they age, move inexorably towards their tragic or redemptive destinies. This second volume, DIVIDE AND RULE, is an extraordinary combination of historical epic and political thriller.