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The American Presence in Ulster: A Diplomatic History, 1796-1996. By Francis M. Carroll. (Washington: Catholic University of America, 2005. xii, 281 pp. Paper, $29.95. ISBN 0-8132-1420-3.)
In this well-constructed and engagingly written book, Francis M. Carroll interweaves the history of the United States consulate in Belfast with a more general narrative of two hundred years of U.S.-Ulster interconnection, The Belfast consulate was created in 1796 and has remained in continuous service ever since. In its early days, it constituted a tangible expression of Ulster's economic ties-primarily relating to the linen industry-with America, as well as of transatlantic migration. It is one of Carroll's main objectives to demonstrate the longevity, intensity, and scale of those various connections. Between 1680 and 1780, U is estimated that over a quarter of a million people emigrated from Ulster to the American colonies. At the close of the War of Independence, ten of George Washington's generals had direct Ulster links. In an...