When it was originally published in 1986, this book was the first full-length study of Farrell’s fiction. Ronald Binns provides a comprehensive account of the development of this idiosyncratic Anglo-Irish novelist’s career. Farrell’s Empire trilogy was one of the most ambitious literary projects of the 20
th
Century and Binns examines in detail its component parts –
Troubles
,
The Siege of Krishnapur
and
The Singapore Grip –
showing their structural links and discussing Farrell’s use both of historical materials and of parody, pastiche and symbol in his ironic vision of the end of the empire.