Read Ireland Book Review
Issue 153
The Story of O: The Autobiography of an Irish Outlaw by Olaf Tyaransen (Paperback; 9.99 IEP / 13.00 USD / 8.50 UK) [Add To Basket]
Olaf Tyaransen is a published poet and journalist who has also stood for election in Ireland as a Legalise Cannabis candidate. In this book, and still at the tender age of 28, he has written an Irish memoir like no other before it. For anyone who went from their teens to their 20s, as the 80s gave way to the 90s, this book will strike numerous ringing chords - especially if, like the author, they happened to sup on a wild and sometimes dangerous brew of music, literature, rebellion, sex, drugs, drink, and love found but more often lost. With this book, Irish writing has delivered its first outlaw autobiography, a story of excess, success and the price you sometimes pay.
Harry Boland: A Man Divided by Andrew Brasier and John Kelly (Paperback; 9.99 IEP / 13.00 USD / 8.50 UK) [Add To Basket]
This biography is an overview of one of Ireland's most loved figures in its struggle for independence. Much of Boland's life was shrouded in mystery and necessary secrecy that not even his family or closest friends were aware of. This book brings his life to the fore and is also of significant historical importance.
Astride the Moon: A Theatrical Life by Vincent Dowling (Hardback; 20.00 IEP / 25.00 USD / 16.00 UK) [Add To Basket]
This is the story of a little boy from Dublin who became an internationally acclaimed actor and director. Through Dowling's eyes, we see the child 'mitching' from school. The teenager 'coorting' in Herbert Park. The young man discovering with delight the two passions of his life - theatre and women. The Abbey actor organizing a revolutionary strike. And, at last, the Wild Rover realizing that 'I would do anything for Ireland, truly I would, except live there …' With frankness and passion, the author takes the reader on a rollicking, riveting ride through an unforgettable life lived to the full.
Making Sense of the Troubles by David McKittrick and David McVea (Hardback; 20.00 IEP / 25.00 USD / 17.50 UK) [Add To Basket]
Compellingly written and completely even-handed, this book is the clearest account of what happened in the Northern Ireland conflict - and why. The Troubles in Northern Ireland rolled grimly on for almost thirty years from the late 1960s until the onset of the current shaky peace process. In that time, the conflict never strayed far off the news schedules of the world's media. Thousands of books, articles and theses were published, dissecting every possible aspect of the problem and making it the most researched civil conflict in modern history. But behind the wall of information and opinion there is a straightforward and gripping story, demanding to be told in an accessible way. This book is that story.
The Long Watch: World War Two and the Irish Mercantile Marine by Frank Forde (Hardback; 20.00 IEP / 26.50 USD / 16.50 UK) [Add To Basket]
At the outbreak of the Second World War, Ireland declared neutrality and thus became isolated as never before. But it was imperative to continue essential overseas trading. A lifeline had to be formed and so the nucleas of a merchant marine was established. For the following five years a tiny fleet of vessels ventured the seas under the Tricolour, the badge of neutrality clearly emblazoned on their hulls. This book is the story of that fleet, diminutive in size but large in heroism. It is the story also of the exceptional courage of the mariners themselves, many of whom perished as victims of a war in which they were non-participants. It is a dramatic and authentic book that documents the remarkable achievement and grievous losses of the Irish mercantile marine during the Second World War. Contains numerous photographs.
Rituals and Riots: Sectarian Violence and Political Culture in Ulster, 1784-1886 by Sean Farrell (Hardback; 35.50 IEP / 50.00 USD / 29.50 UK) [Add To Basket]
Sectarian violence is one of the defining characteristics of the modern Ulster experience. Riots between Catholic and Protestant crowds occurred with depressing frequency throughout the 19th century, particularly within the constricted spaces of the province's burgeoning industrial capital, Belfast. From the Armagh Troubles in 1784 to the Belfast Riots on 1886, ritual confrontations led to regular outbreaks of sectarian conflict. This, in turn, helped keep Catholic/Protestant antagonism at the heart of the political and cultural discussion in the north or Ireland. This book has at its core a subject frequently ignored - the rioters themselves. Rather than focusing on political and religious leaders in a top-down model, the author demonstrates how lower-class attitudes gave rise to violent clashes and dictated the responses of the elite.
Revolution, Counter-Revolution and Union: Ireland in the 1790s edited by Jim Smyth (Hardback; 45.50 IEP / 60.00 USD / 37.50 UK) [Add To Basket]
This volume of essays explores United Irish propaganda and organisation, and looks at the forces of revolution before and during the 1798 rebellion. It also begins to redress imbalances in the historiography of the period by turning to the face of counter-revolution - examining the crisis in law and order, the role of the magistrates, the strengths and weaknesses of the state, and the scope and character of the repression following the rebellion. Other essays consider the short-term and longer-term consequences of these momentous events, including their impact upon the churches, the Act of Union, and the politics of early nineteenth-century America
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