Read Ireland Book Review
Issue 193
Northern Ireland After the Good Friday Agreement: Victims, Grievance and Blame by Mike Morrissey and Maire Smyth
Paperback; 24.50 Euro / 22.00 USD / 17.15 UK; Pluto Press, 247 pages [Add To Basket]
The difficulties that have dogged the Northern Ireland peace process, the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and negotiations on marching, can only be understood in the context of the violence of the past and the continuing sectarian violence of the present, the social and public institutions, and the dynamic of violence itself. This book explores a series of issues and phenomena that have both shaped and been shaped by the dynamic of politics in Northern Ireland, particularly since 1994. The authors take up some of the issues facing a society coming out of a protracted period of low-intensity conflict, and present some of the dilemmas, contradictions and unresolved issues. Building on earlier contributions from The Cost of the Troubles team, the book takes forward the documentation of the analytical and practical work involved in the struggle to construct a peaceful society in Northern Ireland.
A Matter of Minutes: The Enduring Legacy of Bloody Sunday by Joanne O'Brien
Paperback; 16.50 Euro / 15.00 USD / 10.00 UK; Wolfhound Press, 160 pages [Add To Basket]
This book captures the experiences of thirty-three people whose lives were changed forever by the events of Bloody Sunday. Photojournalist Joanne O'Brien paints a stark and stunning picture of bravery, endurance and survival - not only on 30 January 1972, but in succeeding decades that were lived in the shadow of that disastrous day. This book is a lasting testament to human spirit and the quest for the truth.
The Longest War: Northern Ireland's Troubled History by Marc Mulholland
Paperback; 15.00 Euro / 12.50 USD / 9.00 UK; OUP, 209 pages [Add To Basket]
This book is a concise and reliable introduction to the historical and current situation in Northern Ireland. It explores each pivotal moment in Northern Irish history. It is a topical and thorough treatment of the political climate of Northern Ireland, and introduces all the key figures and organizations involved in current violent and political conflicts.
Gangsters or Guerrillas: Representations of Irish Republicans in 'Troubles Fiction' by Patrick Magee
Trade Paperback; 21.50 Euro / 19.50 USD / 15.00 UK; Beyond the Pale Publications, 248 pages [Add To Basket]
This book is a fascinating study of the strange world of novels about the conflict in Ireland. Beginning while he was interned in Long Kesh in 1974, the author worked his way through hundreds of the 700 works of fiction produced to date. The popularity of 'Troubles fiction' lies in the genre's success in performing a key ideological and political function for the British reading public argues the author. The fiction often serves to denigrate the enemy, idealise 'our side' and over-simplify the reasons for political conflict. In this way it has played a crucial role in the propaganda war over the last three decades. As a consequence, there has been little insight provided into the real world of Irish republicans. This book is based on his doctoral theses, begun in prison and completed on his release.
The Inniskilling Diaries 1899-1903 by Martin Cassidy
Hardback; 33.50 Euro / 30.00 USD / 22.50 UK; Pen & Sword, 250 pages [Add To Basket]
One hundred years ago, the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, along with many other British regiments, were fighting a desperate campaign many thousands of miles from their native land. The Second Boer War tested the resolve and resources of what was then the mightiest Empire in the world. A succession of reverses raised the real spectre of defeat at the hands of the Boers - an unthinkable humiliation. The depth of public interest and concern felt at the time is reflected in continual fascination in this conflict. Thus Cassidy's careful editing of the graphic diaries of three members of the Regiment's 1st Battalion is to be greatly welcomed.
Compulsory Irish: Language and Education in Ireland 1870s-1970s by Adrian Kelly
Hardback; 49.50 Euro / 44.50 USD / 30.00 UK; Irish Academic Press, 183 pages [Add To Basket]
Language and education are both defining elements of a nation. In independent Ireland, the attempt to revive the Irish language was the single most important policy in shaping the education system, with significant negative consequences for both the standard of education and the perceived status of the language. This work, which draws on previously unused government files, is the first detailed account of how the promotion of Irish, the central defining factor in molding the education system and curriculum, was detrimental to the quality of education given and received. It examines why the schools were chosen as the chief instrument of Gaelicisation, why it was thought necessary and acceptable to trade educational achievement for linguistic ability, and why the policy was a significant failure in terms of what it set out to achieve.
Irish At Heart by Marie Gray
Paperback; 10.00 Euro / 9.00 USD / 7.00 UK; HarperCollins New Zealand, 262 pages [Add To Basket]
In this book, the New Zealand author goes to Ireland to search for her family roots. It is a highly entertaining account of the Irish and Ireland. Hilarious exchanges with the locals are interspersed with snippets of Irish history, observations on the 'North-South' conflict, and close call with the tragic bombing in Omagh. From ramshackle rural villages and the shabby coastal townships to bustling modern cities and trendy tourist resorts, the author is a witty and intelligent observer on her excursion that is both pleasurable and poignant.
Galloway Street: Growing Up Irish in Scotland by John Boyle
Paperback; 11.50 Euro / 10.50 USD / 8.00 UK; 248 pages; Black Swan [Add To Basket]
John Boyle was born and raised in Scotland but he could never feel Scottish. His parents were poor immigrants from the west of Ireland who came to Scotland to find work and eventually settled in Paisley, where John was the first of six children. This book beautifully captures the poverty and the rough humour of the Boyle family's life in the Paisley tenements, the songs and stories of their Irish Catholic relatives and the often uneasy relationships with their Scottish Protestant neighbours. It also shows how John is marked at the age of ten by an extended stay with his spinster aunt on the remote island of Achill, as he begins to understand the life his parents left behind. This is a book about exile and belonging, about the poignancy of growing up Irish in Scotland, so close to the place your mother still calls home. It is a truthful, funny and moving evocation of a unique place and time, experienced through the eyes of a child.
Belfast International Airport: Aviation at Aldergrove Since 1918 by Guy Warner and Jack Woods
Paperback; 29.00 Euro / 26.00 USD / 16.00 UK; Colourpoint, 150 pages, with colour photos throughout [Add To Basket]
The story of Aldergrove Airport, now Belfast International Airport, is one which, as the authors point out, has touched the lives of many people in Northern Ireland. Tracing the airport's evolution back to its origins as a military airfield during the Great War, the book covers the pioneering days of aviation, through times of peace, war and civil strife to the development of the modern international airport that exists today. The richness of Aldergrove's history is reflected not just in the text, but also in the impressive collection of photographs included. This is a story about an airfield, air station, and airport, but it is above all a human story, about the men and women who served there and continue to serve there today.
Atlantic Crossroads: Historical Connections Between Scotland, Ulster and North America edited by Patrick Fitzgerald and Steve Ickringill
Paperback; 18.00 Euro / 16.00 USD / 10.00 UK; Colourpoint, 144 pages [Add To Basket]
This collection of essays, drawn from meetings of the Ulster-American Symposium in recent years, reflects both the depth and breadth of the Ulster-American connection. The essays all by noted experts in their field, focus on the central themes of religion, education, language, song, cultural identity, and the emigration process itself. The collection gives the reader, both academic and general, a fresh and captivating snapshot of what is a vast and many-layered subject.
The Senate Speeches of W.B. Yeats edited b Donald R. Pearce
Paperback; 13.50 Euro / 12.15 USD / 7.50 UK; Predeville Publishing, 168 pages [Add To Basket]
No part of Yeats's career has received less scrutiny from his biographers than his six years in the Irish Senate. All of Yeats's speeches in the Senate are included in this present edition.
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