Read Ireland Book Review
Issue 228
The Empress of South America by Nigel Cawthorne
Hardback; 22.50 Euro / 26.50 USD / 18.50 UK; Heinemann, 314 pages [Add To Basket]
Born in Ireland in the 1840s, Eliza Lynch left the country as a girl, fleeing the potato famine with her parents. As a young woman, she became one of Paris most celebrated courtesans, until she was persuaded by Francisco Solano Lopez, the son of the dictator of Paraguay, to leave Paris for South America, where he promised he would make her Empress of the entire continent. Back in Asunsion, they embarked on a programme of extravagant building (the grandiose buildings they commissioned included a replica of the Palais Garnier, though few of them were ever complete), acquisitions (Eliza's collection of jewellery, little of it acquired honestly, became legendary), hospitality (Eliza was known to attend balls dressed as Elizabeth I, highly impractical, given Paraguay's climate), and, finally, war. Paraguay went to war with a coalition that included all its neighbours, Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. By the time their reign was over, Paraguay's population had been devastated.
The Speckled People by Hugo Hamilton
Hardback; 25.00 Euro / 29.00 USD / 19.50 UK; 4th Estate, 298 pages [Add To Basket]
The childhood world of Hugo Hamilton, born and brought up in Dublin, is a colourful place. His father, a sometimes brutal Irish nationalist, demands his children speak Irish, while his mother, a softly spoken German emigrant who has been marked by the Nazi past, talks to them in German. He himself wants to speak English. English is, after all, what the other children in Dublin speak. English is what they use when they hunt him down in the streets and dub him Eichmann, as they bring him to trial and sentence him to death at a mock seaside court. Out of his fear and guilt and often comical cultural entanglements, he tries to understand the differences between Irish history and German history and turn the twisted logic of what he is told into the truth. It is a journey that ends in liberation, but not before he uncovers the long-buried secrets that lie at the bottom of his parent's wardrobe. In one of the finest memoirs to have emerged from Ireland in many years, the acclaimed novelist has finally written his own story - a deeply moving memoir about a whole family's homesickness for a country they can call their own.
Another Kind of Love by Catherine Dunne
Trade Paperback; 18.50 Euro / 22.50 USD / 15.50 UK; Picador, 483 pages [Add To Basket]
Hannah, May and Eleanor are sisters. Their early life in Dublin, with their middle-class parents, has prepared them for a comfortable future of marriage, children and servants. Further north, Mary and Cecelia are also sisters. They are struggling to make a living in the linen mills of Belfast, amid the rising political tensions. The lives of all the sisters are destined to unfold in ways that none of them could ever have imagined. This novel is an intricately crafted tale of how their lives entwine, against the backdrop of the rapidly changing Ireland of the late nineteenth century.
Guilty: Violent Crimes in Ireland by Stephen Rae
Paperback; 13.99 Euro / 16.50 USD / 10.50 UK; Blackwater Press, 250 pages [Add To Basket]
This book chronicles some of the most notorious and violent murders in Ireland's recent history. The brutality and random nature of a number of the killings sends a chill down the spine of the reader. In all but one of the cases, the victims were women and often they were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. The victims of serial killers Geoffrey Evans and John Shaw were strangers, yet the sexual crimes that they suffered at the hands of these men shocked the nation. The random murders committed by Malcolm MacArthur, which caused a sensation, are for the first time comprehensively documented. MacArthur's handwritten notes, showing how he may have planned to kill again, are also reproduced. The murder case of 10-year-old Bernadette Connolly in 1970 have never been solved, but new evidence in recent times has thrown up new suspects and opened old wounds in the close-knit community of Collooney. With access to police files and a special relationship with the Gardai built up over years as Security Correspondent with the Evening Herald, the author has been able to piece together the events leading up to the crimes, the crimes themselves and the work of the Gardai from the first discovery to final arrest and convictions. The court cases failed to provide the full picture and these well-researched chapters form an invaluable reference tool.
Death in December: The Story of Sophie Toscan du Plantier by Michael Sheridan
Paperback; 10.00 Euro / 11.50 USD / 8.00 UK; Obrien Press, 190 pages, with two 8-page colour inserts [Add To Basket]
On 23 December 1996, the body of Sophie Toscan du Plantier was discovered outside her remote holiday home near Schull in West Cork. The savage murder caused shock waves in her native France and in the quiet Cork countryside that she had chosen as her retreat from the high-flying lifestyle of the film business in which she and her husband mixed. Six years later, and despite an extensive investigation, the killer of Sophie is still at large - and the file remains open. What was Sophie really like, and why was she murdered? Based on exclusive interviews with Sophie's parents and her husband, as well as access to her diaries and her personal family photographs, the author builds a picture of a woman of character - independent, beautiful and fearless. He follows the trail of the investigators and creates a chilling psychological profile of a sadistic killer who, police believe, could strike again.
Evil Empire 2nd edition by Paul Williams
Paperback; 10.99 Euro / 12.50 USD / 8.50 UK; Merlin, 466 pages, with two 16 pages photo inserts [Add To Basket]
Ruthless godfather John Gilligan controlled a colossal drugs empire and a mob of gangland's most dangerous criminals. Violence and the threat of murder kept terrified witnesses silent and other gangsters in fear. Gilligan thought himself untouchable and above the law - until his gang crossed the line by executing crime reporter Veronica Guerin. This book tells the chilling inside story of Gilligan's rise to power, his savage gang and the truth about the horrifying murder that shocked the world. Revealed for the first time, too, is the intense behind-the-scenes drama of the dedicated police squad who waged an unprecedented four-year war to smash 'Factory' John's Evil Empire. With a new chapter and epilogue, this edition of the bestselling book brings the reader up to date on Gilligan's prison assaults, the gang members' bids for freedom, and the controversies that have dogged the players in this ongoing battle for justice.
Basketmaking in Ireland by Joe Hogan
Paperback; 25.00 Euro / 30.00 USD / 20.00 UK; Wordwell, 300 pages [Add To Basket]
The main purpose of this book is to record the techniques used in making Irish traditional baskets, a task that became more urgent as indigenous baskets, such as creels and lobster pots, began to go out of use. The history of the baskets and their uses are included because, in order to understand or even make these baskets, the author feels strongly that some knowledge of, and respect for, the people who made and used them is required. The book is structured so that each chapter contains information for the reader who has a general interest in traditional crafts; each chapter also has a technique section giving details of how to make many of the baskets described.
How Ireland Voted 2002 edited by Michael Gallagher, et. al.
Paperback; 30.00 Euro / 35.00 USD / 23.50 UK; Palgrave, 276 pages [Add To Basket]
This book is the definitive account of the Irish General Election of 2002. The book is written by leading political scientists and journalists and includes first-hand accounts by seven politicians recounting their personal experiences during the campaign. The book covers all aspects of the election, including the lead-up, the campaign, candidate selection, a definitive analysis of the results, why Irish voters voted as they did and why the opinion polls got it wrong. There are also chapters on the declining voter-turnout, the election for the upper house, government formation and ministerial selection and an overview analysis that puts the 2002 results in historical and comparative perspective. It is an invaluable account of the emergence of the new government and the implications for the future of the Irish party system.
Derry Beyond the Walls: Social and Economic Aspects of the Growth of Derry, 1825-1850 by John Hume
Paperback; 16.50 Euro / 19.00 USD / 13.50 UK; Ulster Historical Foundation, 173 pages [Add To Basket]
John Hume is more usually associated with political events as they affected the city of Derry and with the political progress in Northern Ireland for which he was accorded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1998. This book, however, is the outcome of his earlier research in the social and economic developments of his native Derry at a critical phase in the middle of the nineteenth century. He traces and explains the developments behind Derry's nineteenth-century pre-eminence in the north-west. The construction of a new bridge over the River Foyle facilitated the settlement and expansion of the Waterside and the city's role as a regional centre. The development of Foyle Street as the commercial centre of the town from the 1820s was closely linked with ship-building and the flourishing port. The 1840s witnessed the development of that icon of Derry industry - shirt-making. In 1845 the industry employed over 500 women and, within ten years, no fewer than fourteen factories were engaged in the making of shirts. Hume's sharply-questioning mind has here highlighted a period when Derry embarked on the path to becoming a modern industrial and commercial town and port.
Insight Guide to Ireland 2003
Paperback with Endflaps; 26.50 Euro / 33.00 USD / 20.50 UK; Insight Guides; 382 pages with full colour photos throughout [Add To Basket]
This book is a visual guide to Ireland. It provides everything the traveller will need to know. It is an inspiring background read, an invaluable on-the-spot companion, and a superb souvenir. It contains evocative photography which vividly convey a sense of everyday life in Ireland. Its illuminating text by expert writers brings to life Ireland's history, culture, politics, arts and people. It also has incisive evaluations from Belfast to Blarney, Dingle to Dublin. It provides a comprehensive guide to the attractions of the entire island. All sites are clearly highlighted and numbered in the text and cross-referenced on the numerous detailed maps.
Momentum by Mo Mowlam
Paperback; 13.50 Euro / 16.00 USD / 10.50 UK; Coronet, 397 pages [Add To Basket]
Mo Mowlam is one of the most respected and best-loved figures in British life. In this book she tells the story of her own time in government in her own words. She writes about the months leading up to the 1997 General Election, and Labour's landslide victory; and the treatment she underwent for a brain tumour at the time. She tells the inside story of her time as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the tortuous progress towards the Good Friday Agreement. She was then moved to the Cabinet Office where she worked on a high-profile anti-drugs campaign, before deciding to leave Westminster politics in 2001. The characters and the chemistry of her period in government are analysed with the candour, warmth and humour that are her trademarks
Love in a Dark Time: Gay Lives from Wilde to Almodovar by Colm Toibin
Paperback; 13.50 Euro / 16.00 USD / 10.50 UK; Picador; 278 pages [Add To Basket]
In this book the author looks at the life and work of some of the greatest and most influential artists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His subjects range from figures such as Oscar Wilde, born in the 1850s, to Pedro Almodovar, born nearly a hundred years later. Toibin studies how a changing world impacted on the lives of people who, on the whole, kept their homosexuality hidden, and reveals that the laws of desire changed everything for them, both in their private lives and in the spirit of their work.
The Road to McCarthy by Pete McCarthy
Hardback; 25.00 Euro / 28.00 USD / 20.00 UK; Lir Hodder, 432 pages [Add To Basket]
'We discussed it over a few pints, and decided that the original McCarthy's must have been a nomadic tribe from North Africa who sometime in pre-history had, like the Celts, emigrated north to Ireland. Over Singapore noodles and a couple of bottles of wine we further deduced that the unaccustomed moistness of the Irish climate must have broken down their dark sun-beaten nomadic skin pigment, a kind of genetic rusting process that led inevitably over the centuries to red hair and freckles.'
Determined to pin down mythical tales of his own clan history and pursue other far-flung Irish connections to their illogical conclusions, Peter McCarthy is thrust into a world-wide adventure that reveals an unsettled and poignant history, while unearthing a good pint in the most unexpected of places. From the Holy Ground of Cork harbour via the Fried Breakfast Zone of Belfast Airport, he travels to Gibraltar and Morocco, searching for his hereditary Gaelic chief in the perplexingly un-Celtic casbah of Tangier. Journeying onwards to New York, Tasmania, Montana, and the tiny Caribbean island of Monserrat, he survives worrying confrontations with ornamental monkeys, an endangered species of goose, and a bar full of stratospherically drunken Glasgow Celtic supporters before finally reaching the remote Alaskan township of McCarthy and its population of just eighteen people, but a lot more bears.
McCarthy's previous book, McCarthy's Bar (also available in paperback) an international bestseller, placed him in the forefront of contemporary travel writers. His unique combination of laugh-out-loud humour, heartfelt insights, and uncanny instinct for the unlikeliest situations, and the best bars, now lights the way for this joyous and hilarious journey. This was our Book of the Month Non Fiction for July 2002.
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