Read Ireland Book Review
Issue 235
Armed Struggle: A History of the IRA by Richard English
Hardback; 35.00 Euro / 42.50 USD / 27.50 UK; 486 pages, with 8 page photo insert [Add To Basket]
The Provisional IRA has been one of the world's most important revolutionary movements. It has embodied some of the most powerful forces in modern world history: nationalism, violence, socialism and religion. The Provisionals have been pivotal in the interwoven histories of Ireland and Britain, but their full significance reaches far beyond the politics of those islands into the world of non-state political violence so prominent today. The IRA has been a much richer, more complex and layered organization than is frequently recognized. It is also open to more balanced and thorough examination now - at the end of its long war in the north of Ireland - than was possible even a few years ago.
This book purports to be the first full, systematic study of the through and action of the IRA, the first book which asks not only what the IRA have done, but also why they have done it and what the consequences have been. Based on the most extensive research ever conducted for such a study, this book offers a detailed history and analysis of the IRA, building historical foundations on which to base on understanding of the modern-day Provisionals. The book examines the dramatic events of the Easter Rising in 1916 and the bitter guerrilla war of 1919-1922; the partitioning of Ireland in the 1920s and the Irish Civil War of 1922-3. Here, too, are the clandestine IRA campaigns in Northern Ireland and Britain during the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. The author explains how the Provisionals were born out of the turbulence generated by the 1960s civil rights movement. And he examines the escalating violence; the sending of British troops to the streets of Northern Ireland; the split in the IRA that produced the Provisionals; the introduction of internment in 1971 and the tragedy of Bloody Sunday in 1972. He then details the prison war over political status culminating in the Hunger Strikes of the early 1980s and moves on to describe the Provisionals' emergence as a more committedly political force throughout that decade, a politicalization that made possible the peace process that has developed over the last decade.
This book offers a fair-minded, explanatory and historically rich account of one of the world's most significant paramilitary organizations. It is meticulously researched and provides original analysis of the motives, actions and consequences of the IRA that offers a full, balanced and most authoritative treatment of the Irish Republican Army.
Ireland Anthology edited by Sean Dunne
Hardback; 20.00 Euro / 25.00 USD / 15.00 UK; 455 pages. [Add To Basket]
This book is a most ambitious one-volume anthology of Irish prose and poetry. There are more than 200 separate entries, drawn from indigenous authors as well as from those who have visited the country, and covering the whole span of written Irish history. As a result, works by Jonathan Swift, Maria Edgeworth and W.B. Yeats are represented alongside authors as diverse as the medieval Welsh poet Giraldus Cambrensis, the Elizabethan poet Edmund Spenser, and the French dandy Chevalier de La Tocnaye. There are also extracts from the works of distinguished contemporary writers like Seamus Heaney, Eavan Boland and Colm Toibin.
Irish History edited by Seamas Mac Annaidh
Hardback; 20.00 Euro / 25.00 USD / 15.00 UK; 220 pages, with colour illustrations throughout. [Add To Basket]
The history of Ireland is one of oppression and emancipation, characterized by foreign rule and the fight for freedom. It is a history in which religious and political divides sit side-by-side with a shared love of the ancient magic that enshrouds the island. The Irish have a great sense of national identity and this is reflected in their history; their heritage is ancient and their culture unique. This book offers a complete A-Z journey through a turbulent past that has shaped the country today. It provides a comprehensive background to, and a deeper understanding of, a great many characters and events.
A Short History of Modern Ireland by Richard Killeen
Paperback; 10.00 Euro / 12.50 USD / 7.50 UK; 125 pages, with illustrations [Add To Basket]
This book is concise, comprehensive and original in approach. It combines a strong narrative with explanation and interpretation. Locating Ireland within a European context throughout the period, it also stresses the influences of the Anglo-American world. Written in an accessible style, it assumes no previous knowledge of Irish history.
Ireland People and Places: A Celebration of Ireland's Cultural Heritage by Daithi O hOgain
Hardback; 15.00 Euro / 18.50 USD / 11.00 UK; 150 pages, full colour illustrations throughout [Add To Basket]
Focusing on the human dimension of Irish culture and tradition, this superbly evocative book presents sixty well-known and much-loved landmarks and landscapes, along with many out-of-the-way locations throughout Ireland. Colour-illustrated throughout, the text, from an accomplished historian, writer and poet, records how ordinary people have lived over the centuries, and provides a major insight into Ireland's fascinating cultural heritage.
Irish Arts Review Spring 2003 issue
Magazine; 10.00 Euro / 12.50 USD / 7.50 UK; 120 pages, with colour illustrations throughout [Add To Basket]
The Spring 2003 issue of this vivid magazine contains the following: Peter Murray on Ken Thompson; Ballynatray House Restored; John Minihan in West Cork; The Iconography of Robert Emmett; Spire of Light in Dublin.
The New Irish Table: 70 Contemporary Recipes by Margaret Johnson
Paperback with Endflaps; 30.00 Euro / 37.50 USD / 22.50 UK; 166 pages with colour illustrations throughout [Add To Basket]
At the top of the list of favorite travel destinations, Ireland is also in the midst of an exciting culinary revolution. Professional chefs and home cooks are taking Old World ingredients - farmhouse cheeses, beef, lamb and pork; wild fruits and berries; locally produced dairy products - and creating exciting new recipes with contemporary flair. Time-honoured foods like oak-smoked salmon, black and white puddings, fluffy potatoes, and fruit-filled tarts bursting with flavor have been the fabric of Irish cooking for generations, and they're woven together more brilliantly than ever in this wonderful book.
Ireland by Patrick Mahe and Philip Plisson
Large Hardback; 30.00 Euro / 37.50 USD / 22.50 UK; 186 pages with colour illustrations throughout [Add To Basket]
At the start of their voyage around Ireland, the author and photographer wanted to find the ancient, traditional spirits of Ireland, and the magic that is today. In these images of the land and seas both at rest and battered by the winds, this is the glory that is the beauty of Ireland.
Great Salmon and Sea Trout Loughs of Ireland by Bill Rawlings
Hardback; 40.00 Euro / 47.00 USD / 33.00 UK; 200 pages, with colour photos throughout [Add To Basket]
In this enchanting and informative book, the author writes about his love affair with an area renowned for its wild waters, mountains and the ocean. This is a region of loughs and sometimes tiny river systems where salmon and sea trout are found in numbers, offering visiting anglers a chance to pit their wits against the most natural of quarries - wild fish straight from the ocean. The book covers the West Coast from south to north, looking in detail at the lough fisheries involved, their environment, and of course their potential for fisherman. The author's advice will help anglers, both those new to the skills required and the more experienced, when after salmon and sea trout in lakes. There is detailed guidance on the physical methods employed and equipment required to succeed and it is shown that these techniques are very different to those used when fishing typical reservoirs for trout.
Danger to Society: Elaine Moore's Story by Elaine Moore and Tony McCullagh
Paperback; 15.00 Euro / 18.50 USD / 11.00 UK; 275 pages, with 8 page photo insert [Add To Basket]
London, 10 July 1998 - Elaine Moore's life is about to change forever. In a simultaneous raid, Irish and British police officers arrested the 21-year-old Dubliner and nine others for alleged terrorist offences. After four days of harrowing police interrogations, she was charged and sent to an all-male maximum security prison, where she was classified as a 'High Risk, Category A' prisoner. Elaine had to endure degrading strip-searching up to four times a day; confined to a cell for 19 hours a day; and transported under armed guard at all times. Shocked and terrified, Elaine's mother Kathy instigated a massive campaign to fight for her release, involving Irish politicians, the media, international human rights agencies and solicitor Gareth Peirce, who famously represented the Guildford Four and the Birmingham Six. For the first time ever, Elaine has broken her silence on those dark lonely days of 1998. With exclusive extracts from Elaine's prison diaries, as well as interviews with those involved in her campaign, this is the first ever full account of her notorious case.
Evelyn: A True Story by Evelyn Doyle
Paperback; 10.00 Euro / 12.50 USD / 7.50 UK; 226 pages [Add To Basket]
Dublin 1953. Abandoned by his wife for another man, and desperate to have his six children looked after while he found work in England, Desmond Doyle trusted the word of the authorities, and put them all into temporary State care. Written from the viewpoint of nine-year-old Evelyn, Desmond's eldest child and only daughter, this moving true story recounts Desmond's shocking discovery on his return. In his absence, the State had consigned the children to its permanent care. So began his desperate battle with the government to reunite his family, and change an unjust law.
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