Read Ireland Book Review
Issue 262
Divine Beauty: The Invisible Embrace by John O'Donohue
Hardback; 20.00 Euro / 24.00 USD / 15.00 UK; 260 pages
In this eagerly awaited follow-up to his international bestsellers Anam Cara and Enchanted Echoes, the author turns his attention to the subject of beauty - the divine beauty that calls the imagination and awakens all this is noble in the human heart. In these uncertain times of global conflict and crisis, we are riven with anxiety; our trust in the future has lost its innocence, for we know now that anything can happen from one second to the next. In such an unsheltered world, it may sound naïve to suggest that this might be the moment to invoke and awaken beauty, yet this is exactly the claim that this book seeks to explore.
The book is a gentle but urgent call to awaken. The author opens our eyes, hearts and minds to the wonder of our own relationship with beauty. Rather than 'covering' this theme, he uncovers it, exposing the infinity and mystery of its breadth. His words return us home to the dignity of silence, the profundity of stillness, the power of thought and perception, and the eternal grace and generosity of beauty's presence. In this masterful and revelatory work, the author encourages our greater intimacy with beauty, and celebrates it for what it really is: a homecoming of the human spirit.
The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde by Neil McKenna
Hardback; 30.00 Euro / 36.00 USD / 20.00 UK; 540 pages [Add To Basket]
'I have put my genius into my life but only my talent into my work.' So said Oscar Wilde of his remarkable life - a life more complex, more troubled, and more triumphant than any of his contemporaries ever knew or suspected. This book charts full Wilde's astonishing erotic odyssey through Victorian London's sexual underworld. The author argues compellingly and convincingly that Wilde was driven personally and creatively by his powerful desires for sex with young men and that his life and work can only be fully understood in terms of his sexuality.
The book draws on a wide range of sources, many of which are previously unpublished, and includes startling new material like the statements made by the male prostitutes and blackmailers who were ranged against Wilde at his trial and which have been lost for over 100 years. Written in the tradition of the great Irish biographies, this book meticulously and brilliantly reconstructs Wilde's emotional and sexual life, painting an astonishingly frank and vivid psychological portrait of a troubled genius who chose to martyr himself for the cause of love between men.
The Ballad of Reading Gaol and The Soul of Man Under Socialism by Oscar Wilde
22.00 Euro / 27.50 USD / 15.00 UK; Audio CD
Audio CD with readings of two great works of Oscar Wilde by Gearoid Mac Lachlain.
Michael Collins Himself by Chrissy Osborne
Large Paperback; 13.00 Euro / 17.00 USD / 9.00 UK; 136 pages [Add To Basket]
This book focuses on the man behind the mask. Not the soldier, statesman or guerilla, but the real, human, Michael Collins. This approach offers insight into Collins' personal life and the crucial role women had to play in it; his likes, dislikes, his interests and personality; and includes the memories and anecdotes of members of his family and descendants of those who knew him. The book is accompanied by photographs illustrating places associated with him as they are today, together with some rare and previously unseen archive photos. With a foreword by Tim Pat Coogan.
John McCormack: The Great Irish Tenor by Gordon Ledbetter
Hardback; 28.50 Euro / 33.50 USD / 20.50 UK; 254 pages, with black-and-white photos throughout
John McCormack was born in Athlone, County Westmeath, in 1884. At the age of nineteen, he won the Gold Medal in the Feis Ceoil of 1903 and, by his mid-twenties, was a world-famous opera singer and friend of Caruso. Later, as a concert recitalist, he filled auditoriums across the world. At the height of his career, he was as famous, flamboyant and as well paid as the most successful rock stars of today. From performing on stage with Dame Nellie Melba in his early years to broadcasting on radio with Bing Crosby towards the end of his life, McCormack's long career spanned the era of the greatest change in the history of singing. The development of sound recording in the early 20th century helped bring McCormack's voice and range of singing styles to those who could not see him in concert and so helped strengthen his popularity. His records sold in the millions, making him one of the bestselling artists Ireland has ever produced.
In this book the author brings together a wealth of biographical detail and visual material, some of it hitherto unpublished. He expertly weaves together words and images, including photographs, letters, playbills and newsclippings into a fascinating portrait of McCormack's home life and professional career. This is a memorable biography of a great Irish singer.
Destination 5: Memories of an Irish Veterinarian by Robert P. Lee
Paperback; 22.00 Euro / 27.50 USD / 15.00 UK; Paperback with flaps [Add To Basket]
Robert Lee was Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Dublin's Trinity College for seven years, inaugural Dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zambia, and has held positions in Nigeria and Tanzania. It was in Tanzania (then Tanganyika) the Professor Lee's long involvement with Africa began. This book chronicles his experiences there, from the time as a young newly qualified vet and then, revisiting the new Africa in later years as a consultant to development projects.
The Stealing of the Irish Crown Jewels by Myles Dungan
Hardback; 18.00 Euro / 22.50 USD / 13.00 UK; 301 pages [Add To Basket]
Dublin 1907, a city divided economically and politically. In this outpost of the British Empire, the administration in Dublin Castle, the centre of British power in Dublin, was getting ready for the imminent visit of King Edward VII. Days before the crucial visit, the Irish Crown Jewels mysteriously went missing. In the ensuing chaos, suspicions were rife and theories proliferated. The police believed it to be an inside job and their investigation led them to discover a web of political and sexual intrigue that came dangerously close to the crown itself. But the investigation stalled, the suspect was released and the jewels were never recovered. This book is a compelling account of one of Ireland's most fascinating unsolved crimes.
The Trigger Men by Martin Dillon
Hardback; 25.00 Euro /29.00 USD / 19.00 UK; 320 pages, with 8-page photo insert [Add To Basket]
In this book the author delves into the dark and sinister world of Irish terrorism and counter-terrorism. Over three decades he has interviewed and investigated some of the most professional, dangerous and ruthless killers in Ireland. Here he explores their personalities, motivations and bizarre crimes. Many of Ireland's assassins learned their trade in fields and on hillsides in remote parts of Ireland, while others were trained in the Middle East or with the Basque separatist terrorists in Spain. Some were one-target-one-shot killers, like the sniper who terrorised inhabitants of Washington D.C. in the autumn of 2002, while others were bombers skilled in designing the most sophisticated explosive devices and booby traps. Another more powerful group of 'trigger men' was the influential figures in the shadows, who were experts in motivating the killers under their control. All of these men, whether they squeezed the trigger on a high-powered rifle, set the timer on a bomb or used their authority to send others out to commit horrific and unspeakable acts of cruelty, are featured in this book.
Germany Calling: A Personal Biography of William Joyce (Lord Haw-Haw) by Mary Kenny
Hardback; 25.00 Euro /29.00 USD / 19.00 UK; 300 pages, with 8-page photo insert [Add To Basket]
William Joyce gained notoriety as the propaganda voice of the Third Reich. Known as 'Lord Haw-haw', he was the last man to be hanged by the British Crown for treason, executed as a British subject who gave aid and comfort to the King's enemies in time of war. But William Joyce was not a British subject; he was American by birth and Irish by upbringing. His hanging was seen by many as an action enacted to express post-war anger towards Hitler, Nazism and the defeated Fascist regime. This fresh look at the life and times of William Joyce discovers an eccentric Irishman whose values were warped by the troubled times in which he grew up. The author explored Joyce's obsessive anti-semitism, laying bare the startling realities behind one of the twentieth-century's most notorious voices. The book draws on new historical material released through the British Public Record Office, as well as specially commissioned interviews with those who knew the man personally.
Looking Under Stones: Roots, Family and a Dingle Childhood by Joe O'Toole
Hardback; 25.00 Euro / 29.00 USD / 19.00 UK; 302 pages, with two 8-page photo inserts [Add To Basket]
A doctor whose hands had been blessed by the Pope himself delivered Joseph John O'Toole into the world. An auspicious beginning, but that's not where this story starts. Having brought bad luck to the Dingle team from day one, he went on to become the worst footballer ever to come out of West Kerry. But that's not how this story plays. His grandfather, Sean the Grove advised him, to become a parish priest. It was a well-paid, respected position, you got a good house, and nobody could order you about. But that's not how this story ends. The book has its roots generations earlier in a ruined house by the sixth green of a Connemara golf course, and a rake's progress on a Kerry hilltop. It is peopled with earthy, larger-than-life characters from Joe's childhood and personal histories that are sometimes tragic, sometimes comic, but always interesting.
A Timeline of Irish History by Richard Killeen
Paperback; 15.00 Euro / 17.00 USD / 11.50 UK; 112 pages, with colour photos throughout [Add To Basket]
This book provides a quick, authoritative and user-friendly guide to the principal events of the Irish past from earliest times to the present day. Each of the forty-four periods, ranging from the construction of Newgrange to the Northern Ireland peace process, is presented. Lists of dates and events covering the most important developments in Irish history, as well as maps and illustrations used to bring to life the events in the timeline. In addition, there are short introductory essays to the major developments, including the coming of Christianity, the Vikings, the Normans, the Reformation, the Georgian era, the Famine, and the Irish revolution.
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