Read Ireland Book Reviews
Issue 399 - 24 November 2007
Temples of Stone: Exploring the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland by Carleton Jones
Hardback; 28 Euro / 38 USD / 19 UK; 334 pages
Dolmens and burial chambers dot the Irish countryside and fascinate all. Once dismissed as `rude monuments' shrouded in mystery, fresh archaeological interpretations provide new ways of understanding these ancient structures. Who were the megalith builders? Why did they heave these massive stones on top of one another? What can these evocative monuments tell us about how their builders understood the world and their place in it? How did the monuments alter ancient people's experience of place and time? What rituals took place in and around these monuments? Were drugs and hallucinations part of the rituals engaged in? How were the giant megaliths erected? And finally, why did people stop building them? Insights and answers to these questions are presented in a fully-illustrated popular format. All key sites in Ireland are discussed. 100 `Sites Worth Visiting' are listed in a final chapter with photos, maps, and detailed directions for visiting each site.
The Irish County Surveyors 1834-1944 by Brendan O’Donoghue
Hardback; 55 Euro / 80 USD / 40 UK; 356 pages [Add To Basket]
This book is a comprehensive study of the evolution and achievements of the county surveyor system in Ireland. The introduction in 1834 of these officials - county engineers in modern terminology - to local government was a major innovation, bringing the infrastructural work of the grand juries under the supervision and direction of a corps of professional engineers; and the appointments themselves were the first at local or central level in the United Kingdom which were made on the basis of competitive examinations. In the years that followed, the new county surveyors and their successors went on to play a major role in the construction of roads, bridges and public buildings, many of which are still in use today. Preliminary essays describe how appointments were made over the period 1834-1944 and how the work of the surveyors contributed to building up local infrastructure. The biographical dictionary follows outlines in some detail the careers and achievements of the 200 surveyors who served in the thirty-two counties during the period.
Reinterpreting Emmet: Essays on the Life and Legacy of Robert Emmet edited by Anne Dolan, Patrick Geoghegan and Darryl Jones
Trade Paperback; 27 Euro / 40 USD / 20 UK; 258 pages
Robert Emmet's life, death, and immediate elevation into the pantheon of Irish nationalist heroes are well known. These essays on Emmet's life and legacy, however, demonstrate a new interdisciplinary approach to studies of the Irish nationalist hero. "Reinventing Emmet" includes essays on commemoration, literature, legal history and aspects of the Emmet legacy not explored elsewhere, such as studies of his influence on American culture, and draws on research from young as well as established scholars. Robert Emmet is an Irish (and Irish-American) nationalist icon. Although Emmet's rebellion of 1803 was an embarrassing failure, his speech from the dock prior to his execution for high treason has captured national and international imagination. The trial, the speech, and the image of Emmet have in many ways superseded his actual achievements, and have been perpetually reproduced across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, culminating in the bicentenary of Emmet's rebellion in 2003. But what is Emmet's legacy? Is there more to this iconic figure than a failed rebellion and a memorable speech?
Ireland’s Rugby Giants by Ivan Martin
Hardback; 28 Euro / 40 USD / 19 UK; 184 pages, with full colour photos throughout [Add To Basket]
Ireland has produced many rugby heroes over the years, legends like Willie John McBride and Jack Kyle and in more recent years the list continues with Brian O'Driscoll, Fergus Slattery and Ciaran Fitzgerald. "Ireland's Rugby Giants" profiles the top players from all four provinces - giants past and present - and is crammed with photographs of the players in action for their country or in their club kits. Each profile features details on the player, and information about some of their most memorable games and tries they scored. The book is guaranteed to get rugby fans talking as much about who isn't included as those who are. And anyway, can our favourite mighty but tiny rugby player Peter Stringer really be called a giant?
King’s of the Turf: Ireland’s Top Racehorse Trainers by Michael Clower
Hardback; 25 Euro / 34 USD / 17 UK; 210 pages, with an 8-page full colour photo insert
Ireland has always been at the heart of horse racing, but increasingly its horses and trainers have come to dominate at the highest level, both on the flat and in National Hunt. Top owners like John Magnier (himself an Irishman) choose a top Irish trainer like Aidan O'Brien. The Cheltenham Festival, highlight of the jumping year, has in recent years become a remarkable Irish festival, as tens of thousands of punters come over for the craic and to see the best horses of trainers like Willie Mullins, Jessica Harrington and Dessie Hughes - Hedgehunter, Moscow Flyer and Hardy Eustace - triumph in the biggest races.Now Michael Clower, author of successful biographies of jockeys Mick Inane and Charlie Swan, and of the Champion Hurdler Istabraq, has profiled the 12 most successful racehorse trainers in Ireland at the moment. As well as those mentioned already they include Michael Hourigan, trainer of the great steeplechaser Beef or Salmon, flat trainer John Oxx, and the distinctly larger-than-life Edward O'Grady.
Oxford Companion to Irish History 2ed edited by S.J. Connolly
Trade Paperback; 23 Euro / 32 USD / 16 UK; 650 pages
Revised and updated this book reaffirms the position held by the first edition as the definitive compact source of reference on all aspects of the Irish past. Individuals, events, institutions, movements, organizations, places, language, and historiography are just some of the topics covered, spanning from the pre-Christian period to the end of the 20th century. In light of recent events and developments in scholarship, new entries have been written on such subjects as the visual arts and the current political situation in Northern Ireland. In addition existing entries covering Bronze Age Ireland, Iron Age, Mesolithic Ireland, and Neolithic Ireland have been rewritten.
'A companion to be cherished', 'judicious and authoritative', 'informative and entertaining', an 'invaluable work of reference' - these are just some of the phrases used by reviewers to describe the Oxford Companion to Irish History. The history of Ireland has long been at the epicentre of political and academic debate. Interest in Irish culture, politics, and society, both ancient and modern, never seems to falter, not only in scholarly circles but also among the general public. With over 1,800 entries, this Companion - now available in the Oxford Paperback Reference series - offers a comprehensive and authoritative guide to all aspects of Ireland's past from earliest times to the present day. There is coverage not only of leading political figures, organizations, and events but also of subjects such as dress, music, sport, and diet. Traditional topics such as the rebellion of 1798 and the Irish Civil War sit alongside entries on newly developing areas such as women's history and popular culture.In addition to A-Z entries the Companion includes a section of maps showing the shape of modern Ireland, post-reformation ecclesiastical divisions in Ireland, political divisions circa 800.
Sean Treacy and the Tan War by Joe Ambrose
Paperback; 13 Euro / 20 USD / 10 UK; 226 pages [Add To Basket]
This is a ground breaking new book that looks back on Ireland's struggle for freedom with a refreshingly new perspective and attitude. This is a journey into a turbulent period in Ireland's past - the past of charismatic guerrilla leader Sean Treacy, Tipperary's Flying Columns and the horrors of Croke Park's 'Bloody Sunday'. Tipperary's role in the War of Independence has been greatly underplayed and this book analyses the main events and personalities of the time. The Tan War in Tipp takes a contemporary look at a time in our history that defined a nation.
The Miami Showband Massacre: A Survivor’s Search for the Truth by Stephen Travers with Neil Fetherstonhaugh
Trade Paperback; 16 Euro / 22 USD / 11 UK; 300 pages, with an 8-page black-and-white photo insert [Add To Basket]
'The suddenness of the punch had caught me off guard ! I knew then that something was definitely wrong.' On 31 July 1975, members of The Miami Showband were returning to Dublin after a gig in Banbridge when they were stopped at a border checkpoint. For Stephen Travers, the band's new bass player, it was an unusual experience but he wasn't too worried. However, as his band mates were lined up beside their vehicle Stephen noticed that the atmosphere had suddenly changed! something more sinister was happening. In a flash their lives were dramatically altered when a bomb that was being placed in the back of their van suddenly exploded prematurely. The events of that night would never leave Stephen Travers -- being hurled into the air by the explosion, listening to the cries of his friends as they were mercilessly gunned down and the steps of the gunmen getting closer as they approached to finish him off! What is it like to survive such an atrocity? To live when all around you others died? In The Miami Showband Massacre, Stephen Travers remembers the highs of being in the most successful showband of the 1970s and how it all ended in a terrifying moment of death and destruction.But he also looks for answers as to why his friends -- Tony Geraghty, Fran O'Toole and Brian McCoy -- were killed. Who ordered the ambush? What drove them to such an act? Stephen wants to understand, but will he find the answers when he meets the men responsible for the massacre face to face?
Jack Doyle: Gorgeous Gael by Michael Taub
Trade Paperback; 16 Euro / 22 USD / 11 UK; 380 pages, with an 8-page black-and-white photo insert [Add To Basket]
Jack Doyle was a 6ft 5in Irishman with a giant appetite for life. In 1933 he drew 90,000 to London's White City to see him fight and was making GBP 600 a week on stage as a singer. He was 19. By the age of 30 he had earned and squandered a GBP 250,000 fortune (worth millions today). His motto was, 'A generous man never went to hell,' and he lived his life like a hellraiser. In his heyday as a heavyweight boxer, singer and playboy, his celebrity rivalled the Prince of Wales, and he and his wife - the beautiful Mexican film star and singer Movita, who later married Marlon Brando - were as popular in the thirties and forties as Olivier and Leigh or Burton and Taylor.This remarkable biography rescues a glittering period of social and boxing history from obscurity and restores Jack and Movita to their rightful place in the showbiz and sporting pantheon. Jack's ring presence and personality reached back to the days of the Regency Buck and his friendships with the Royal Family, his fist-fight with Clark Gable, his life as a film star and gigolo, his throwing of a fight by knocking himself out, and his extraordinary post-war career as an all-in wrestler
Asking for Trouble by Patricia Craig
Paperback; 13 Euro / 20 USD / 9 UK; 230 pages [Add To Basket]
This is the story of an escapade with disproportionate consequences. When I was sixteen I was expelled from school. So what, you may say: so were lots of people who never took it into their heads to make a song and dance about it. True - but I hope to show that this particular, infinitesimal injustice had implications beyond the purely personal.' Patricia Craig was expelled from her convent school in Belfast in 1959. This was not a time when pupils from respectable families were expelled, and certainly not for 'carrying-on' with the local boys in the Donegal Gaeltacht on a school-organised Irish-language course. Now an eminent writer and critic, Patricia Craig's absorbing coming-of-age memoir tells the story of the events surrounding her expulsion and its far-reaching consequences. "Asking for Trouble" is a wry and fascinating account of religious identities, family relationships and growing up set against the vivid backdrop of 1950s Belfast and Donegal.
The Bitter Pill: An Insider’s Shocking Expose of the Irish Health System by Doctor X
Paperback; 12 Euro / 19 USD / 9 UK; 250 pages [Add To Basket]
Dr X has worked in Ireland's health service over the past six years. Like hundreds of other junior doctors, he has witnessed first-hand the problems facing the system, such as: the effects of a culture of fear, bullying and rank-closing in the upper echelons of the profession; the side-lining of professionals who speak up; the unhygienic habits of health professionals as the MRSA virus runs rampant throughout Irish hospitals; the debilitating exhaustion from shifts up to fifty-six hours long; and the life-threatening consequences to patients. Like hundreds of his colleagues, he has felt powerless to speak out, knowing there is no heroism in being a whistleblower.In "The Bitter Pill", Dr X finds himself unable to remain a silent witness. Here he describes the problems from within, using personal experience, along with that of his colleagues, to highlight the day-to-day realities crippling the system. The anonymous author makes a passionate case for change, offering simple solutions that could affect change now - if the will were there. A cautionary picture emerges of a culture often more intent on vested interest than patients' needs. "The Bitter Pill" is an honest, controversial and at times shocking account by a doctor who has not lost the ideals embodied within the Hippocratic oath - to work only 'for the good of my patients' - and who is willing to risk it all for the truth be heard.
Dublin PopOut City Guide
Small Paperback w/ 2 Popout Maps; 7 Euro / 10 USD / 5 UK; 64 pages [Add To Basket]
This work features a revolutionary new design for pocket-sized travel guides. Open the cover and discover a remarkable new design! 2 popout maps and a comprehensive fully illustrated 64 page guide of Dublin. And it works like magic! The map and guide of the city are fully cross-referenced for instant, effortless navigation, making this the easiest guidebook you will ever use. Well-written text covers sights, shopping, entertainment, food, practical information and where to stay. With durable flexibound, stunning laminated covers, the popout cityguide is excellent value for money for your trip to Dublin.
Guinness: The 250-Year Quest for the Perfect Pint by Bill Yenne
Hardback; 20 Euro / 30 USD / 15 UK; 250 pages [Add To Basket]
For millions of beer lovers the world over, a properly poured pint of Guinness Stout is as close to perfection as beer gets. Each year, fans of the legendary black liquidation enjoy two billion pints of the beer known for its distinctive creamy head and rich drinkability. Ireland's most famous export, Guinness Stout--and the people who have brewed it--hold a unique place in the history of beer, business, and Ireland itself.
They say that good things come to those who wait. When you wait on a perfectly poured pint of Guinness Stout, you know you're getting something good. It's more than just a pint of beer; it's a mouthwatering visual presentation of the quality and taste you're about to enjoy. And millions wait patiently for their pint every day. To find out why, famed beer and beverage writer Bill Yenne talks to everyone from Guinness's master brewer to typical pubgoers about the beer they hold dear. Whatever magic makes it so delicious, it's powerful enough to soothe the souls of beer lovers from Dublin to Boston to Buenos Aires to Lagos, and everywhere in between.
But Guinness is more than a delicious beverage, it's also the name of the remarkable family of brewers and entrepreneurs whose story is worthy of legend, and who occupy a prominent place in Irish history. In Guinness, Yenne traces the 250-year tale of the family and its namesake beer. Beginning with Arthur Guinness, the entrepreneur patriarch who first began brewing at St. James's Gate, Dublin, in 1759, the story follows succeeding generations of the Guinness family through the years. Yenne follows not just the fortunes of the family Guinness, but also the development of the brand and the beer--from Arthur's earliest porter to the beer that is enjoyed in 150 countries today.
For everyone who loves a good beer story, Guinness offers a perfect pint more than two centuries in the pouring. Sit back and enjoy.
The Dirty Dozen: Ireland’s Motor Racing Legends by John Kenny
Trade Paperback; 15 Euro / 22 USD / 10 UK; 256 pages, with two 8-page photo inserts [Add To Basket]
What drives them? Twelve of Ireland's legendary motor-sports stars speak about the highs and lows of their sport, whether scorching up the stages in rallying, the perilous thrills of motorbikes or the glamour and high stakes of circuit racing. Ruthless determination to get in front while at the same time blocking the driver or rider behind causes bitter rivalries, shocking injuries and sometimes even sabotage, but bravery, teamwork and sheer exhiliaration also have their part to play.
Please note: Prices were correct at time of original posting but are subject to subsequent change without notice.
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