|
Read Ireland Book Reviews, November 2003
W.B. Yeats: A
Life Vol. II The Arch-Poet by R. F. Foster
The acclaimed first volume of this definitive
biography of William Butler Yeats (now available in paperback) left him
in his fiftieth year, at a crossroads in his life. The subsequent quarter-century
surveyed in this book takes in his rediscovery of advanced nationalism
and his struggle for an independent Irish culture, his continued pursuit
of supernatural truths through occult experimentation, his extraordinary
marriage, and a series of tumultuous love affairs. The drama of his life
is mapped against the history of the Irish revolution and the new Irish
State founded in 1922. Yeats’s many political roles and his controversial
involvement in a right-wing movement during the early 1930s are covered
more closely than ever before, and his complex and passionate relationship
with the developing history of his country remains a central theme. Throughout
this book, the genesis, alteration, and presentation of his work (memoirs
and polemic as well as poetry) are explo eld that ‘all knowledge is biography’,
a belief reflected in this study of one of the greatest lives of modern
times.
[ top ]
Hope and History: Making
Peace in Ireland by Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams has brought the oldest revolutionary
movement in Ireland on an extraordinary journey from armed insurrection
to active participation in government. An author as well as an activist,
he brings a vivid sense of immediacy and a writer’s understanding of narrative
to this story of the triumph of hope in what was long considered an intractable
bloody conflict. He conveys the tensions of the peace process, the sense
of teetering on the brink, and he has a sharp eye and acute ear for them
humorous He reveals previously unpublished details of the peace process:
secret contacts with the Catholic Church; the inside story on the covert
talks between republicans and the British government; the Irish-American
role and meetings in the White House; the importance of the South African
role; differences within republicanism and the emergence of dissidents;
the breakdown of the first IRA cessation. He speaks candidly about being
shot, and discloses details of his discussions with the IRA. He paints
revealing portraits of the other leading characters in the drama that
was acted out through ceasefires and stand-offs, discussions and confrontations.
Amongst these are Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern, Mo Mowlam, Martin McGuinness,
Albert Reynolds, Bill & Hilary Clinton, Jean Kennedy Smith, David
Trimble, John Hume, Nelson Mandela, John Bruton and Charles Haughey. As
the pre-eminent republican strategist of his generation, he provides the
first authentic account of the principles and tactics underpinning modern
Irish republicanism. And in a world where peace processes are needed more
urgently than ever, this book provides a template for conflict resolution
processes internationally.
[ top ]
Harry Boland’s Irish Revolution
by David Fitzpatrick
Along with his close comrades Michael
Collins and Eamon de Valera, Harry Boland was probably the most influential
Irish revolutionary between 1917 and 1922. His sway extended to almost
every aspect of republican activity. Already prominent as a hurler before
1916, he was convicted and imprisoned after an energetic Easter Week.
He subsequently became Honorary Secretary of Sinn Fein, T.D. for South
Roscommon in the First Dail, President of the Irish Republican Brotherhood’s
Supreme Council, and a republic Boland’s influence was the product of
charm, gregariousness, wit and ruthlessness. After his rebel father’s
early death, Boland’s mother raised him in a spirit of intransigent hostility
to Britain. Yet he was also stylish, cosmopolitan, and humane. His celebrated
contest with Collins for the love of Kitty Kiernan is perhaps the most
intriguing of all Irish political romances. Attractive yet elusive, his
personality helped shape the Irish revolution. This biography draws upon
documents in Irish, British and American archives, including his American
diaries and thousands of letters to, from, and about Boland. Extensive
use has been made of family papers and de Valera’s vast archive on the
Irish campaign in America. These and other recently released documents
illuminate the inner workings of Irish republicanism and the critical
importance of brotherhood in the revolution. As an old-fashioned republican
and advocate of ‘physicalforce’.
[ top ]
The Secret Life of Oscar
Wilde by Neil McKenna
’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. 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 that...
[ top ]
Richard Harris: Sex, Death
and the Movies by Michael Feeney Callan
The legendary Richard Harris was a genius
whose frenzied existence sometimes overshadowed his talent, yet never
eclipsed it. His death in the winter of 2002 marked the passing of one
of the great eccentric spirits of modern cinema and the end of an era.
Over 45 years, his career spanned small theatrical productions, homegrown
British films and Hollywood blockbusters. Renowned for his roles in such
classics as Mutiny on the Bounty, This Sporting Life, A Man Called Horse,
Camelot, The Field and Unforgiv lysing his career and choices. For this
updated and revised, post-humous edition, the author conducted further
research and interviews to create a fresh and revealing tribute. The book
captures Harris’s spirit and documents his highs and lows: from his early
life in Limerick to his swansong in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
[ top ]
The Same Age as the State
by Maire Cruise O’Brien
Through a life the encompasses Irish tradition,
culture, language, scholarship and poetry, as well as national and international
politics, Maire Cruise O’Brien is uniquely placed to tell the complex
story of the emergence and growth of Ireland as an independent country.
Her life not only parallels that development; her family played an active
part in it. Born in 1922, she intimately remembers the generation of the
19th century - her grandparents - and their way of life and values. Her
own parents’ dangerous involvement in the struggle for freedom, in the
company of Eamon deValera and Michael Collins, was a hugely important
element in her young life, as was her father’s subsequent work as a senior
government minister. Part of the new Irish elite, she went on to become
an Irish scholar, to study Celtic languages in Paris immediately after
the Second World War. There she met and married Conor Cruise O’Brien,
a rising star in the UN. Thereafter, her life took her to the Congo, Ghana,
Europe and America, where Conor worked both academically and politically
in highly dramatic situations. From her unique vantage point she vividly
recalls the workings of the international community. Their return to Ireland
and Conor’s position as a government minister took her full circle. Maire
offers a fascinating insight into her eighty-plus years, drawing together
threads from Celtic roots to far-flung political and diplomatic activities.
Her interests are wide-ranging and her observation acute. Both homely
and worldly, this book presents a rare personal perspective on the complete
span of the twentieth century both in Ireland and around the world.
[ top ]
Inside the Zoo with U2 by
Lola Cashman
For more than twenty years, U2 have been
arguably the most influential rock band in the world. From the early days
of the Boy album, through the dizzying heights of international fame in
the eighties and nineties, to their current status as godfathers of the
rock scene, few bands have had such an impact and created such a loyal
following as U2. The author of this book is one of the few outside people
ever to have been allowed into the inner sanctum of theU2 entourage.
[ top ]
Traditional Crafts of Ireland
by David Shaw-Smith
A magnificent testament to the centuries-old
heritage of a vibrant land, this book is a chronicle of time past, but
also a celebration of an enduring culture and a source of inspiration
for generations to come.
[ top ]
Ireland by Michael Viney
In this book, acclaimed nature writer
Michael Viney reveals in clear, elegant language ‘what is special about
Ireland’s natural fabric.’
[ top ]
Treasures of the Boyne
Valley by Peter Harbison
This book traces the course of the river
from source to sea, discussing its history, the landscape, the peoples
who have left their imprint on the region since pre-historic times, the
houses and monuments, the battle sites, and all other aspects that make
the Boyne Valley such a rich source of interest.
[ top ]
Images of Beckett by John
Haynes and James Knowlson
This book sets John Haynes’ unique repertoire
of photographs of Beckett’s dramatic opus alongside three newly written
essays by Beckett’s biographer and friend, James Knowlson.
[ top ]
I Am Of Kerry by Valerie
O’Sullivan
This book is a magnificent celebration
of all things Kerry
[ top ]
Legenday Ireland: A Journey
Through the Celtic Places and Myths by Eithne Massey
This book is a vivid and original journey
through the Celtic places and myths of ancient Ireland.
[ top ]
Fly Fishing in Ireland
by John Bailey
This book is an enticing mixture of anecdote,
history, experience and in-depth information on all aspects of fly-fishing
in Ireland.
[ top ]
|