Read Ireland Book Reviews, November 2003

Gerry Adams
John Bailey
Michael Feeney Callan
Lola Cashman
David Fitzpatrick
R. F. Foster
Peter Harbison
John Haynes
James Knowlson
Eithne Massey
Neil McKenna
Maire Cruise O’Brien
Valerie O’Sullivan
David Shaw-Smith
Michael Viney

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.

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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the sense of teetering on the brink, and he has a sharp eye and acute ear for them humorous He reveals previously unpublished details of the peace process: secret contacts with the Catholic Church; the inside story on the covert talks between republicans and the British government;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.

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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’.

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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...

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.’

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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.

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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.

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I Am Of Kerry by Valerie O’Sullivan
This book is a magnificent celebration of all things Kerry

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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.

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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.

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