Story of Ireland
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- £10.99
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- £10.99
Publisher Description
The history of Ireland has traditionally focused on the localized struggles of religious conflict, territoriality and the fight for Home Rule. But from the early Catholic missions into Europe to the embrace of the euro, the real story of Ireland has played out on the larger international stage.
Story of Ireland presents this new take on Irish history, challenging the narrative that has been told for generations and drawing fresh conclusions about the way the Irish have lived. Revisiting the major turning points in Irish history, Neil Hegarty re-examines the accepted stories, challenging long-held myths and looking not only at the dynamics of what happened in Ireland, but also at the role of events abroad. How did Europe's 16th century religious wars inform the incredible violence inflicted on the Irish by the Elizabethans? What was the impact of the French and American revolutions on the Irish nationalist movement? What were the consequences of Ireland's policy of neutrality during the Second World War? Story of Ireland sets out to answer these questions and more, rejecting the introspection that has often characterized Irish history.
Accompanying a landmark series coproduced by the BBC and RTE, and with an introduction by series presenter, Fergal Keane, Story of Ireland is an epic account of Ireland's history for an entire new generation.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
There's much more to Ireland than shamrocks, the potato famine, or James Joyce, as Irish writer Hegarty notes in this fresh recasting of Irish history. Irish fiction writer Hegarty emphasizes the external political and cultural forces shaping the destiny of the Emerald Isle and chips away at the usual myths by presenting a sweeping panorama that includes the first Christian communities, Columbanus's powerful sermons, the Viking settlements, the early great documents of the new land, and the long reach of the Roman Catholic Church into Irish affairs. Significant global political and religious events influenced the country's governance and cultural tensions, such as the Anglo-Norman conflict, the English civil war, the American and French uprisings, the two world wars, and the recent international bailout of the Irish economy. Without succumbing to a dry academic tone, Hegarty offers a finely researched and timely celebration of Ireland's turbulent history and conservative people.
