Nick Maxwell Sir, —In the Jan./Feb. 2005 issue of History Ireland you kindly permitted our campaign the opportunity to raise the case for pardons for 26 Irish-born British soldiers executed for military offences during World War I. Many of your readers offered support and constructive criticism that was greatly appreciated and beneficial to the Irish effort. I … Read more
Value for money? One of the suggestions most frequently made to me over the years has been: why don’t you compile an index of the magazine? Great idea, but neither the time nor the resources were available. And as one issue led to another, and one year to the next, the task grew bigger and … Read more
Blood of the Isles: exploring the genetic roots of our tribal history Bryan Sykes (Bantam Press, £10.79) ISBN 0593056523From a historian’s point of view, this is initially a difficult book to get into. Sykes is a geneticist, not a historian; he writes in a personalised, conversational style and, in the opening chapters, talks a lot … Read more
Ireland since 1939: the persistence of conflict Henry Patterson (Penguin Ireland, ?37) ISBN 9781844881031 In this book Henry Patterson outlines the political and social developments of both states on the island of Ireland from the start of the Second World War to 2005. Over the past couple of decades numerous works of general Irish history, … Read more
All in the blood. A memoir of the Plunkett family, the 1916 Rising and the War of Independence by Geraldine Plunkett Dillon Honor Ó Brolcháin (ed.) (A. A. Farmar, E25) First, I have to declare an interest. Geraldine Plunkett Dillon was my grandmother. I grew up a few houses away from her; I knew her … Read more