Nick Maxwell Sir—David Fitzpatrick’s article in the Summer 2002 issue (HI 10.2), ‘De Valera’s Performance as a Convict 1916–17’, is valuable as an examination of some important documents relating to the development of twentieth-century Irish history, but is nevertheless open to criticism on several points. The title, which accepts the English designation of the Irish prisoners as … Read more
Reds and the Green: Ireland, Russia and the Communist Internationals 1919–43 Emmet O’Connor (UCD Press, €25) ISBN 1904558208With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the archives of the Communist International (Comintern), comprising some 55 million pages of documents, long closed to all but a very few trusted scholars, were finally opened to all. … Read more
The Crimean journals of the Sisters of Mercy 1854–56 Maria Luddy (ed.) (Four Courts Press, €55) ISBN 1851827560 Nuns have been getting such bad publicity recently that we are inclined to forget how much they contributed to education and medicine in Ireland at a time when such services were not provided by government. We also … Read more
Charles Trevelyan and the great Irish Famine Robin Haines (Four Courts Press, 285) ISBN 1851827552 In tackling Charles Trevelyan’s role in the Great Famine, Robin Haines has entered something of a historiographical minefield. The Famine, as a subject of academic research, has consistently exposed the polemics of Irish history-writing, from John Mitchel’s overtly nationalist verdict … Read more
Padraig Lenihan (Cork University Press, e57.25) ISBN 1859182445 The study of Confederate Ireland has experienced a renaissance of late, after years of relative neglect. However, scholars have concentrated for the most part on the social and political developments of the period, highlighting the importance of factionalism in undermining the confederate war effort. Padraig Lenihan’s Confederate … Read more