Nick Maxwell Did the premature death of George III’s father lead to the American Declaration of Independence in 1776? By Michael Turner On 4 July Americans will celebrate the Declaration of Independence, which has inspired the development of democracy worldwide over the last 250 years. The founding fathers’ elegantly crafted words in its opening and closing paragraphs … Read more
JOHN CROTTY The History Press €20 ISBN 9781837051632 REVIEWED BY Stan Moore Stan Moore is a flag and heraldry historian. In The Irish tricolour, John Crotty makes a substantial contribution to the historiography of Ireland’s national flag by challenging established narratives and introducing new archival evidence to a subject often shrouded in myth and romanticised … Read more
JOHN WADDELL Four Courts Press €26.95 ISBN 9781801512008 REVIEWED BY Ian Stewart Ian Stewart is Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow at Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris. Histories of ancient civilisations occupy a peculiar place in scholarship. While seemingly popular with the reading public, they are usually quirky subfields within disciplines such as archaeology and … Read more
GARETH PRENDERGAST Eastwood Books €20 ISBN 1916742882 REVIEWED BY John M. Regan John M. Regan lectures in history at the University of Dundee. A serving officer in the Irish Defence Forces, Gareth Prendergast brings a professional’s understanding to the study of the Irish Civil War (1922–3). Building on his 2022 Ph.D thesis completed at University … Read more
GARETH HARNEY Vintage Books £10.99 ISBN 9781529931457 REVIEWED BY Murray Smith Murray Smith is a barrister and a history graduate of University College Dublin. The author, a historian and coin-collector, gives the reader an overview of ancient Rome, from its foundation in 753 BC to the Western Empire’s end in AD 476, through twelve of … Read more