Nick Maxwell Sir,—My attention has been drawn to a Sidelines item (p. 6) in the last issue (HI 19.1, Jan./Feb. 2011), which contained a couple of inaccuracies that I’m sure you’d wish corrected. Although almost universally referred to as grave-robbers, William Burke and William Hare were in fact mass-murderers and never robbed a grave in their lives, … Read more
G2. In defence of Ireland: Irish military intelligence 1918–1945 Maurice Walsh (Collins Press, €16.99) ISBN 9781848890282 The secret world of the intelligence services is getting ever-increasing attention in a world that is confronted with many elusive threats. Although Ireland has had more than its fair share of subversive activity in the last century, the … Read more
Sir,—I found the article on Galway in 1916 by Conor McNamara (HI 19.1, Jan./Feb. 2011) very interesting and very enlightening on the attitude of the majority of the Irish population to the events of Easter week. Another view of the events in Galway is presented in a book called Danger zone by E. Keble Chatterton. … Read more
Becoming American under fire: Irish Americans, African Americans, and the politics of citizenship during the Civil War era Christian G. Samito (Cornell University Press, $39.95) ISBN 9780801448461 Just as on this side of the pond, in the United States the discourse of citizenship circulates in increasingly impoverished forms. The recent repackaging of republicanism via … Read more
Sir,—I was somewhat disappointed with John Borgonovo’s review of my book The year of disappearances (HI 19.1, Jan./Feb. 2011). I would have expected more in the line of constructive criticism rather than the dismissal that the book received. My book, he asserts, ‘cannot be presented as serious scholarship; it is a work in which speculation … Read more