The electric telegraph was invented in 1837 and proved to be an instant success. It provided new possibilities for the rapid transmission of news and business information. International communications required the use of insulated electrical conductors and the first techniques for coating copper wires with a suitable material were patented by Siemens Brothers in Prussia. … Read more
On an October day in 1325, in the royal exchequer at Westminster, the accounts of the treasurer of Ireland were being audited. This was a fairly routine matter. The treasurer in question was Walter Islip, who had retired from office in September 1321. Suddenly the audit was interrupted when the routine inquiries began to reveal … Read more
They have stolen our history’. Thus has the work of professional historians of Ireland been decried in recent years. This statement is true: the labours of historians have wholly revised popular perceptions of the past in Ireland. The catharsis thus engendered would not have been so tempestuous had the historians themselves been better communicators. All … Read more
This is an extremely well-organised and comprehensive treatment of its subject matter. Writing in a crisp, precise style, Connolly takes a thematic approach so that each chapter stands on its own. Not only is the book generously foot-noted but the author gives the reader a précis of the significant debates currently animating historians of the … Read more
Experimentation in historical writing and methodology in order to make it accessible and meaningful to a general readership is once again fashionable. The virtues of narration, imaginative reconstruction based partly on intuition, and the linking of disconnected developments over long periods of time are being tried and tested in order to create a more popular … Read more