Sir, —In his rather superficial discussion of the JFK assassination in the last issue (HI 11.4, Winter 2003), Mel Ayton matches the wilder speculations of the conspiracy theorists with some of his own. Among these is his unqualified assertion of the most fantastic of the conclusions of the Warren Report—the so-called ‘single bullet theory’. … Read more
Sir, —Jim Jordan (Letters, HI 11.4, Winter 2003) has provided useful background on the ethnic conflicts that partly lay behind the New York draft riots (see my article in HI 11.3, Autumn 2003). It is of course quite normal to embed the riots in a wider narrative like Noel Ignatiev’s How the Irish became white. … Read more
They say that the only thing worse than a bad review is no review at all. Unfortunately, where History Ireland is concerned, this has been the case with many of the books sent to us for review by publishers. In 2003, for example, over 130 books were submitted but only 27 were reviewed. And that’s … Read more
D. George Boyce and Alan O’Day (eds) (Routledge, £17) ISBN 0415174228 The last decade has witnessed an increasing interest in the constitutional and political nature of the United Kingdom. More often than not this has taken the form of a critical assessment of the Union itself rather than an analysis of those who supported it. … Read more
Peter Hart (Oxford University Press, £25) ISBN 0199252580 Tom Barry: IRA freedom fighter Meda Ryan (Mercier Press, £30) ISBN 1856354253 Two new books will stimulate fresh interest and controversies about the IRA in the period 1916–23. Peter Hart’s is very much a statistical history of the Irish Revolution. He has used a wealth … Read more