History Man: the life of R. G. Collingwood

History Man: the life of R. G. Collingwood Fred Inglis (Princeton University Press, Ä33.55) IBSN 9780691130149   Robin George Collingwood was born on 22 February 1889 in the English Lake District and died there on 9 January 1943. He wrote extensively on the philosophy of art, metaphysics, the nature of knowledge, archaeology and religion, but … Read more

Behind the Green Curtain: Ireland’s phoney neutrality during World War II

Behind the Green Curtain: Ireland’s phoney neutrality during World War II T. Ryle Dwyer (Gill and Macmillan, €25) ISBN 9780717146383   The reasons for Irish neutrality during the Second World War are widely accepted: that any attempt to take an overtly pro-British line might have resulted in a replay of the Civil War; that Southern … Read more

The Big House in the North of Ireland: land, power and social elites, 1878–1960

The Big House in the North of Ireland: land, power and social elites, 1878–1960 Olwen Purdue (University College Dublin Press, Ä60hb/Ä28pb) ISBN 9781906359218 hb, 9781906359256 pb     Singing of the beleaguered stately homes of England, Noel Coward observed: ‘Though the fact that they have to be rebuilt And frequently mortgaged to the hilt Is … Read more

A history of the media in Ireland

A history of the media in Ireland Christopher Morash (Cambridge University Press, £45) ISBN 9780521843928   The Revd Alexander R. C. Dallas was convinced that the second coming of Christ was due in 1872. Unconvinced that the Catholics of Ireland would appreciate this, in January 1846 he arranged for a simultaneous letter-drop across the country. … Read more