With some memorable exceptions—Lewis Milestone’s All Quiet on the Western Front and Stanley Kubrick’s searing Paths of Glory being chief among them—Hollywood has shown little interest in the First World War. This is partly because the received narrative of the conflict—military stalemate, futile slaughter and an unsatisfying Allied victory—does not lend itself particularly well to … Read more
There has been much comment in the media in recent months on the issue of Irish Army deserters who subsequently fought for the British Army in World War II. There have been calls for the state to pardon the thousands of men who deserted (even Sinn Féin supports the call for a pardon). Much of … Read more
Cricket, lovely cricket! It saved us during the Great Famine—well, some men in County Laois anyway. Newly discovered documents reveal that in the darkest days of the Great Hunger Viscount Ashbrook paid poor, starving peasants to play the game. Castle Durrow club consisted of good Protestant gentlemen, but when they needed to make up the … Read more
Packed with historical detail, El sueño del celta/The dream of the Celt takes place in a windowless cell in Pentonville Prison during the summer of 1916, as Casement reflects on his life in the weeks before his execution. Interspersed with these musings of a condemned man are chapters relating to his youth, his years in … Read more