CHRISTOPHER CLARK Penguin £10.99 ISBN 9780141027821 Reviewed by Eoin Dillon For undergraduates nearly 40 years ago, or at least this one, understanding the causes of the First World War was problematic. The sheer scale of what was being considered was overwhelming, particularly in an era when a good part of central Europe and beyond was … Read more
JOHN HORNE AND EDWARD MADIGAN (EDS) Royal Irish Academy £15 ISBN 9781908996176 Reviewed by Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh Production lines are cranking up for the centenary commemorations of the Great War. Dedicated shelves in bookstores and the documentary slots on television schedules are beginning to fill with material relating to the war that didn’t quite end … Read more
John Dennehy In a time of war: Tipperary 1914–1918 (Merrion, €19.95 pb, 288pp, ISBN 9781908928214). James Durney In a time of war: Kildare 1914–1918 (Merrion, €19.95 pb, 288pp, ISBN 9781908928856, August 2014). Mark Cronin Blackpool to the front: a Cork suburb and Ireland’s Great War, 1914–1918 (Collins Press, €14.99 pb, 264pp, ISBN 9781848891951). Ken Kinsella … Read more
Among historians of this period, peacemakers have not proved to be blessed. As Europe edged towards war, those voicing concern about the dangerous consequences of the arms race or the perils of secret diplomacy were sidelined. The assassination of an archduke in Sarajevo may have heralded the diplomatic countdown to Armageddon, but well in advance … Read more
A century on, the anti-war movement remains part of the peripheral and hidden history of the war. Those who took a stand against the conflict are still patronisingly dismissed as cranks. Some of the personal histories of how the war divided both Britain and Ireland have been well told by Adam Hochschild in his recent … Read more