JASON R. MYERS Academica Press $82.95 ISBN 9781936320264 Reviewed by Tomás Irish There has been an explosion of interest in Ireland’s experience of the Great War in recent years. As the centenary of the outbreak of the war approaches, scholarly and popular interest has focused not only on the Irish experience of war but also … Read more
Charles Messenger Pen and Sword Books £25 ISBN 9781848848970 Reviewed by Timothy Bowman On 1 July 1916, F.P. Crozier, then a lieutenant colonel, led his men of the 9th Royal Irish Rifles out of Thiepval Wood to attack the Schwaben Redoubt during the Battle of the Somme. In doing so he defied orders that no … Read more
JANE G.V. McGAUGHEY McGill–Queen’s University Press $95 CAD ISBN 9780773539723 Reviewed by Jessica Meyer In the past twenty years masculinity as a framework of historical analysis has moved from the margins of gender history in First World War studies to become a central element of discussion. Since the publication of Joanna Bourke’s Dismembering the male … Read more
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