Tom Hayden's* book "Irish on the Inside"-I haven't read it all,and it's more of an auto-biography than a history.But
there is an interesting chapter where he attacks the revisionists like Roy Foster and Ruth Dudley Edwards from a "left republican" perspective. Anti-Revisionism For Beginners?
*Yes, the former Mr. Jane Fonda.
Since this discussion has branched out a bit to specific periods of Irish history, I'd recommend the following:
Easter 1916 - The Irish Rebellion by Charles Townshend
The Irish War of Independence by Michael Hopkinson
The Secret Army: The IRA (3rd Edition) by J. Bowyer Bell
Mick: The Real Michael Collins by Peter Hart
The Oxford Companion to Irish History (2007 Edition), edited by S.J. Connolly
The Flight of the Earls by John McCavitt
Gaelic and Gaelicized Ireland in the Middle Ages (Second Edition, 2003) by K.W. Nicholls
A Pocket History of Gaelic Culture by Alan Titley
I've been meaning to read Hopkinson's Green Against Green for awhile now. Must get on that!
It's pretty good.Originally Posted by diy01
Europa Conventus Delenda Est
Good enough book, and from a labour perspective, if my memory serves me correctly.
To gain an historical understanding of any country, never ever read ONE book, always read at least TWO, preferably from different perspectives.
There's no such thing as a completely objective history book, no matter how 'professional', 'academic' or 'renowned' an author might be. History books only differ in terms of degrees of objectivity. That's the best you can hope for. Sometimes the most interesting books are totally subjective personal recollections... Tom Barry's Guerilla Days in Ireland, and Ernie O Malleys On Another Man's Wound and Singing Flame to name but two.
I'd agree with many of the recommended books here... Kee, F.S Lyons, Curtis, T.A. Jackson, Lee, Coogan,... you couldn't read enough.
I haven't read half the books I'd love to read, and I've only half-read some of the books I have on my shelf!
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