Angels and ages

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Aidan Hegarty

'John Mitchel A Cause Too Many' by Co Derry writer Aidan Hegarty is a very interesting biography of the Young Irelander born in Dungiven. It is an easy read but that is not to say it is not well researched. It covers that period in Irish History dominated by the Famine and the emergence of the Young Ireland Movement. It is certainly a recommended read for any student who wishes to read about mid-19th century Irish History but wants to avoid chapter after chapter of detail. It is, in my view, a worthwhile read and gives an interesting insight into John Mitchel and his lesser known American Story. (Screenog)

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Marvin Rintala

When David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill began their long friendship, one of their numerous enemies nicknamed the new friends "the Heavenly Twins" after a set of gifted, irresponsible, and inseparable twins in a late Victorian novel. In Lloyd George and Churchill: How Friendship Changed Politics, Marvin Rintala explores the lengthy and unexpected friendship between these two statesmen, from its beginning in early 1901 to its end at Lloyd George's death in 1945. Rintala examines the dynamics that shaped the friendship between two powerful men (a friendship that belied Lloyd George's statement that "there are no friends at the top") and the ways in which this friendship shaped British politics during the first half of the twentieth century.

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A.P.W. Malcomson

John Foster was the last (1785–1800) speaker of the Irish House of Commons and the most important opponent of the Act of Union which extinguished both his office and the separate Irish parliament. He also served three times as chancellor of the Irish Exchequer, passing on the first of these occasions the famous Corn Law of 1784 which has always borne his name. Although he remained doggedly and exclusively Irish in his mentalité, he achieved at Westminster in 1804 a political come-back which was quite remarkable, particularly for a man of 65, and remained politically active into his eighties. Dr Malcomson’s first book on Foster was published in 1978. Professor S.J. Connolly described it as ‘potentially one of the most important books on 18th century Ireland to appear in the past 50 years’. The present book incorporates new insights drawn from recently discovered archives, other new ideas generated by the commemorations of the 1798 Rebellion and the Union, and some second thoughts and shifts of emphasis which the author considers important. Foster's paternalist approach to politics, and his determined pursuit of improvement and prosperity as the cure for political ills, are the principal themes of the book and are shown to be the motive forces of Foster's career. In many ways, they are an anticipation of the late nineteenth-century Conservative policy of killing Home Rule with kindness.

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Plutarch

This story is set in the mid-fourth century B.C., in the city-state of Syracuse on the island of Sicily. It's the story of two father-and-son tyrant rulers who called themselves kings, both named Dionysius (pronounced Die-oh-nee-see-us). But the main character is Dion (pronounced Dion as in Lion), who was a relative, mentor, and finally mortal enemy to the second Dionysius. It has been pointed out that Dion and his siblings Megacles and Aristomache, as the children of Hipparinus, a wealthy and powerful man, had a social status that the upstart Dionysius I lacked, which suggests that envy might have been partially to blame for the increasing conflict between the families. However, Dionysius was clever enough to make use of Dion's good connections in his dealings with other rulers, where he himself, perhaps, might not have been shown as much respect.