by Matthew Cragoe (2004)
This detailed, scholarly exploration of Welsh political culture in the 19th century offers a new interpretation of the rise of nationalism. The author shows how the focus of legitimate power in the community shifted from the aristocracy to the urban middle classes.
Jason Porterfield
Traces the history of the Democratic Party from its founding by Thomas Jefferson in 1792, to the end of the nineteenth century, focusing on how issues of the day affected the choices of Democratic presidential candidates and campaigns, as well as election results.
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.
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)
Hans Hägerdal
European traders and soldiers established a foothold on Timor in the course of the seventeenth century, motivated by the quest for the commercially vital sandalwood and the intense competition between the Dutch and the Portuguese. Lords of the land, lords of the sea focuses on two centuries of contacts between the indigenous polities on Timor and the early colonials, and covers the period 1600-1800. In contrast with most previous studies, the book treats Timor as a historical region in its own right, using a wide array of Dutch, Portuguese and other original sources, which are compared with the comprehensive corpus of oral tradition recorded on the island. From this rich material, a lively picture emerges of life and death in early Timorese society, the forms of trade, slavery, warfare, alliances, social life, and so forth. The investigation demonstrates that the European groups, although having a role as ordering political forces, were only part of the political landscape of Timor. They relied on alliances where the distinction between ally and vassal was moot, and led to frequent conflicts and uprisings. During a slow and complicated process, the often turbulent political conditions involving Europeans, Eurasians, and Timorese polities, paved the way for the later division of Timor into two spheres of roughly equal size. Hans Hägerdal (1960) is a Senior Lecturer in History at the Linnaeus University, Sweden. He has written extensively on East and Southeast Asian history. Among his publications is Hindu rulers, Muslim subjects: Lombok and Bali in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries (2001).