Lords of the land, lords of the sea

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Terry Eagleton

"Terry Eagleton's book provides a novel account of Ireland's neglected 'national' intellectuals. This extraordinary group, including such figures as Oscar Wilde's father William Wilde, Charles Lever, Samuel Ferguson, Isaac Butt and Sheridan Le Fanu, was a kind of Irish version of 'Bloomsbury' (they were doctors, lawyers, economists, writers and amateurs, rather than academics). Their work, much of it published in the pages of the Dublin University Magazine, was deeply caught up in networks of kinship, shared cultural interests, and intersecting biographies in the outsized village of nineteenth-century Dublin. Eagleton explores the preoccupations of this remarkable community, in all its fascinating ferment and diversity, through the lens of Antonio Gramsci's definitions of 'traditional' and 'organic' intellectuals, and maps the nature of its relation to the young Ireland movement, combining his account with some reflections on intellectual work in general and its place in political life."--Jacket.

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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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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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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.