The World of Books by the books editor This weekend the world will mark, in different ways, the centenary of the armistice that brought the fighting in the Great War, otherwise ‘the war to end all wars’, at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month 1918. These commemorations of the…
The Liberties by Maurice Curtis (Currach Press, €14.99) The Back of the Hack: Growing Up in the Liberties by Kathleen Clifford (A & A Farmar, €15.00) Some years ago author Maurice Curtis brought out a history of the Liberties, that district of Dublin to the south west that once lay outside the city walls, and where over…
Who Do I Think I Am?: A Memoir by Homan Potterton (Merrion Press, €24.99) The former director of the National Gallery of Ireland, now living in retirement in the France, scored something of a literary success with Rathcormick: A Childhood Recalled, his memoir of his years of growth in Anglo-Irish Meath. This was perhaps a feat…
The Pope who would be King: The Exile of Pius IX and the Emergence of Modern Europe by David I. Kertzer (Oxford University Press, £25.00) Prof. Kertzer’s earlier books have made a mark. The Pope and Mussolini, for instance, described the settlement that lead to the Lateran Treaty and the accommodation made by the Church with…
Currently the facade of the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies is decorated with a huge image of Erwin Schrödinger. This year is the 75th anniversary of the physicist’s lecture, given under the auspices of the institute, the famous ‘What is life?’ This exposition played an influential role in the development of molecular physics and the…
The Masses of Seán and Peadar Ó Riada: Explorations in Vernacular Chant by John O’Keefe (Cork University Press, €49.00) Music and Society in Cork, 1700-1900 by Susan O’Regan (Cork University Press, €39.00) Ina Boyle 1889-1967: A Composer’s Life by Ita Beausang, with an essay on the music by Séamus de Barra (Cork University Press, €29.90)…
Christ’s Illumination Upon Every Heart by Eamon Flanagan (Kolbe Publications, €7.50) The author of this handbook is a Vincentian who works in Dublin; indeed the landmark spire of his church, St Peter’s, Phibsborough, standing at a major crossroads, decorates his cover. That notion of serving the church at a crossroads is a theme which might…
Pope Francis in Ireland: Commemorative Souvenir by Mags Gargan and the staff of The Irish Catholic (Columba Books, €24.99) Pope Francis in Ireland (Veritas, €4.99) Joy of Love, a family perspective by Gráinne Doherty (Veritas, €7.99) The recent congress and the visit of Pope Francis, despite what was mooted in advance by critics, passed off very well. Certainly…
Following the Pink Ribbon Path by Mary Redmond Ussher (Columba Books, €14.99) This book reminded me in a way of Markings, Dag Hammarskjöld’s only book. Hammarskjöld described his book as “a sort of White Book concerning my talks with myself – and with God”. Both have the same commonplace book structure of the author’s thoughts mingled with…
Jamie Cooks Italy by Jamie Oliver (Michael Joseph / Penguin, £26.00) Jamie Oliver is perhaps one of the most popular TV chefs of the moment. But he has moved from the costly ingredients and exotic notions to helping ordinary families make the most of what they can afford to cook at home, or have to eat at…