Twilight of Democracy: the failure of politics and the parting of friends by Anne Applebaum (Allen Lane, £16.99) Felix M. Larkin After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union, Western-style liberal democracy was in the ascendant as never before. During the previous two centuries, it had triumphed over…
Kerry: History & Society edited by Maurice J. Bric, introduction by Joe Lee, epilogue by Tommy O’Connor (Geography Publications, €60.00) This tremendous volume is the latest in the well established series of County Histories which the publishers have been producing for at least two decades. They are a sort of Irish version of the British ‘Victoria…
Holistic Healing: A Christian Approach by Pat Collins CM (Columba Books, €16.99) This book is only partly about healing. As with all medical matters health in mind, body and spirit begins not in curing but preventing. Living a whole life in a healthy way is the essence of the matter. And, Fr Collins [pictured below] suggests,…
You Have the Words of Eternal Life by Martin Hogan (Messenger Publications, €14.95/£13.95) In these daily reflections for the liturgical year to come, Martin Hogan, who worked as a co-parish priest on the North side of Dublin, provides reflections on the Gospels of the day that arise directly out of the life and needs of the…
New cinema releases are thin on the ground these days. A few brave souls are still calling “action” instead of “cut” as they seek to revive a form of entertainment that, like so many others these days, seems dangerously close to being on life support. Chemical Hearts chronicles the teenage romance of two high school…
Digging Up Armageddon: The Search for the Lost City of Solomon by Eric H. Cline (Princeton University Press, £30.00/$35.00) ‘Armageddon’ is a word that puts the fear of God in many people today. It is all very well having fears about the end of the world, the now fashionable ‘End Times’, when one is 12 –…
Thomas Cromwell: A Life by Diarmaid MacCulloch (Allen Lane, £22.50) Hillary Mantel’s inspired trilogy of novels beginning with Wolf Hall has prompted a lively interest in Thomas Cromwell, best known as Henry VIII’s consummate ‘fixer’. Her brilliant recreation of life in the 16th century remains in the demesne of fiction. Diarmaid McCulloch’s Life is an altogether…
In a Harbour Green: Celebrating Benedict Kiely by George O’Brien (Irish Academic Press, €19.95) In the hurry and bustle of modern Irish literature, Ben Kiely belongs seemingly to another world. This may well be because he was one of that generation of writers whose normal route to writing was though journalism and broadcasting. The broad rich…
While my late friend and revered music critic of the Irish Independent, Mary MacGoris, maintained danger lurked around every corner, I believe things are looking up. As Fred Astaire sang in the Gershwin brothers film A Damsel in Distress, “bitter was my cup/but no more will I be the mourner/for I’ve certainly turned the corner/oh,…
Alert, Aware, Attentive. Advent Reflections by John Cullen (Messenger Publications, €4.95/£4.50) From a background of service in Ireland and Kenya, John Cullen brings us some ideas about Advent. As the editor of Intercom he is a practised hand at communication. His little book will be an aid to many as Advent comes down on us to…
Peter Costello
Aubrey Malone