John Redmond. Selected letters and memoranda, 1880-1918 edited by Dermot Meleady (Merrion Press, €29.99/£26.99) Ian
 d’Alton   On March 6, 1918, John Redmond, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, died – “a broken-hearted man”, in his own words – at the relatively young age of 61 years. History was in the process of overtaking him, and what…

A Time of Our Lives: How We Grew Up From the 1940s to the 1960s by Gerald Rice (Order from A Time of Our Lives Ltd., 11 Mornington Green, Trim, Co. Meath; €10 + €2.95 p&p; e-mail: atimeofourlives@gmail.com)   This is an unusual autobiography which will resonate with Gerald Rice’s contemporaries both in Ireland and the…

TheWorld of Books by the books editor   There is a striking phrase quoted in Dr Ian d’Alton’s review across the page. The author of the book in question takes on those who criticize Redmond for not holding to what Ronan Fanning characterized as ‘the nationalist delusion that the partition of Ireland was avoidable’. Meleady…

All the Red Ties: From Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland in Donnybrook 1927 to Scouting Ireland 2017 by Dermot Lacey (Carrowmore, €15.00)   The development of Scouting in Ireland was shaped by the major cultural, political and religious traditions in the country. The Irish B-P scouts traced their beginnings to Lieut-General Robert Baden-Powell and the…

Karl Henry’s Healthy Living Handbook by Karl Henry (Penguin Ireland, €14.99) Emily Keyes   January may be in the rear-view mirror, but that doesn’t mean the world has forgotten the aphorism, ‘new year, new me’. Thankfully Karl Henry, one of Ireland’s most famous personal trainers, has a new book on healthy living that does not…

Emil Nolde: “Colour is Life” : Beit Wing curated by Janet McLean and Sean Rainbird, National Gallery of Ireland, with Keith Hartley, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art Exhibition runs until 10 June 2018. The latest exhibition at the National Gallery presents a selection of paintings and other works from the long career of German artist Emil…

A Year in the Life of Glencairn Abbey by Valerie O’Sullivan (Columba Books, €24.99) Though many people casually think of as a nun’s day as one of prayer and devotion this has never really been the case. For in their enclosed world laborare est orare – to work is to pray – has real meaning. This…

The Family Tree: Reflections for the World Meeting of Families 2018 by Anna Burke (Veritas, €7.99) Emily
 Keyes The World Meeting of Families, which comes to Dublin in August,  is an international event occurring every three years that uses prayer, celebration and catechesis to stress the importance of family life in society. In preparation Anne Burke…

Over recent decades readers of academic books on history and archaeology, and even some ordinary mass market trade books, will have noticed the increasing use of the term ‘Common Era’ (CE) rather than the older BC and AD for describing dates, the system familiar for centuries. This new usage arose from the reluctance of some…

Dictatorland: The Men Who Stole Africa by Paul Kenyon (Head of Zeus,  £17) Peter 
Hegarty
 Many millions of Africans have lived under tyrants, endured long years of oppression, and watched in enraged impotence as the dictators squandered public money on the erection of grandiose monuments to themselves. What explains the rise of strongmen in so many…