Laptop by Desmond Egan (The Goldsmith Press, € 20.00 / £16.00) William Adamson Desmond Egan once wrote that poetry is essentially a dialogue, an insight into the universal through the particular experience, and in his latest collection, Laptop, this thought is taken to a level of intensity rarely found in poetry today. The book itself is…
The Aztec Myths: A Guide to the Ancient Stories and Legends by Camilla Townsend (Thames & Hudson, £14.99 / €17.99) I have long been fascinated by the great civilisations of the ancient Americas, the Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru, whose fall was brought about by the savage incursions of the Spanish conquistadores. The…
John Redmond and Irish Parliamentary Traditions edited by Martin O’Donoghue and Emer Purcell (UCD Press, €30 / £24.90) This volume includes seven papers delivered at a symposium to honour John Redmond held in March 2018 as part of the Decade of Centenaries commemorations. To these two further papers have been added for publication. The aim of…
D-Day: The Oral History by Garrett M. Graff (Monoray / Octopus Publishing, £25.00 / €30.00) D-Day was the turning point in World War II. On that day, June 6 1944, 160,000 troops stormed the Normandy beaches. They set up a battle front of more than sixty miles over five different beaches – their code names forever…
The Book of Iona: An Anthology edited by Robert Crawford (Polygon / Birlinn, £12.99) The remote island of Iona has a special place in the memories and affections of thousands of people in Scotland and Ireland. In my own case, I still recall, so very distinctly it is like a dream, my first visit to the…
Vexed: Ethics beyond Political Tribes by James Mumford (Bloomsbury Continuum, £16.99 / €20.50 ) Politics are everywhere. We’ve had the British general election, currently the drama of the United States’ presidential election, and the prospect of our own general election in November. As the tumult, the divisions, the competition fill our screens and the pages of…
What with the Olympic Games followed by the Paralympics, let alone the normal goings on and a clamour of French politics, Paris has been satiated by spectacle these last few months. There had been hopes of another kind of spectacle. It was hoped by many who had followed as well as they could the great…
Playing Dice with God by Richard Clarke (Dominican Publications. €10.00 / £8.50) Richard Clarke, who was born in 1949, is a retired Irish Anglican Archbishop and author. From 2012 to 2020, he served as the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, A long varied and distinguished career in the Church of Ireland, which included a…
The Companion to Irish Traditional Music edited by Fintan Vallely (Cork University Press, €69.00 / £65.00 / $75.00 ) This is a magisterial study of Irish Traditional Music. At the outset the author defines this genre of music. For him it is a body of melody, song and dance and associated activities that comes from the period…
More Power to You: Sarah Purser, a force for Irish Art: A major exploration of Sarah Purser (1848-1943), her extraordinary legacy, and enduring impact on the Irish arts scene Curated by Logan Sisley, Head of Collections, Hugh Lane Gallery The major exhibition at the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery for the autumn of this year is…
Peter Costello