Albert Reynolds: Risk Taker for Peace by Conor Lenihan (Merrion Press, €22.95/£19.99) Dr. Ciaran Casey With the deadline for my own book on the horizon, I was determined not to commit to any more work. But a request to review Conor Lenihan’s latest book was impossible to resist. His first biography, Haughey: Prince of Power was released…
The Red Prince: The Fall of a Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Europe by Timothy Snyder (The Bodley Head, £20) World War I (1914-1918) swept away the Hapsburg dynasty which for hundreds of years had ruled much of Europe from Vienna as the Holy Roman Empire. Napoleon put an end to the Holy Roman…
The World of Books by the books editor The other day I was reading a book by the American palaeontologist George Gaylord Simpson about his expedition through part of Patagonia in 1930 in search of fossils. His finds helped recreate an idea of past life; but it was not his comments on geology that caught…
My Words will not Pass Away by Fr Martin Hogan (Messenger Publications, €19.95/£18.95) Fr Martin Hogan formerly lectured in New Testament studies at Mater Dei in Dublin, and had written some five previous books on reflections for the liturgical years. These commentaries allow readers to enjoy a period of reflection in their own time, recollections…
Karl I, destined to be the last Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary (where he ruled as Karoly IV), succeeded on the death of his great-uncle Franz Joseph who had blundered into war with Serbia and so opened the way to the ruin of Europe. When the Emperor Karl gave up the government of…
I’m always on the lookout for inspiration, hope, something radical, out of the ordinary, especially when it comes to Church matters. Current affairs’ debates about matters touching on religion are not always a good source. It was good to see the return of The Leap of Faith (RTÉ Radio One, Friday), with Michael Comyn, albeit…
Ernest Hemingway died 60 years ago this year. I recently watched the film of his famous novel A Farewell to Arms which was based on his wounding on an Italian battlefield during World War I. “I felt my soul leaving my body,” was how he described the incident. Hemingway was in love with Pauline Pfeiffer,…
The Birth of Jesus the Jew: Midrash and the Infancy Gospels by Peter Keenan (Columba Books, €14.99/£12.99) Peter Keenan is a man with a mission. He styles himself “a post-holocaust Christian”, and believes that the outlook of all Christians of every persuasion should be shaped by the fact of the Shoah. This has a bearing…
A Man of his Times: The Papers of Robert FitzGerald, 17th Knight of Kerry by Adrian FitzGerald (Kingdom Books) This is a valuable collection of the correspondence of Robert FitzGerald (1716-1781), knight of Kerry. The knights of Kerry belong to an early branch of the mighty Geraldines. There is uncertainty as to exactly how or…
Chaplains: Ministers of Hope ed by Alan Hilliard, with a foreword by Bishop Eamonn Walsh (Messenger Publications, €19.95/£18.95) Unheard Voices: Reflections of a prison chaplain by Imelda Wickham PBVM, foreword by Peter McVerry SJ (Messenger Publications, €12.95/£11.95) Our attitudes to chaplains may well depend on our own experiences. One of my brothers, who lived in…
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone