Each of Foster's books has generated vigorous discussion, but in THE IRISH STORY he breaks fresh ground even by his own standards.
Driven by his sense of the seriousness of history and a fascination with those who distort it, THE IRISH STORY examines how key facets of Ireland's past have been tampered with to serve a multiplicity of purposes.
THE IRISH STORY is endlessly varied, surprising and funny.
It is also a rallying cry for those anxious that contemporary Ireland may be in danger ofturning itself into a meretricious historical theme-park.
By:
Professor R F Foster
Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 198mm,
Width: 129mm,
Spine: 17mm
Weight: 224g
ISBN: 9780140296853
ISBN 10: 0140296859
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 05 September 2002
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
"The story of Ireland; theme-parks and histories; ""colliding cultures"" - Leland Lyons and the reinterpretation of Irish history; years at war - poetic strategies and political reconstruction; ""when the newspapers have forgotten me"" - Yeats, obituarists and Irishness; the normal and the national - Yeats and the boundaries of Irish writing; square-built power and fiery shorthand - Yeats, Carleton and the Irish nineteenth century; stopping the hunt - Trollope and the memory of Ireland; prints on the scene - Elizabeth Bowen and the landscape of childhood; selling Irish childhoods - Frank McCourt and Gerry Adams; the salamander and the slap - Hubert Butler and his century; remembering 1798."
R.F. Foster is Carroll Professor of Irish History at Oxford University. His books include MODERN IRELAND 1600-1972 and the first volume of W.B. YEATS- A LIFE. In 2000 he was a Booker Prize judge. THE IRISH STORY was shortlisted for the 2001 Orwell Prize.
- Short-listed for Orwell Prize 2001
- Shortlisted for Orwell Prize 2001.
