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Book review: A raw, harrowing personal account of Ireland’s true Oscar-winning artist
Book review: A raw, harrowing personal account of Ireland’s true Oscar-winning artist
Her middle-class upbringing may have afforded actor Brenda Fricker early opportunities, but the family dynamic was turbulent

Sat, 13 Sep, 2025

Book review: Surviving a massacre, and the lasting emotional toll it takes
Book review: Surviving a massacre, and the lasting emotional toll it takes
Tipperary-born musician Stephen Travers was a member of the Miami Showband and had witnessed the brutal murders of three of his bandmates by the UVF in Co Down in 1975

Fri, 12 Sep, 2025

David Trimble death
Book review: The arc of change — from firebrand unionist to unlikely peacemaker
Stephen Walker’s fine biography will ensure David Trimble will be long remembered as a flawed man who made an enduring impact on the lives of many in bringing peace to Northern Ireland

Fri, 05 Sep, 2025

Book review: Utopian resolve in the face of Tudor tyranny
Book review: Utopian resolve in the face of Tudor tyranny
Joanne Paul’s biography of Thomas More is a meticulous account of a clever late-medieval Londoner and a tale of social mobility too

Mon, 18 Aug, 2025

Understanding the ‘extreme centre’ of Syria after Assad
Understanding the ‘extreme centre’ of Syria after Assad
The 14 years under Assad’s authoritarian leadership has been brutal but now Syria is facing many other challenges, including a recent surge of sectarian violence

Mon, 18 Aug, 2025

Book review: The Cork brothers at the birth of Irish cinema
Book review: The Cork brothers at the birth of Irish cinema
The Horgan brothers from Youghal, Co Cork, were among the earliest adaptors of the Lumière’s cinema ideas. Their eight decades of work has been detailed by Darina Clancy

Sat, 09 Aug, 2025

Demonstrators Holding Portraits of Khomeini
Book review: Downfall of last shah of Iran
One of the often-universal themes in this wonderful book is how autocracies that outstay their welcome are often replaced by usurpers far worse than they were

Sat, 02 Aug, 2025

Book review: Little glamour, lots of graft: A look at every aspect of political life in Ireland
Book review: Little glamour, lots of graft: A look at every aspect of political life in Ireland
'The Secret Life of Leinster House' gives the common citizen a clearer understanding of the good, and the not so good, of our law makers

Sat, 19 Jul, 2025

Book review: The short but extraordinary life of the Border Commission
Book review: The short but extraordinary life of the Border Commission
What 'The Root of All Evil' clearly shows is neither Sinn Féin nor the subsequent Free State government had a coherent plan on how to deal with the Ulster Unionists

Sat, 12 Jul, 2025

Mary MacSwiney
Book extract: Woman who refused to be silenced in fight for republican independence
Betrayal of the republic, for Mary MacSwiney, would have meant betrayal of a brother she loved and admired, and it would have been almost impossible for her to think and feel in any other way

Fri, 11 Jul, 2025

Book review: Memoir rich in literary allusion, social mobility, and so much more
Book review: Memoir rich in literary allusion, social mobility, and so much more
'Homework' is an account of Geoff Dyer’s upbringing in Cheltenham in the 1960s and ‘70s, a world he evokes in gloriously minute, Proustian detail

Sat, 05 Jul, 2025

Russia Belarus
Book review: Fresh, relevant, and concise
Donnacha Ó Beacháin’s central concern is Russian imperialism and — similar to other empires — the damage it causes to those at the receiving end

Sat, 05 Jul, 2025

Book review: Horrific figures of history who refused to accept their crimes
Book review: Horrific figures of history who refused to accept their crimes
The failure to accept guilt for war crimes and crimes against humanity has been a recurring theme in the work of the human rights lawyer Philippe Sands

Fri, 27 Jun, 2025

Book review: A fresh perspective on reflection
Book review: A fresh perspective on reflection
Theo Dorgan's novel is an intelligent book but not too high flown; it’s an easy read that flows, revealing a character who, despite his once-off crime, is one of the good guys

Sat, 21 Jun, 2025

Book review: From podcast to page... unmasking the real story of Northern Bank heist
Book review: From podcast to page... unmasking the real story of Northern Bank heist
On December 20, 2004, one paramilitary group — most likely the IRA — robbed the Northern Bank in Belfast stealing £26.5m

Sat, 14 Jun, 2025

Announcement of a Two Test International Boxing Series between Ireland and France
Book review: Unravelling every wrongdoing
Journalist, media entrepreneur, and migration activist Fintan Drury has handled the almost impossible task of framing the unframeable in his latest book, 'Catastrophe: Nakba II'

Sat, 07 Jun, 2025

Book review: Oona Frawley brings readers on a raw exploration of the past
Book review: Oona Frawley brings readers on a raw exploration of the past
As both her parents are now dead, Frawley feels able to tackle the thorny subject of her father’s alcoholism, his struggles as an actor, and her mother’s reasons for enduring dysfunction for so long

Sun, 01 Jun, 2025

Book review: IWU members' essays offer first-hand accounts of life after the Contraception Train
Book review: IWU members' essays offer first-hand accounts of life after the Contraception Train
Irishwomen United (IWU) member Evelyn Conlon and academic Rebecca Phelan cement the movement in Irish history

Sun, 01 Jun, 2025

Book review: Memoirs of Ireland’s wars told from an extraordinary ordinary soldier
Book review: Memoirs of Ireland’s wars told from an extraordinary ordinary soldier
Owen O’Shea is no stranger to the War of Independence and Civil War in Kerry. 'One Man’s Ireland' is his third book on this theme

Sun, 01 Jun, 2025

UK - 2007 Edinburgh International Book Festival
Book review: Biography of a biography is an onerous read
An author using an introduction to try to justify a book’s very existence is an uninspiring start to proceedings, writes Sean Kelly  

Sun, 01 Jun, 2025

Book review: Reinterpreting the Irish Famine as a consequence of unbridled capitalism
Book review: Reinterpreting the Irish Famine as a consequence of unbridled capitalism
The central contention in 'Rot' is that Westminster’s response to the starvation was defined by its overarching commitment to the principles of the free market

Sat, 24 May, 2025

Book review: Down and out in Donegal and New York — a forgotten victim of greed
Book review: Down and out in Donegal and New York — a forgotten victim of greed
'The Many Murders of Michael Malloy' was first published in the USA over 20 years ago. It has all the ingredients of a black comedy, except for the fact that it is a true story

Sat, 17 May, 2025

General O'Duffy
Book review: A useful lesson from our past
The core message of this valuable book is that a party founded by some truly odious bigots — Fine Gael — has evolved into a modernish, socially liberal force

Sat, 17 May, 2025

Folk Musicians Playing in Washington Square Park
Book review: The New York neighbourhood that changed the music world
David Browne thoroughly examines all that happened in the artistic scene of Greenwich Village over the course of close to five decades  with a heavy focus on the tumultuous ’60s.

Fri, 16 May, 2025

Author interview: Unravelling the mysterious life of a journalism legend
Author interview: Unravelling the mysterious life of a journalism legend
EJ Dillon was one of the most prominent journalists of his time, as foreign correspondent with 'The Daily Telegraph', he was the literal embodiment of an international man of mystery

Fri, 02 May, 2025

Book review: An unflattering portrait of the artist as a selfish man
Book review: An unflattering portrait of the artist as a selfish man
Rembrandt's mistress Geertje, traditionally portrayed as a harpy, and grasping crone is stylishly rehabilitated in this solidly constructed historical novel 

Sat, 26 Apr, 2025

Book review: A forensic examination of the gutter press’s race to the bottom
Book review: A forensic examination of the gutter press’s race to the bottom
The Newsmongers: A History of Tabloid Journalism is a thoroughly researched, well-crafted history of tabloid journalism from the 16th century right through to the clickbait journalism of today

Fri, 25 Apr, 2025

Book review: Revealing the dangers and thrill of polar exploration leaves a deadly chill
Book review: Revealing the dangers and thrill of polar exploration leaves a deadly chill
Erling Kagge’s book, 'The North Pole: The History Of An Obsession', captures the atmosphere of Polar exploration perfectly

Sat, 19 Apr, 2025

Book review: A musical life less ordinary
Book review: A musical life less ordinary
Keith Donald kept diaries throughout a hectic working life that began when he joined his first showband, The Federals, in the mid-1960s

Sat, 05 Apr, 2025

Book extract: ‘I am just an athlete, sitting here talking to a great man like you’
Book extract: ‘I am just an athlete, sitting here talking to a great man like you’
Jack Lynch was the first Western head of government to invite Muhammad Ali to make an official visit

Fri, 28 Mar, 2025

Backstage At Beatles Christmas Show
Book review: ‘One of the best — and sweetest — books of the year’
'A Love Story in Songs' is a real achievement. Superbly written, the author keenly respects the line between theorist and therapist, fan and journalist, and avoids any needless blurring

Fri, 28 Mar, 2025

Book review: A salacious tale of murder on the border of fact and fiction
Book review: A salacious tale of murder on the border of fact and fiction
Author Eoin McNamee says there has always been blood on the floor in his books but 'this time some of the blood is mine'

Sat, 22 Mar, 2025

Book review: Oxford professor challenges Christianity's model of a 'male and female' binary system
Book review: Oxford professor challenges Christianity's model of a 'male and female' binary system
Diarmaid MacCulloch's history of sex and Christianity touches on knotty issues such as the distinction between sex and gender, contraception and how sex has played an important role in 'promoting right-wing secular politics'

Sat, 22 Mar, 2025

Prime Minister of Canada visit to UK
Book review: The Irishman behind Labour’s return to power in Britain
Macroom man Morgan McSweeney, this fascinating book tells us, has saved Britain’s Labour Party

Fri, 21 Mar, 2025

Sir Geoffrey De Havilland
Book review: Exploring the ordinary, adventurous heroes of the golden age of aviation
The Moth, a two-seater airplane launched by Geoffrey de Havilland in 1925, was central to many of the great aviation feats and records set over the next 12 years

Sat, 15 Mar, 2025

Incineration of electronic waste on the biggest electronic scrap yard of Africa in Accra
Book review: The toxic truth behind the West’s deluded recycling myth
'Waste Wars' is a book that will make you angry because you believe that once you empty your bins and return your plastic bottle, that you have played your part in saving the world

Fri, 14 Mar, 2025

Ali Smith
Book review: Reflections on the silver screen
There are 14 essays in this slight collection, edited by Adrian Duncan, Niamh Dunphy, and Nathan O’Donnell, a welcome annual literary addition a la 'Winter Papers'

Sat, 08 Mar, 2025

Book review: The business of pop music — as much who you know as what you know
Book review: The business of pop music — as much who you know as what you know
Drawing from secondary sources only, the author does well to remind us of the importance of solid, coherent management in an industry known for its flakiness and impatience

Sat, 08 Mar, 2025

Exhibition to celebrate legacy and values of JFK
Book review: The Kennedy plot that you may not know
The JFK Conspiracy is about a little publicised assassination attempt in the weeks between the voting day, November 8, 1960, and the inauguration on January 20, 1961.

Sat, 08 Mar, 2025

"Whitey:United States Of America V. James J. Bulger" New York Premiere - Arrivals And Q & A
Book review: A literary artifact to be celebrated
Gay Talese was an inveterate chronicler of the New York city and all who sailed in her for more than half a century

Sat, 22 Feb, 2025

Book review: Remembering the GAA members killed during the Troubles
Book review: Remembering the GAA members killed during the Troubles
The 1970s were statistically the worst times of the Troubles. There were 2,096 killings between 1970 and 1979, and 68 of these were members of the GAA

Sat, 08 Feb, 2025

Book review: ‘I looked on it as an adventure, I’d never been anywhere’
Book review: ‘I looked on it as an adventure, I’d never been anywhere’
The British National Health Service carried out a targeted recruitment process throughout Ireland for nurses which began in the 1940s

Fri, 07 Feb, 2025

Book review: Killing of a black boy whitewashed
Book review: Killing of a black boy whitewashed
'The Barn' is a glimpse of a nation’s troubled past that offers insight in to the tortured present, and makes you worry about the bleak future

Sat, 25 Jan, 2025

Book review: A portrait of a man of great lusts and many contradictions
Book review: A portrait of a man of great lusts and many contradictions
Adrian Frazier’s biography is overly earnest and not always well written but it’s a reservoir of information about the John Montague’s long and eventful life

Fri, 24 Jan, 2025

Book review: Neutral account of Spanish Armada delivered with flow of good storyteller
Book review: Neutral account of Spanish Armada delivered with flow of good storyteller
Michael B Barry reminds us that there was more than a hint of good fortune about how the events of the Spanish Armada unfolded in favour of the English

Sat, 18 Jan, 2025

Book review: Tayto’s history is more than a matter of taste
Book review: Tayto’s history is more than a matter of taste
Bobby Aherne’s affectionate, eye-opening 'The Story of Tayto' charts the vibrant history of one of Ireland's hallowed institutions

Sat, 18 Jan, 2025

Book review: Giving recognition to IRA leader and politician Moylan
Book review: Giving recognition to IRA leader and politician Moylan
Eamonn Duggan has delivered an excellent synopsis of Sean Moylan’s life, especially of the active years of 1918 to 1923

Fri, 17 Jan, 2025

Ronald Blythe
Book review: Centenarian Blythe lived a colourful life with rural values at its heart
Author Ian Collins takes a leisurely approach in this beautifully produced book; chapters are short — often only five or six pages, and tightly focused

Sat, 11 Jan, 2025

Book review: Keeping tabs on propaganda
Book review: Keeping tabs on propaganda
Claud Cockburn built his reputation by encouraging readers to be far less trusting of the official version of their reality

Sat, 11 Jan, 2025

Temple of Dendur, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York, USA
Book review: A taste will leave you wanting more
Nate DiMeo has pieced together a fine collection of historical exotica on air and between the covers of 'The Memory Palace'

Sat, 04 Jan, 2025

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