EWAN CAMERON picks out two fascinating music shows, fusing the Korean, and the Celtic, with the modern
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A view unhindered by sectarian blinkers
MICHEAL MAC AONGHUSA recommends a retelling of Irish history from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the 19th century in the broader context of Europe
CROMWELLIAN SAVAGERY: Massacre at Drogheda in 1649 by Henry Doyle
[Wikimedia Commons]
BENJAMIN POTHIER suggests that Palaeolithic cave paintings in Spain point to the ceremonial use of hallucinogenic flora
The bard confirms that the right has a humour bypass, and replays the English Revolution on period instruments
MARIA DUARTE and ANDY HEDGECOCK review Sunny Dancer, Tony, Songs of Forgotten Trees, and The End of Oak Street
JOHN GREEN relishes a powerful and moving drama that explores the lived realities of west London’s Punjabi community
MARTIN HALL welcomes a plea for greater compassion between believer and non-believer via the framework of philosophical enquiry
Ireland: A Social History. From the Celts to the Foundation of Unionism and Republicanism
by Jerry Shanahan
(Self-published) £8.99
MUCH left-wing literature in the 21st century seems to suggest that history began in 1848 or, at the earliest, in 1789.
This unmarxist view tends towards a blinkered understanding of the roots of modern society and the development of capitalism and imperialism. Therefore, this work by Jerry Shanahan is to be welcomed.
He challenges the dominant approach of Irish professional historians in the 20th century who followed the pre-eminent English history institutes in pursuing a “value-free” interpretation of history.
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