The Course of Irish History [Paperback]

T. W. Moody (Editor), F. X. Martin (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 26, 2000 | ISBN-10: 1568331754 | ISBN-13: 978-1568331751 | Edition: Third Edition

This is the all-time bestselling history of Ireland. First published in 1967, The Course of Irish History has been updated to include the 1992 Mastricht Treaty. T. W. Moody and F. X. Martin narrate and interpret Irish history as a whole through new research. Written for scholars and amateur historians alike.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Much Irish history is written as a matter of heroes and leaders, of great personalities and sweeping events. T. W. Moody and F. X. Martin's collection of essays by leading historians offers all those things, but it takes the land itself as its starting point. Ireland, they write, has always been poor because of its ungiving soil; always isolated because of its ring of imposing mountains and steep hills--but always open to invasion from the east across the calm, narrow Irish Sea, because of which, they write, "our present-day laws and institutions have their origins in England." While taking a long view of events, they manage to compress thousands of years of history into this fact-filled, highly readable book. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From Library Journal

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day comes a revised edition of this benchmark volume. Moody and Martin, professors at Dublin's Trinity and University colleges, respectively, compiled the work of 21 scholars into this history that LJ's reviewer labeled "authoritative, balanced, fair-minded, and beautifully written" (LJ 11/1/67). This updated version takes the material up to 1992. Essential for all Irish history collections.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 504 pages
• Publisher: Roberts Rinehart; Third Edition edition (September 26, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568331754
• ISBN-13: 978-1568331751
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #936,694 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great overview of Irish History!!, October 5, 2001

By 

Kristi McKeown - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Course of Irish History (Paperback)

This is the first book I've read which gives a concise and yet broad view of Irish history. It gives a short essay on every major time period and event since the beginning of Irish History. I liked the format of the book with several different authors contributing. I also liked the detail timeline at the back of the book that covered everything even those events/people which did not get mentioned in any other part of the book. A good starting point for anyone interested in Irish History or the relationship between Ireland and Great Britain.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good overview, August 17, 2001

By 

Scholar "18th century student" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Course of Irish History (Paperback)

Having studied Irish history in grad school, I found myself coming back to this book over and over for a quick, easily readable general overview of irish history, written (well) by scholars but in a fashion accessible to all readers. It sounds trite to say, but if you only read one general book on the history of Ireland, this should be the one!

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Introduction to a difficult history, June 5, 2006

By 

Jorge I. Villanueva (Phoenix,Az) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Course of Irish History (Paperback)

I was looking for a good book on the history of the Irish people. I bought a book about the IRA thinking that their history will be helpful but soon found out i had to get a more simpler book that will give me an introduction to Ireland history.In other words, history for someone who needs to start from scratch.That's when i tried this book and struck gold.This book is simple,clear and concise.It goes thru irish history step by step explaining the important events that shaped that history.For example,the account of how England became involved in Ireland is very clear and precise.From that moment on the authors do a very good job of explaining the PM's different policies toward Ireland. As the book approaches the 20th century it is still clear to understand the different forces that interact because the authors describe the events in a clear way.The only flaw that i saw in this book was that the authors dont really explain much of the origins of the terms like Sinn Fein and Fianna Fial.We dont know what they mean.But again very good intro to a history that needs a lot of explaining.