Ireland: A History (Abacus Books) [Paperback]

Robert Kee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2003 | Series: Abacus Books

Revised and updated, Robert Kee's book is an introduction to the fascinating history that has made modern Ireland, and a thought-provoking examination of how past facts have bred present myths.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'His achievment is to explain, lucidly & vividly, the bloodlines of the conflict... Kee makes jumping centuries seem easy and, with flashes of gallows humour, exhilarating' - THOMAS PAKENHAM 'Mr Kee writes with a combination of verve, clarity and insight' - S. TEL. 'I have seldom, if ever, read anything so superbyly constructed...So evocative, so acute, so replete with perception, that it will inspire the reader to want to know more...' - Brian Walden

About the Author

Robert Kee worked as a writer, journalist & broadcaster after WWII when he had been a bomber pilot. He worked for the OBSERVER & S.TIMES before moving to tv, on which he has appeared over many years as reporter, interviewer & presenter. He has written 12 other books.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group; Revised edition (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0349116768
• ISBN-13: 978-0349116761
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 7.5 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #615,223 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Ireland Primer, February 14, 2009

By 

Anthony O. Miller - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ireland: A History (Abacus Books) (Paperback)

Robert Kee's "Ireland: A History" is, simply put, a fine introductory overview of modern Ireland. By "modern" I refer to the time from a bit before the Viking invasion (roughly 797 C.E.), through the Free State to the founding of the Republic and into "The Troubles" of today. For my money, the book's major flaw was its brief, superficial treatment of ancient Celtic Ireland. There is so much more to Ireland's Gaelic past than Kee covers that one will need other books to fill this gap. As a dual national -- I'm an Irish and a U.S. citizen -- I did not really "need" Kee's book to learn of modern or ancient Ireland, or the supplementary works I later bought to cover the pre-Viking material his "Ireland: A History" did not; I already knew a fair bit about this as a function of my birth. [A Dublin-born Irishman gave me Kee's book to read while I lived in Cyprus, where English-language books are very dear, and one reads what one may already have read or known to save money.] As a further note, ultra-Republican friends of mine scoff at what they characterize as Kee's "royalist/loyalist" leanings, dismissing out of hand anything he has to say as not quite "shamrock green" enough for a "True Republican" to be citing him as a source on anything Irish. I personally did not find Kee a propagandist for the Crown, so do not subscribe out of hand to this IRA carping. I can grouse, however, at Kee's or his editors' failure to state in which Dublin museum hangs the heartbreaking painting of "The Flight of the Earls," found on page 38 of the book. On one occasion, I'd sought out the painting in the National Gallery in Dublin, only to learn it hung in another museum -- which was closed the day I went after it. Notwithstanding this, in my humble opinion, for those not of Irish extraction or citizenship (or ultra-Republican bent), Kee's book is a good, easily readable, healthy introduction to the Emerald Isle. It is devoid of any blarney-sentimental cliches or slanderous stereotyping of the "glib, gab-gifted, Guinness-gulping" Irishman. And it pulls no punches at Britain's guilt for its arguably deliberate genocide of the Irish in the Great Famine of 1845-49 and those lesser ones that grass-stained starving Irish mouths and blood-stained the 19th century. But it will fill in only so many blanks in one's understanding of that ageless island and its early people, with their lost-in-mists religions, languages, superstitions, culture and monuments. Those wanting more will have to buy other works, such as Peter Beresford Ellis' "The Ancient World of the Celts," for instance. Overall, I found Kee's "Ireland: A History" a good survey course in Ireland, so much so that I bought it as a gift for a friend of Irish extraction, who'd developed a keen interest in tracing his own roots -- and in applying for Irish citizenship. On balance, Kee's book is worth the money and the read.
Anthony O'Neill Miller

4.0 out of 5 stars Recent Irish History, September 4, 2010

By 

Jill Clardy "So many books, so little time...." (Redwood City, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ireland: A History (Abacus Books) (Paperback)

It's not possible to compress the rich history of Ireland into one small book, but this book which spans about two centuries is well written and concise. The book was assigned for a Stanford University Continuing Studies course and was a very interesting overview of recent history. The themes of Irish dissension against the British were well developed.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good review of Irish history, September 11, 2009

By 

JRP (Vermont) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ireland: A History (Abacus Books) (Paperback)

We are going on an educational trip to Ireland and the book was on a reading list prepared by the guide. Easy read and good background info for the trip