Eoin Purcell

Christmas is coming
Perusing the Easons Christmas catalogue offers some gems. Some are from Mercier, so I’ll skip quickly over them and onto the books not published by my employer!

First over the hill is Creating Ireland which is a book I would like to have published. By Paul Daly the book aims to provide a new history of Ireland through the lens of the Dáil, which enters its 90th year in 2009:

Since it gathered for the first time on 21 January 1919, the Dail has been at the heart of Irish life, shaping the growing nation and providing the backdrop for many of the major debates that have defined Irish society and what it means to be Irish.

The book is out in hardback priced at €26.99 and will be out in paperback in April 2009 too.

I’m looking forward to seeing this book in physical form. I’m hoping it will look better than the Great Irish Lives book that Harper released and We Declare, a much better effort from Quercus.

O’Brien Press are launching, De Valera In America by Dave Hannigan, a welcome book that should capitalise nicely on the interest in De Valera since the mammoth sales of Diarmuid Ferriter’s Judging Dev book last year. They have created a striking cover too for what is a period in De Valera’s life that us understuided.

Our War: Ireland And The Great War, edited by John Horne, will look at the effects of WWI on Ireland, and given the editor I expect this to be top quality.

G&M are offering a few biographies worth mentioning too, Patrick Geoghan’s King Dan had a fine review in the Irish Times recently and Dermot Keogh’s mammoth Jack Lynch looks like it would keep even the keenest reader going over Christmas.

Lots to be looking forward to then!
Eoin