Description
James Hawes’s The Shortest History of Ireland is based at every step on the latest scholarship, but it’s all brought together, for once, as a fluent story, as captivating as a novel, galloping from the Ice Age to the present, using language, graphics and images accessible to all. It will change the way people see the Irish past, flipping usual practice on its head and placing Ireland at the centre not just of Irish but British and at times even European history.
Hawes concludes by arguing that if Ireland can now sidestep the last, toxic wreckage of the British Empire, its eventful past will flow into a bright future. From the bestselling author of The Shortest History of Germany and The Shortest History of England, this is popular history at its thrilling best.
‘After his masterpieces on Germany and England, James Hawes has done it again. Somehow he manages to condense the wildly complex histories of ancient peoples into something that can be read in an afternoon… Whatever your view, the skill with which this version of the story is told in this special book is a delight.’ CIARAN MARTIN, OXFORD UNIVERSITY