Description
This Ireland I find myself in is unlike the Ireland
I was taught about when I was at school …
A German scholar exploring ruins in Dungannon hits his head in a fall. He
wakes to find himself in a parallel universe: an Ireland that never was, free of
English rule since winning the Battle of Kinsale. In this powerful, independent
nation, Irish language and culture are flourishing.
As Professor Schliemann struggles to make sense of this
unfamiliar world and to try to find his way home, he becomes entangled in
political intrigue, espionage, and a long-standing feud over stolen vellums
feeding dynastic tensions on the brink of war. Worse than that: no one in this
version of Ireland has read his book.
Originally serialised in the early twentieth century and first published
in 1918, The Professor in Erin is a pioneering work of speculative fiction and an
early example of the ‘alternative history’ novel. Much sought-after by
science-fiction diehards, the book, like the ones fought over in the story, has
been hard for modern readers to find, until now.
Blending satire with nationalism and imaginative world-building,
Charlotte Elizabeth McManus’s novel offers a rich and witty vision of an
alternative Ireland.
This lost classic has been edited and introduced by Joachim Fischer
with detailed historical context for new readers.