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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"A journey into our own psyche... Tim Pat Coogan has dug, Heaney-like, into the past while opening doors to faraway places."
--Frank McCourt
"ÝIt is the result of great energy, imagination and painstaking detective work... It is a big book on a big topic. Don't just read it. Buy it and reread it."
--"Irish Times"
--Frank McCourt
"ÝIt is the result of great energy, imagination and painstaking detective work... It is a big book on a big topic. Don't just read it. Buy it and reread it."
--"Irish Times"
Book Description
'Vividly painted- A tour de force, delivered in Tim Pat Coogan's inimitable style' Ireland on Sunday
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book would be more accurately titled " 20th Century Irish Political History". In general it is long-winded and lacks focus.
DON'T read this book if you're looking for content that:
a) Covers Irish cultural history, not just political history
b) Presents information chronologically and doesn't meander off the topic
c) Gives an objective view of the conflict between Republicanism and Unionism
d) Applauds the contribution of Eamon de Valera to Irish history
e) Doesn't include material editorial errors, such as not including the 1921 Treaty in the appendix, although referenced
f) Is concise
DO read this book if :
a) You're ok with all of the above
b) You believe that Coogan has a unique insight into lrish history, having been privy to sensitive information for decades, and that that unique insight gives the Author license to be long-winded
c) You want to know the minutae of Irish political developments, including the breakdown of election results
This book exceeded my need for some of that minutae. It comprises 754 pages without the appendices, being about a third too long.
Coogan is fixated with the Republican / Unionist agenda to the detriment of important developments across Irish society. He ignores major cultural issues, such as the dramatic changes brought about by mass uncontrolled immigration in the 1990s. Also nothing is said of the spiral in the level of serious crime, including the exponential growth in the drugs problem throughout the Country.
In short the book is two-dimensional, i.e. politics and religion, with not a spot of paint drying to relieve the fixation on those subjects.
As a former editor of the Irish Press, it is difficult to account for the Author's lack of an editorial tidy-up. For instance changes of topic need more defined breaks and oscillations back and forth across time periods are not clearly noted.
Coogan tells a story a bit like the comedian, Billy Connolly - he tends to get to the point by the scenic route - the difference being that Coogan's storyline sometimes never gets back to the point. For instance the Lemass chapter begins with five unrelated pages about the plight of lrish writers in the 1960's. This preamble has little to do with Lemass and would be more appropriate in Coogan's own memoirs.
In addition, over forty pages of the seventy page Chapter 11, 'Sinn Fein Re-Emerges', have nothing to do with Sinn Fein at all, diverting instead into the political scandals that hit the South in the 1980s and 1990s !
By 1973 Coogan's own writing fortunes had progressed to assisting with writing speeches for Jack Lynch, an interesting insight into how close the Author was to the Fianna Fail government of the time and a fair indicator of his personal political leanings.
The tragedy of the Northern Ireland Troubles is a difficult topic for any writer to capture. No words could adequately describe the havoc wrought by murder and the hatred it breeds from generation to generation. Neither does Coogan adequately capture these tragedies. However, dropping some of those electoral statistics in favour of more of the human impact of the Troubles would have helped.
Some of the book is worth reading, but a lot of it just deserves a skim, ranging from fascinating insights to too much detail on mildly interesting topics. ln general a good editorial 'hair cut' is merited.
DON'T read this book if you're looking for content that:
a) Covers Irish cultural history, not just political history
b) Presents information chronologically and doesn't meander off the topic
c) Gives an objective view of the conflict between Republicanism and Unionism
d) Applauds the contribution of Eamon de Valera to Irish history
e) Doesn't include material editorial errors, such as not including the 1921 Treaty in the appendix, although referenced
f) Is concise
DO read this book if :
a) You're ok with all of the above
b) You believe that Coogan has a unique insight into lrish history, having been privy to sensitive information for decades, and that that unique insight gives the Author license to be long-winded
c) You want to know the minutae of Irish political developments, including the breakdown of election results
This book exceeded my need for some of that minutae. It comprises 754 pages without the appendices, being about a third too long.
Coogan is fixated with the Republican / Unionist agenda to the detriment of important developments across Irish society. He ignores major cultural issues, such as the dramatic changes brought about by mass uncontrolled immigration in the 1990s. Also nothing is said of the spiral in the level of serious crime, including the exponential growth in the drugs problem throughout the Country.
In short the book is two-dimensional, i.e. politics and religion, with not a spot of paint drying to relieve the fixation on those subjects.
As a former editor of the Irish Press, it is difficult to account for the Author's lack of an editorial tidy-up. For instance changes of topic need more defined breaks and oscillations back and forth across time periods are not clearly noted.
Coogan tells a story a bit like the comedian, Billy Connolly - he tends to get to the point by the scenic route - the difference being that Coogan's storyline sometimes never gets back to the point. For instance the Lemass chapter begins with five unrelated pages about the plight of lrish writers in the 1960's. This preamble has little to do with Lemass and would be more appropriate in Coogan's own memoirs.
In addition, over forty pages of the seventy page Chapter 11, 'Sinn Fein Re-Emerges', have nothing to do with Sinn Fein at all, diverting instead into the political scandals that hit the South in the 1980s and 1990s !
By 1973 Coogan's own writing fortunes had progressed to assisting with writing speeches for Jack Lynch, an interesting insight into how close the Author was to the Fianna Fail government of the time and a fair indicator of his personal political leanings.
The tragedy of the Northern Ireland Troubles is a difficult topic for any writer to capture. No words could adequately describe the havoc wrought by murder and the hatred it breeds from generation to generation. Neither does Coogan adequately capture these tragedies. However, dropping some of those electoral statistics in favour of more of the human impact of the Troubles would have helped.
Some of the book is worth reading, but a lot of it just deserves a skim, ranging from fascinating insights to too much detail on mildly interesting topics. ln general a good editorial 'hair cut' is merited.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I thought I knew a fair bit about Irish history beforehand. Ol' TPC is experienced at writing and it shows in his writing. Despite this book being crammed full of facts quotes and other highlighting material (e.g. messages between Churchill and De Valera during WWII) it isn't a messy jumble, "Ireland in the 20th Century" is clear and follows a coherent structure which a beginner to Irish history will benefit from.
TPC is not blatently Nationalistic or Republican as some have claimed and is even handed especially in dealing with the IRA and De Valera. The book examines the economics of Ireland during the century (especially with the establishment of the Irish Free State) as well as the social conditions of Women, Catholics, Protestants and the position of the Church.
The only criticism of this book is that it is fairly hefty. One won't finish this in a hurry, but with such an even-handed and fact-crammed book, neither will you want to put it down. Where other books separate the easter rising, war of independence, civil war, Irish position during WW2 and troubles, this book links them together seamlessly with plenty of attention and balance given to everything. A book for both the casual and academic reader and a real bargain.
TPC is not blatently Nationalistic or Republican as some have claimed and is even handed especially in dealing with the IRA and De Valera. The book examines the economics of Ireland during the century (especially with the establishment of the Irish Free State) as well as the social conditions of Women, Catholics, Protestants and the position of the Church.
The only criticism of this book is that it is fairly hefty. One won't finish this in a hurry, but with such an even-handed and fact-crammed book, neither will you want to put it down. Where other books separate the easter rising, war of independence, civil war, Irish position during WW2 and troubles, this book links them together seamlessly with plenty of attention and balance given to everything. A book for both the casual and academic reader and a real bargain.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Tim Pat Coogan has produced an amazingly comprehensive overview of Ireland's political, social, economic and cultural development during the twentieth century. His unique perspective is clearly derived from both extensive personal experience and a passion for the subject. Reading this book cover to cover is a significant undertaking, however Coogan's methodical and logical approach allow the reader to digest self contained chapters dealing with major issues in the progression of Irish society over the last hundred or so years. This is a major work that deserves attention from anyone interested in the history of contemporary Ireland.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A very Revealing and Personal Portrait of 20th Century Ireland
Tim Pat Coogan draws on his previous writing and personal experiences in producing this book. It is obviously subjective, since despite any authors intent highlighting any event in... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mark Rowantree
A Huge Dump of Unrelated `Facts'
Ostensibly a political and social history of Ireland in the 20th Century, this is a self-indulgent rambling mess that lacks coherence, focus, intellectual discipline and academic... Read more
Published 24 months ago by USBaser
Rating by proxy
I gave this book as a present to someone recently, and I've heard that it was good. I have few details, but I'd remark that the book is big - it's not a light read, but a proper... Read more
Published on 2 Aug 2009 by Mr. F. J. Evans
Not Received
I cannot review the book as I have not received it despite contacting the seller. This is my first experience of such a situation after many purchases on Amazon and I am very... Read more
Published on 13 April 2009 by Alun Llewelyn
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