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Review
"The Sunday Business Post 14/10/2007 Reviewed by Emmanuel Kehoe "Ferriter's thoughtful and timely new work is unique in that it reproduces in wonderful detail large numbers of original documents...sight of original documents is usually denied to the hobby historian and the quality of the reproduction, complete with all the originals, errors and corrections, is so good one can almost feel the bite of the typewriter on the paper and smell the dried ink." The Sunday Tribune 14/10/2007 Reviewed by Kevin Rafter "Judging Dev is a resounding success for both the author and his publisher, the Royal Irish Academy. The book is wonderfully produced with its text inter-spread by photographs and illustrations, many of which will be new to even the strongest readers of Irish history." The Sunday Independent 21/10/2007 Reviewed by John A Murphy "The book's great and original source is the deValera archive in UCD, which was not freely available to earlier scholars. Is supplies the marvellously illustrated material at the heart of this publication - longhand and typewritten letters and documents which give a striking sense of historical immediacy, and beautifully reproduced photographs never seen before, freshly touching on every phase of Dev's career and concisely contexted by the author. All this stuff alone is worth much more than the (very reasonable) publication price of Euro 30. The photos and documents take up approximately 250 out of the book's 370 pages so that the text is relatively brief. It is a sustained analytical essay on de Valera's career, richly drawling from the UCD archive but also taking into account the judgements of past and present de Valera scholars and commentators. Overall Ferriter's assessments are superbly fresh, independent and sophisticated."
Product Description
Eamon de Valera has often been characterised as a stern, un-bending, devious and divisive Irish politician. But how valid is this caricature? In "Judging Dev", Diarmaid Ferriter re-examines de Valera's life and legacy. It contains an in-depth analysis of the impact of de Valera and includes many previously unpublished key letters, documents and photographs from the National Archives of Ireland and the UCD Archives to chronicle the extraordinary career of the most significant politician of modern Irish history and his role in the history of the Irish state.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book ticks all the boxes. It is full of previously unpublished documents and this makes "Judging Dev" a wonderful coffee table book.
However the documents are accompanied by Ferriter's user friendly yet incisive account of Dev and his career. He uses the primary source material to create a new picture of Dev as both a politician and as a man. Ferriter debunks the later image of Dev as the symbol of a repressed and backward Ireland.
The fact that the Irish government has sent copies of this book to every secondary school in the country shows that it has great value to those interested in the study of 20th century Irish history, a history that Dev was central to.
There is a radio series called Judging Dev to accompany this book. Podcasts of all the episodes are available on www.rte.ie and there is also a website run by the Royal Irish Academy to complement the book: www.judgingdev.ie
This is a high quality book both in its published form with colour copies of documents and in its text. Highly recommended!
However the documents are accompanied by Ferriter's user friendly yet incisive account of Dev and his career. He uses the primary source material to create a new picture of Dev as both a politician and as a man. Ferriter debunks the later image of Dev as the symbol of a repressed and backward Ireland.
The fact that the Irish government has sent copies of this book to every secondary school in the country shows that it has great value to those interested in the study of 20th century Irish history, a history that Dev was central to.
There is a radio series called Judging Dev to accompany this book. Podcasts of all the episodes are available on www.rte.ie and there is also a website run by the Royal Irish Academy to complement the book: www.judgingdev.ie
This is a high quality book both in its published form with colour copies of documents and in its text. Highly recommended!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Love this book, it does not make me dislike Dev any less but at least I understand him better. He certainly was a complete failure as a leader. A poor military commander during the Rising, he gave confusing instructions to the Treaty delegates, did little to avert Civil war, its clear though he was a brave man and his mistakes came from incompetence and economic illiteracy than any malice on his part.
When he became Taioseach he had 3 main aims, revivial of Irish language, an end to partition, providing a reasonable standard of living for people, he failed abysmally on all these objectives.
He did dilute the impact of the Treaty and he did help preserve democracy from the Blueshirt fascists but on all other scales, poverty, mass migration, infant mortality, womens rights, healthcare, job creation he was a massive failure, to cap it all he hung around way too long.
The book is excellent, wonderful prose, great reproductions of original material, a brilliant book, the reproductions alone make the book worth buying.
Dev was a gentleman and its impossible not to warm to him but he did do great damage to the country, the legacy of his actions still live with us today though thankfully the Fianna Fail electoral machine is in tatters after their culpability in the economie collapse.
The book is essential reading, nothing could rehabilate Dev, simply a 19th Century gentleman totally incapable of forging a state that could provide employment for its people and any kind of future.
His constitution still stands the test of time, he would have been a super foreign minister but had no interest at all in the economy or developing the country properly, he was far more concerned about symbols, the exercise of power and the practice of pull and jobs for Fianna Failers.
Great book though, I cant commend it highly enough.
When he became Taioseach he had 3 main aims, revivial of Irish language, an end to partition, providing a reasonable standard of living for people, he failed abysmally on all these objectives.
He did dilute the impact of the Treaty and he did help preserve democracy from the Blueshirt fascists but on all other scales, poverty, mass migration, infant mortality, womens rights, healthcare, job creation he was a massive failure, to cap it all he hung around way too long.
The book is excellent, wonderful prose, great reproductions of original material, a brilliant book, the reproductions alone make the book worth buying.
Dev was a gentleman and its impossible not to warm to him but he did do great damage to the country, the legacy of his actions still live with us today though thankfully the Fianna Fail electoral machine is in tatters after their culpability in the economie collapse.
The book is essential reading, nothing could rehabilate Dev, simply a 19th Century gentleman totally incapable of forging a state that could provide employment for its people and any kind of future.
His constitution still stands the test of time, he would have been a super foreign minister but had no interest at all in the economy or developing the country properly, he was far more concerned about symbols, the exercise of power and the practice of pull and jobs for Fianna Failers.
Great book though, I cant commend it highly enough.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is a masterpiece of historical writing.
Diarmaid Ferriter has written an historical opus that has itself earned a place in the archives of Irish history.
Whether reading from the perspective of an admirer of Dev or not, this book comprises material that is essential to a balanced understanding of the life of one of the major figures in Irish political history of the last century.
Ferriter includes scanned copies of many photographs and previously unpublished documents, including several from Dev's private papers. These are a fascinating insight into Dev's life and times and are nicely presented as appendices to each chapter. The only minor criticism is that there are too many of these scanned documents, accounting for nearly two thirds of the 393 pages. Ferriter's analysis is so readable that a shift in balance in favour of two-thirds text and one third exhibits would have been more appropriate.
The chapter on Dev's relationship with the Catholic Church places Dev in the days before religious pluralism was acknowledged by the Irish Government. However, it appears that, at least privately, Dev stood up to the Catholic Hierarchy's expectations that the Government ought to uniquely implement their wishes.
Dev's discrimination of women, as was manifest in the Irish Constitution of 1937, did lasting damage to Irish society. His intransigence in not heeding the many appeals for equality for women speaks volumes, perhaps only mildly excused by the prevalance of such biased thinking at the time.
Dev's stance on Ireland's neutrality during World War Two is well presented. His rationale in controversially expressing his condolences to Germany upon the death of Hitler is well explained, highlighting the delicate diplomatic balance required to sustain neutrality.
Some thought is given to Dev's accountability for the extent of emigration from Ireland in the 1950s. Wisely, Ferriter resists the temptation to either blame or excuse Dev on that issue.
The final page and a half sets Ferriter apart as an historical biographer, calling for a "realistic assessment of what was and was not possible" in the past.
Essential reading for anyone interested in modern Irish history.
Diarmaid Ferriter has written an historical opus that has itself earned a place in the archives of Irish history.
Whether reading from the perspective of an admirer of Dev or not, this book comprises material that is essential to a balanced understanding of the life of one of the major figures in Irish political history of the last century.
Ferriter includes scanned copies of many photographs and previously unpublished documents, including several from Dev's private papers. These are a fascinating insight into Dev's life and times and are nicely presented as appendices to each chapter. The only minor criticism is that there are too many of these scanned documents, accounting for nearly two thirds of the 393 pages. Ferriter's analysis is so readable that a shift in balance in favour of two-thirds text and one third exhibits would have been more appropriate.
The chapter on Dev's relationship with the Catholic Church places Dev in the days before religious pluralism was acknowledged by the Irish Government. However, it appears that, at least privately, Dev stood up to the Catholic Hierarchy's expectations that the Government ought to uniquely implement their wishes.
Dev's discrimination of women, as was manifest in the Irish Constitution of 1937, did lasting damage to Irish society. His intransigence in not heeding the many appeals for equality for women speaks volumes, perhaps only mildly excused by the prevalance of such biased thinking at the time.
Dev's stance on Ireland's neutrality during World War Two is well presented. His rationale in controversially expressing his condolences to Germany upon the death of Hitler is well explained, highlighting the delicate diplomatic balance required to sustain neutrality.
Some thought is given to Dev's accountability for the extent of emigration from Ireland in the 1950s. Wisely, Ferriter resists the temptation to either blame or excuse Dev on that issue.
The final page and a half sets Ferriter apart as an historical biographer, calling for a "realistic assessment of what was and was not possible" in the past.
Essential reading for anyone interested in modern Irish history.
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