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Luck and the Irish: A Brief History of Change 1970-2000 (Hardcover)

by R. F. Foster (Author)

3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product details

Hardcover: 228 pages
Publisher: Allen Lane; First Edition edition (25 Oct 2007)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0713997834
ISBN-13: 978-0713997835
Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.6 x 2.8 cm

Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 197,162 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category:
#5 in Books > History > Britain & Ireland > Ireland

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Product Description

Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday

`Foster is a formidably funny and incisive writer ... a joy'

Terry Eagleton, Guardian

'[Foster is] the great demythologizer of Ireland'

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	64% buy the item featured on this page: Luck and the Irish: A Brief History of Change 1970-2000 3.3 out of 5 stars (3)
	18% buy Luck and the Irish: A Brief History of Change, 1970-2000 �8.09
	6% buy Modern Ireland, 1600-1972 4.0 out of 5 stars (1) �9.89
	6% buy The Transformation Of Ireland 1900-2000 �9.49

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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews

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4 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

3.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An insider's guide to the Celtic Tiger, 1 Dec 2007

By	Dusty Bill "Bill" (Brisbane) - See all my reviews

This is a very well written account of the "Celtic Tiger" change brought about in Ireland, in the last twenty years that has totally transformed Ireland. He has also carefully demolished the many accepted myths about this subject and created a more balanced viewpoint. It could bring any outsider well up to speed with all the issues that this change has brought about, both good and bad.
Its main failing is that it is written on the assumption that the reader already knows these myths and all the players involved. It is an insider's book, about Ireland written for a subconsciously Irish audience. In a second edition, it might be a good idea to provide a thumbnail sketch of all the politicians and other people mentioned and the part that they played in the story. A revision of the text to help a non-Irish audience would help. In summary, this is an excellent introduction to the recent and total transformation of Ireland, but let down by an insider's mindset.

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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't pretend to be anything it's not, 15 May 2008

By	Baba Brennan Redux (Ireland) - See all my reviews

This book deserves more than the two-and-a-half stars it has been given. The criticisms posited by the two previous reviewers - that it presupposes the reader's prior knowledge of the 'myths and players' of the Celtic Tiger, and that Foster concentrates on certain 'aspects' of Irish life - may be warranted. However, Foster has always zoned in on several interests (literature, theatre, sexual mores, political scandal), and anyone familiar with his earlier volume, Modern Ireland 1600-1972, will know what to expect. This is a necessary move - it would be unwise and unfair to expect a comprehensive account of thirty years of Irish life in 228 pages.

Foster's Preface is not included in the Amazon preview, but it clearly states that those in search of 'first-rate general treatment[s] of the period' should look to books by Terence Brown, Henry Patterson and/or Diarmaid Ferriter (I recommend the latter). For those who, like me, find Foster's approach entertaining and insightful, this is a perfect supplement to the straightforward 'history books' - which this is not, and does not pretend to be.

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6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars IRISH HISTORY WITHOUT THE IRISH, 3 May 2008

By	J. Scott (SCOTLAND) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Roy Foster made his reputation with 'Modern Ireland 1600-1972'; this book brings the history of Ireland up to the end of the millenium.
The title is misleading because, judged by this book, Roy Foster has little interest in the Irish.
Aspects of Irish life - politics, literature and the role of religion - fascinate him, but not the ordinary people.
As well as this, he has an agenda which is scarcely hidden. This is of a country throwing off its primitive past. Those who disagree get short shrift. Critics are accused of 'demonizing' Dublin 4 and the Irish Press is 'rabidly' nationalistic.
These two traits, together, result in distortion. The explosion of drug abuse and resultant crime go almost unmentioned. They do not fit into a narrative of a country marching towards enlightenment.
The distortion even enters Roy Foster's chapter on literature. Here the pretentious John Banville is treated with the utmost seriousness but writers like Maeve Binchy and Marian Keyes are ignored. Reading only Roy Foster, you would think that Sebastian Barry was a more significant figure than Brian Friel.
(People wanting to know what it was like to life in Ireland in these years will learn more from Maeve Binchy's novels.)
Historians with an agenda find that they, like politicians, are judged by history.
Roy Foster may be correct in his harsh judgement of Charles Haughey - the villian of this book - he may soon (as fashions change) find himself judged similarly harshly.

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