Seamus Deane Boeken

A survey of 200 years of Irish writing, this book offers analytic accounts of key Irish works and authors.

The book examines the development of a distinct national tradition in Irish literature, beginning with the impact of Edmund Burke's writings during the French Revolution. It explores key works from authors like Gerald Griffin, Bram Stoker, and James Joyce, highlighting themes of national identity, conflict, and the tension between modernity and tradition. The narrative reveals how Irish print culture, encompassing novels, songs, and poems, navigates the complexities of its colonial legacy, ultimately leading to a deeper understanding of Ireland’s literary achievements.

A collection of six plays by Irish playwright Brian Friel.

A haunted childhood, lived out in two dimensions. One is legendary: the Sun-fort of Grianan, home of the warrior Fianna; the Field of the Disappeared, over which no gulls fly; the house in Donegal where children are stolen away by demonic forces. The other is actual: the city of Derry in the Northern Ireland of the 40s and 50s; a place that is also haunted by political enmities, family secrets, lethal intrigue. The boy narrator of READING IN THE DARK grows up enclosed in these two worlds, sensing that they are intertwined in some mysterious ways that he both wants and does not want to discover. Through the silence that surrounds him, he feels the truth spreading like a stain until it engulfs him and his family. Claustrophobic but lyrically charged, breathtakingly sad but vibrant and unforgettable, READING IN THE DARK is one of the finest books about growing up - in Ireland or anywhere - that has ever been written.

Exploring the impact of the French Revolution and Enlightenment on England between 1789 and 1832, this book delves into the political, social, and cultural transformations that shaped British society during this tumultuous period. It examines the interplay between revolutionary ideas and their reception in England, highlighting key figures, movements, and events that influenced public discourse and policy. The work provides a comprehensive analysis of how these historical developments resonated within the context of English history and thought.

"The chronicle of Stephen Dedalus's Dublin childhood and youth offers an oblique self-portrait of the young James Joyce. Exuberantly inventive, this coming-of-age story is a tour de force of style and technique"-- Provided by publisher