Reviews

Events previously known as the ‘English Civil War’ are now given different titles because of a general recognition by historians that separate events elsewhere collectively constituted a single entity. Some historians have described events as ‘The British Civil Wars’. The war

The purportedly whole story of the grim events at 10 Rillington Place, London has been offered to the public in different forms over the years but what version is complete, and separately, an accurate one? It is not difficult to see why the appalling events there draw in new commentators with each g

With Donald Trump taking legal advice on how to retain a US base on the Chagos Islands, Tom Marshall reviews a new book by Philippe Sands KC which reveals Britain’s duplicity in its dealings with the islanders of its last colony. The Chagos Archipelago, a small group of islands in the Indian O

If the interested reader thought that just about everything that could have been written about British intelligence agencies had been published, then this new history will probably be a revelation, writes Robert Shiels. From the founding of the Secret Service Bureau in 1909, women worked in every ar

A monumental new history of Irish republicanism in Dundee reveals much of the Irish diaspora experience in Scotland and leaves Graham Ogilvy impressed by its thorough research. As a young boy I walked through the derelict tenements of Tipperary every day to get to school and in the evening, after sc

Messrs Reeves and Friedman with this study present a modern sociological view of ‘the British elite’. Who are the purported elites, or, following one definition, the ruling minority?

Wendy’s Moore’s biography of Vera Holme and Eveline Haverfield, or simply Jack and Eve, is a deeply entertaining insight into the lives of two extraordinary Edwardian women in love. Jack had grown up comfortably, but the sudden loss of her father in childhood meant her early life was not

All books require to have a focus and a boundary to their subject-matter. The author "accepts" the Victorian use of the term "female detective" was a broad one, initially modest roles developing in to more serious occupations with personal accountability in court. Her book is "unusual in bringing re

Graham Ogilvy reviews Paul Tweed's new book about his life as an international libel lawyer to the rich and famous. Paul Tweed is a familiar figure on television and in the newspapers. Representing celebrity clients has made him something of a celebrity himself, and now he tells his story in a new b

The military-industrial complex of the United States was the subject of a chilling warning by President Eisenhower and a new book reveals how Silicon Valley has morphed to make it ever more deadly. On one view, a better title for this book might be ‘The politics of public procurement’ as

Historian Susie Deedigan reviews a new book on the Irish men and women who fought against Nazi occupation in Europe. Janie McCarthy, a teacher from Killarney and somewhat unlikely résistante, is the first in the cast of fascinating characters whose stories are skillfully woven together in Clo

With the end of Soviet Russia, there was little in the way of precedent or planning for the political class to follow in the move to a new society and economy. A socialist state does not plan for its own demise. There was in existence a system of public administration and legislation, but the moves

Eighty years have elapsed since the heady days of August 1944 when Paris, the City of Light – and to many, a beacon of light in the pre-war days – liberated itself from the ignominy, shame and cruelty of Nazi tyranny.

Graham Ogilvy reviews a newly-released book which reveals the history of the headquarters of the world revolution. This ground-breaking new book by Irish historian Maurice Casey tells the story of Wexford woman May O’Callaghan and of the friendships and love affairs of her comrades who lived a

There is an aphorism along the lines of history is past politics and present politics is future history and that might well be a suitable introduction to a new book on the Spycatcher affair. Stated briefly, for some years after 1985, the United Kingdom government commenced a succession of expensive,