The Blackwell Companion to Modern Irish Culture

For the revised paperback edition of Companion many entries have been updated and an appendix has been added. The Companion, which covers a period from c.1450 to the p;resent, continues to serve the needs of readers whose interests lie well beyond the familiar boundaries of Irish culture. At the same time it provides fresh critical insight into those traditionally more prominent subjects such as literature and political history. Extensive and original coverage is given to architecture, music, painting, and other arts, with stress upon their broader European contexts. While the Companion is packed with names, dates, and facts, its main focus is on providing new perspectives on Irish culture, with an emphasis upon history and context. Key among these innovations is the treatment of a number of important Irish men and women. THe whole is served by a comprehensive index.

Illustrations. Acknowledgements. Introduction. A–Z Entries. Appendix. Select Bibliography of Recent Publications. Index.

W. J. McCormack is Professor of English at Goldsmith′s University. His numerous pubications in Irish Literature, history and culture include the classic Ascendancy and Tradition (1985), reprinted in a revised and enlarged edition as From Burke to Beckett: Ascendancy, Tradition and Betrayal in Literary History (1994).

"Particularly good entries may be found on ′Censorship′, ′Suburbs′, ′Historians terms′, ′Medicine, contributions to′, Copyright and piracy in the eighteenth century′ and ′Colonisation, theories of′, to take just a random selection. The panel of contributors seems very strong and the editor′s remarks on them as a body are very interesting. The work is comprehensively indexed (hooray)." Peter J. Guilding, Reference Reviews <!––end––> "McCormack presents a fascinating snapshot of modern Ireland. With its emphasis on Irish culture beyond Yeats and Heaney, this is an invaluable addition to any reference collection." J.J. Doherty, Northern Arizona University "The Companion is a bounteous compilation, from which students and casual readers alike will emerge with a far healthier idea of what has constituted Irish culture in the modern era." The Times Higher Education Supplement " The Blackwell Companion to Modern Irish Culture , edited by W. J. McCormack is particularly useful for basic information on interdisciplinary terms, movements, and other topics. A thorough topic index aids access." Choice " Like most books from this publisher, the Blackwell Companion to Modern Irish Culture is a handsome volume. In its outward appearance, the Companion is an object that book–buying people almost automatically covet". Anglia: Zeitschrift fur Englische Philologie