Ireland

From the New York Times-bestselling author of Intellectuals: "e;All the highlights of Irish history . . . useful and informative."e; -Irish EchoDrawing from a wealth of historical and scholarly sources, Paul Johnson, acclaimed for such works as A History of the Jews and A History of Christianity, traces the important social, religious, and political development of Ireland's struggle to become a unified, settled country. Johnson describes with accurate detail Ireland's barbarous beginnings, Oliver Cromwell's religious "e;crusade,"e; the tragic Irish potato famine, the Ulster resistance, and the outstanding fact of the constant British-Irish connection and the fearful toll of life it exacted. Among the anonymous multitude who are part of the story are also such famous names as "e;Silken Thom"e; Kildare, Thomas Wentworth, Archbishop Plunkett, and Lord Frederick Cavendish and great men who marshaled their energies and wits to settle Ireland: Sir Henry Sidney, Sir Walter Raleigh, Edmund Spenser, Churchill, and others. "e;[Paul Johnson] is wonderfully adroit at condensing history in an interesting way."e; Kliatt"e;A lively, intelligent, sometimes provocative but always stimulating account."e; Sunday Telegraph