A Fine Novel – The Liar
Today's Irish Examiner carries my review of The Liar by the late Danish writer, Martin A. Hansen, translated by Paul Larkin. I love European literature written just after the ending of the Second World War and this translation is a literary treat. -oo0oo- The cruelty,...
Palestinian Flags & Emblems Act
Yesterday, Israel’s security minister Itamar Ben-Gvirban issued an order banning the flying of the Palestinian flag in public. It was yet another punitive step by the new Israeli government which was in retaliation for Palestine lobbying the UN for a more pro-active...
Britain’s Shameful History
Guest writer Roy Greenslade reviews Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire by Caroline Elkins. -oo0oo- In 1970, a popular British newspaper published a story that rightly deserved to be called sensational. The People reported that British soldiers had...
Guests of the Nation
My review of Conal Creedon's book, Art imitating Life imitating Death, was published in the Irish Examiner last Saturday (17 December).* Here it is: One of Ireland’s greatest short stories is Frank O’Connor’s ‘Guests of the Nation’ about two British soldiers being...
When is Enough, Enough?
Former British soldier and member of the Ulster Unionist Party in 1998, Glenn Bradley, recently spoke at the Ireland's Future event in the Ulster Hall and was later vilified on social media by some loyalists. Here, he links the debate about fundamental constitutional...
Timothy O’Grady on his book ‘Curious Journey’
The Irish-American author, Timothy O'Grady, has a feature in the online edition of the Irish Times about the provenance of his book Curious Journey which can be read here. Copies of the book can be ordered from republican outlets in Dublin or Belfast. Curious...
The Life of C.L.R. James
The British radical left and their prodigious publications in the 1970s were quite influential on young northerners like myself and introduced a new generation to voices like Frantz Fanon, Albert Memmi, Patrice Lumumba, Julius Nyerere, and Aimé Césaire, to name but a...
Rewriting History or Parallel Lines?
Sam Thompson writes and occasionally lectures on history. A former RUC officer, he wrote his first novel, Nights in Armour, under a nom de plume, which I reviewed back in 2017. An updated version of the novel was published by Mercier Press in 2019. Sam now describes...
Rewriting The Troubles
This week's Andersonstown News reviews Patrick Anderson's book on Ireland and Algeria* with its indepth account of the propaganda war during the conflict and which continues to this day, especially with the electoral rise of Sinn Fein. The book is reviewed by Roy...
Curious Journey Continues
The writer and journalist Roy Greenslade reviewed Curious Journey in the Andersonstown News to coincide with a new issue of the book with a fresh introduction placing in context our most recent conflict with the Tan War and Civil War. THE title of this book could not...