It is an interesting selection of titles this month. September should see a rush and October a flood. Hopefully you will see something interesting in that too.
IPN Books of the month
I chose two books of the month this month for several reasons. The first because of the opening of the New Landsdowne Stadium, the second because I like to see Irish publishers publishing new fiction and to follow through from Trade Paperback to mass market paperback.
Lansdowne Road: The Stadium; the Matches; the Greatest DaysGerard Siggins & Malachy Clerkin
9780862789107
€ 17.99 | PB | 352
The O’Brien Press
Sport | August 2010
About The Book
Lansdowne Road has long been renowned as a sacred place for international rugby and soccer. In this affectionate history, the authors lift the lid on its greatest days and nights.
From the birth of the stadium in 1873 till it closed for rebuilding in 2006, they bring to life fascinating stories such as that of the Native American lacrosse team, the brilliant athletic stars of the 1940s and 1950s, and the American Football experiment.
The triple crowns, stirring victories and memorable goals and tries that brought the crowd worldwide fame as ‘The Lansdowne Roar’ are all here, as well as the moments of comedy and tragedy that marked the life of Ireland’s oldest stadium.
If I Trust In You
Deidre Eustace
9780956016355
€ 8.99 | PB | 364pp
Hawk Hill Publishing
Fiction | August 2010
About The Book
Addy O’Driscoll has it all. Life on the south east coast of Ireland with loving husband Barry couldn’t be more idyllic. For Addy’s best friend Louise, still recovering from the loss of her first love Tom, life has been very different but will a new job and the attentions of local teacher Jim Ryan bring her happiness once again?
The Ship of Seven Murders: A True Story of Madness & MurderAlannah & Kathy Hopkin & Bunney
9781848890367
€ 12.99 | pb | 240pp
The Collins Press
History/folklore | August 2010
About The Book
In 1828, the Mary Russell sailed into Cork Harbour from the West Indies. Seven crewmen lay in the main salon, brutally murdered by the captain. The trial was a sensation as survivors revealed a tale of danger and delusion. But what really happened? This bizarre tragedy and the dramatic court case are unravelled in this gripping account.
Green & Gold Ireland a Clean Energy World Leader?
John Travers
9781848890435
€ 14.99 | PB | 264pp
The Collins Press
Current Affairs | August 2010
About The Book
While many agree that Ireland can become a world leader in clean energy, there is little agreement on how. John Travers examines the challenge and opportunity facing Ireland. He assesses how alternatives will enable us to meet our needs, achieve energy independence, and provide an opportunity for Ireland to become a world leader and global beacon of clean energy.
The Wild Garden A new illustrated edition with photographs & notes by Charles Nelson
William Robinson
9781848890350
€ 29.99 | HB | 236pp
The Collins Press
Gardening/History | August 2010
About The Book
The Wild Garden, one of the most influential books published in the history of gardening, was first published in 1870. It challenged the prevailing formal bedding style, advocating the use of hardy perennials and annuals to provide long-lasting, self-perpetuating displays. The book has a special resonance for Irish gardens and gardeners, as Robinson is Irish and trained as a gardener in Ireland. This edition, the first published in Ireland, is augmented with captivating photographs and notes by Charles Nelson, whose introductory essay sets Robinson and his book in context.
Privilege & Poverty The Life and Times of Irish Painter & Naturalist Alexander Williams RHA 1846–1930
Gordon T. Ledbetter
9781848890343
€ 40.00 | hb | 376pp
The Collins Press
Art/Biography | August 2010
About The Book
Alexander Williams was the first artist to open the West of Ireland to a broad audience. His life was extraordinarily wide-ranging. A landscape painter, he was also an apprentice hatter, a taxidermist and a professional singer. Illustrated with a wide selection of his work, this biography illuminates the diversity of his life and times with material found nowhere else.
Missing in Action: The 50 Year Search for Ireland’s Missing Soldier
Ralph/John Riegel/O’Mahony
9781856356947
€ 14.99 | PB | 256pp
Mercier Press
Irish Military History | August 2010
About The Book
On 15 September 1961, Trooper Patrick Mullins (18) was posted missing after a bloody ambush of an Irish UN convoy in a suburb of Elizabethville in the Katanga province of the Congo. Injured, out-gunned and out-numbered, Tpr Mullins fought with astonishing courage as he desperately tried to save his dying comrade and reach friendly lines. But after a fierce gun-fight from his crippled armoured car, Patrick Mullins was killed and his body taken as spoils of war by the tribal militia supporting the Katangan rebels. When Ireland finally ended its UN mission in the Congo and the last battalion shipped home, Tpr Mullins’ body remained buried in an unknown Congolese grave. With the 50th anniversary of his death fast approaching, the Mullins family remain caught in the terrible nightmare of maintaining an empty grave for him at the foothills of the Galtee Mountains.This fascinating book describes Tpr Mullins’ story, the struggle to find his body and the difficulties in bringing it home.
Renegades Irish Republican Women 1900-1922
Ann Matthews
9781856356848
€ 19.99 | PB | 352pp
Mercier Press
History | August 2010
About The Book
Renegades details the tragedies, triumphs, politics and conflicts experienced by Irish women during the country’s War of Independence and Civil War. It will shock and possibly disturb any romanticised views of their role in this period of Irish history because the reality of the abuse of women within the general population by both sides in both Wars is absent in most histories of the period. But this ‘war on women’, which manifested itself in the form of physical and sexual assaults meant that many women suffered a terror that was not confined to armed conflict. The book also explores the separation of republican women during the Irish War of Independence and Civil War, into two distinct groups. Cumann na mBan members perceived their role to be purely military and so they did not engage in politics. On the other hand the political women, who by this time perceived themselves as the female political elite, were proactive in pursuit of a significant position in Irish politics, especially when the Sinn Fe?in party was reformed in October 1917.
IRA Jailbreaks 1918-1921
9781856356893
€19.99 | PB | 320pp
Mercier Press
Irish History | August 2010
About The Book
IRA Jailbreaks 1918—1921 features the factual accounts of 25 daring rescues, rescue attempts and jailbreaks which raised the morale of nationalist Ireland and brought world-wide ridicule and discredit on the prison and internment camp systems in Britain and Ireland. With stories of their resistence to the degrading criminal code by the political prisoners, the hunger strikes and jail riots, the savage beatings and punishments the prisoners suffered during their incarceration, their accounts offer a window on the world of the men who fought and were imprisoned during the struggle for Ireland’s independence. Here is history documented by the men who made it.
Oral and print cultures in Ireland, 1600-1900
Marc Caball/Andrew Carpenter, eds
9781846821950
€55.00 | HB | 160pp
Four Courts Press
Social History | August 2010
About The Book
In charting previously unexplored patterns of communicative practice, these essays by leading experts examine the interchange between written and verbal cultures in Ireland from the 17th century to the beginning of the 19th century.
An English-Irish lexicon of scientific and technological space-related terminology
Susan McKenna Lawlor/Damien Ó Muirí
9781846822698
€24.95 | HB | 152pp
Four Courts Press
Reference | August 2010
About The Book
This unique lexicon features over 3,500 astronautical terms, listed alphabetically in English, with their Irish translation. It is a stand-alone edition based on a twenty-language lexicon prepared by the International Academy of Astronautics on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary in 2010. This book contains a comprehensive introductory essay, providing background information on the International Academy of Astronautics and its work to develop a multi-lingual lexicon of space-related terminology. The preface also discusses the astronomical heritage of Ireland; the Irish language; the method of translation adopted in preparing the present English-Irish lexicon; and some of the practical problems encountered in translating scientific and technical terms into Irish.
From the Viking word-hoard A dictionary of Scandinavian words in the languages of Britain and Ireland
Diarmaid Ó Muirithe
9781846821738
€50.00 | HB | 352pp
Four Courts Press
Reference | August 2010
About The Book
At the beginning of the 9th century the growing population of the three great branches of the Scandinavian race who people the countries abutting the Baltic – the Norsemen or Northmen, the Swedes and Danes – began a great outward movement which was caused both by political changes and their enterprising nature. Thus the 9th century came to be known as the Age of the Vikings, Víkinga-Öld. The Danish emigration directed its course to the north-east of England. The second migration was Norse, whose settlers gradually peopled the coasts of Ireland, northern Scotland and the Isle of Man. They left a lasting linguistic heritage. This book is a glossary of words in the various language of Britain and Ireland which owe their origin to the intrepid raiders and merchants of Scandinavia.
The Dublin region in the Middle Ages Settlement, land-use and economy
Margaret/Michael Murphy/Potterton
9781846822667
€50.00 | HB | 608pp
Four Courts Press
Geography | August 2010
About The Book
This is the first major publication of the Discovery Programme’s Medieval Rural Settlement Project. The book is a study of the medieval region that contained and was defined by the presence of Ireland’s largest nucleated settlement. Combining documentary and archaeological data this volume explores the primary settlement features of the hinterland area (all of Co. Dublin and large parts of Kildare, Meath and Wicklow), including defensive monuments, manors, the church and the Pale. It examines the way s in which resources of the region were managed and exploited to produce food, fuel and raw materials for both town and country, and investigates the processing of the raw materials for human consumption. Then as now, the city profoundly affected its surrounding area through its demands for resources and through the ownership of land by Dubliners and the control of trade by city merchants. In addition to presenting a timely examination of urban-rural interaction, the volume contributes to wider debates on topics such as settlement landscapes, the role of lordship and the productivity of agriculture.
Pieces of My Heart
Sinéad Moriarty
9781844881512
€ 15.99 | TPB | 448pp
Penguin Ireland
Fiction | August 2010
About The Book
Ava is a wife, lover, mother, daughter, friend, fixer, boss … so many different people, in fact, she no longer knows what it means to be herself …
http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9781844881512,00.html?strSrchSql=Pieces+of+My+Heart%2A/Pieces_of_My_Heart_Sinead_Moriarty
Mini Scientist in the Garden
Lisa Burke
9781405356190
€ 9.99 | HB | 24pp
DK
Children’s Non-Fiction | August 2010
About The Book
Fun experiments in the garden for mini scientists
Mini Scientist in the Kitchen
Lisa Burke
9781405356183
€ 9.99 | HB | 24pp
DK
Children’s Non-Fiction | August 2010
About The Book
Fun experiments in the kitchen for mini scientists
Collusion
Stuart Neville
9781846552809
£12.99 | TPB | 368pp
Harvil Secker
Fiction | August 2010
About The Book
A fast-paced thriller about duty and revenge, Collusion is the blistering sequel to The Twelve, one of the most highly acclaimed debuts of recent years.
Lansdowne Through The Years
Edward Newman
9781444711370
£13.99 | TPB | 320pp
Hachette Ireland
Sport | August 2010
About The Book
Accompanied by evocative photographs, these recollections provide the perfect record of Irish rugby’s greatest days and greatest deeds to commemorate the opening of the new Aviva Stadium.
Kicking On
Dave Hannigan
9781847171894
€ 7.99 | PB | 192pp
The O’Brien Press
Children’s Fiction | August 2010
About The Book
Latest in the hugely popular sports fiction series from O’Brien Press, with authentic GAA match action and adventures on and off the field, the first children’s book by well-known sports journalist Dave Hannigan, Age 9+
Vet among the Pigeons
Gillian Hick
9781847172082
€ 11.99 | PB | 256pp
The O’Brien Press
Memoir | August 2010
About The Book
More hilarious true-life tales from Wicklow vet Gillian Hick, following on from the success of Vet the Loose.
News
Guest Column: In Defence Of Book Publishing
A new utopian world awaits all us avid readers, I learnt today. The tyranny of publishers and bookshops will soon be a thing of the past. Thanks to the internet, and the opportunities that it offers for electronic publishing, authors no longer need traditional – or any – publishers. Gone are the days when the profit hungry publishers and booksellers exploited writers by packaging and selling their creative output, while giving far too little in return. Now, authors themselves control the industry, because they alone write the words that sell the volumes. “Content is king, and only authors provide the content.”
Since printing presses are expensive pieces of equipment, and require specialised training to use, self publishing for authors has always been an expensive and complex route. Not only this, but once a couple of hundred copies of your masterpiece have been printed, how does the enterprising author persuade the public to buy his tome? He is, again at the mercy of the book trade, as he has to negotiate with bookshops in order to persuade them to stock it on their shelves. No longer. Now, with just the click of a button, anyone can upload the word file containing their novel, esoteric study or polemic to the internet. Potential readers will find the ‘book’ by means of a keyword search and will download it themselves cutting out the need for any kind of middle man – literary agent, publisher, bookshop.
I hope that I’m not the only one to find this picture a little grim, and the new relationship between author and public, reader and book – recognition by keyword search; downloading a word file – just a bit cold. I came across this article through a link on my twitter feed on Saturday, where just such a bold vision was outlined. Now, I know that the publishing industry and book trade don’t really need me to stand up for them, but as someone who has no vested interest other than a love of books, I thought I would try to respond.
I may be a little naïve, but I do believe that most publishers, editors and independent booksellers are in the business they are in not because they want to make a huge profit, but because they love books. Profit is necessary of course, in order to keep the business afloat; the more popular titles often allow a publisher to invest in valuable works that will inevitably sell fewer copies. Book are at the heart of the editor’s job, and out of the piles of the manuscripts that arrive on his or her desk every week, there is always the hope of discovering that one that will make literary history – that will sell, yes, but that will also enthuse, impress and educate its readers; that will be remembered far beyond that year or even that generation. The art of ‘discovering’ new literature; of recognising and making judgements as to what books are worth championing, is almost as valuable as that of the writer.
Publishing; that is choosing what books to publish and how to publish them, can also be a bold political statement, even a revolutionary one. When publisher Allen Lane launched his Penguin Modern Classics paperback series in 1935, he changed the face of publishing. Up to then books were expensive to buy and usually only available in hardback; by selling them for just sixpence and ensuring that they were stocked in railway stations and newsagents, he ensured that a whole new section of the population bought and read these modern literary classics.
Publishing could also be a more dangerous and overtly political action. The young Italian antifascist editor and publisher Piero Gobetti was convinced – perhaps naively – that the Italian people were in desperate need of a proper literary and political education. To this end, he published translations of European literature in Italian – to convince his readers to forsake the inward looking nationalism of fascist Italy – as well as more overtly political works. It was through book and magazine publishing, rather than politics that he fought the rise of Mussolini in the Italy of the early 1920s. The fact that he died in 1926, at the age of 24, after he was forced to close down his publishing house and move to Paris, is stark testament to the political power of books. Later in the twentieth century, another Italian publisher Giangacomo Feltrinelli (whose bookstores can now be seen in every Italian town and city) took another great political risk by agreeing to publish the novel of a Russian author who was at that stage little known outside the Soviet Union. A Communist sympathiser, although a maverick one, Feltrinelli was the only publisher willing to take a chance on Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago. Unable to publish the book in Russia as Pasternak was seen as suspect by Stalin, it was first published in Italian translation in 1957 under the Feltrinelli insignia. While it rapidly became a publishing sensation in the West, Doctor Zhivago eventually became a symbol of dissidence in the Soviet Union too.
I may be biased about all this, as I have spent quite a few years researching and writing the history of editors and publishers. However, I do think their role is essential in the world of books. The idea of writers uploading their books to the internet and readers simply finding them by searching is a chaotic one, as well a cold and uninviting one. Endless information and ‘content’ is not exactly a good thing, when no one has the time to sift through hundreds and thousands of uploaded novels to find the good ones themselves. A publisher’s insignia, like a good book review, is a mark of quality and confidence. Likewise, a bookshop, and especially an independent one, is a small, friendly space in which to browse, and perhaps seek advice on books. Although online magazines, newspapers and blogs clearly have a place – and a valuable one – in the literary world of the twenty-first century, I hope that nothing can ever replace publishers, paperbacks and dusty bookshelves.