Each of Foster's books has generated vigorous discussion, but in THE IRISH STORY he breaks fresh ground even by his own standards. Driven by his sense of the seriousness of history and a fascination with those who distort it, THE IRISH STORY examines how key facets of Ireland's past have been tampered with to serve a multiplicity of purposes.
THE IRISH STORY is endlessly varied, surprising and funny. It is also a rallying cry for those anxious that contemporary Ireland may be in danger ofturning itself into a meretricious historical theme-park. %%%Each of Foster's books has generated vigorous discussion, but in THE IRISH STORY he breaks fresh ground even by his own standards. Driven by his sense of the seriousness of history and a fascination with those who distort it, THE IRISH STORY examines how key facets of Ireland's past have been tampered with to serve a multiplicity of purposes. THE IRISH STORY is endlessly varied, surprising and funny. It is also a rallying cry for those anxious that contemporary Ireland may be in danger ofturning itself into a meretricious historical theme-park.
R. F. Foster was the Carroll Professor of Irish History at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Hertford College, Oxford. His books include Modern Ireland 1600–1972, Paddy and Mr Punch, The Irish Story, W. B. Yeats: A Life, Volume I: The Apprentice Mage, W. B. Yeats, Volume II: The Arch-Poet and Luck and the Irish. Foster was awarded an Irish Presidential Distinguished Service Award in Arts, Culture & Sport in 2021, and received the Bob Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award at the An Post Irish Book Awards 2023.