While the national narrative coming out of Ireland since the 2008 economic crisis has been relentlessly sanguine, fiction has offered a more nuanced perspective from both well-established and emerging authors. In Broken Irelands, McGlynn examines Irish fiction of the post-crash era, addressing the proliferation of writing that downplays realistic and grammatical coherence. Noting that these traits have the effect of diminishing human agency, blurring questions of responsibility, and emphasizing emotion over rationality, McGlynn argues that they reflect and respond to social and economic conditions during the global economic crisis and its aftermath of recession, austerity, and precarity. Rather than focusing on overt discussions of the crash and recession, McGlynn explores how the dominance of an economic worldview, including a pervasive climate of financialized discourse, shapes the way stories are told. In the writing of such authors as Anne Enright, Colum McCann, Mike McCormack, and Lisa McInerney, McGlynn unpacks the ways that formal departures from realism through grammatical asymmetries like unconventional verb tenses, novel syntactic choices, and reliance on sentence fragments align with a cultural moment shaped by feelings of impotence and rhetorics of personal responsibility.

The English language in the Renaissance was in many ways a collection of competing Englishes. Blank investigates the representation of alternative vernaculars in both linguistic and literary works of the time.

Brigadier General Frank Crozier (1879- 1937) was a highly controversial figure in his day. As a young soldier he saw active service in the Boer War and West Africa before being forced to leave the British army because of financial irresponsibility. He tried to start a new life in Canada and then, on his return to Britain, joined the Ulster Volunteer Force.??On the outbreak of the First World War he was appointed second-in-command of a battalion in 36th Ulster Division, becoming its commanding officer in autumn 1915 and leading it in action on 1 July 1916. He commanded a brigade with much success for the rest of the war.??Forbidden to stay on in the British army after the war, he became inspector-general of the Lithuanian army in 1919, but resigned after six months. Made commandant of the Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary at the height of the Troubles, he resigned in highly controversial circumstances.??After being declared bankrupt for a second time, he was involved in the League of Nations Union and then turned to?pacifism, becoming a founder member of the Peace Pledge Union. By now he had, through his best-selling writings, become a thorn in the side of the establishment. Charles Messenger's meticulously researched and highly readable biography of this maverick soldier is the first full account of his life and times.

'Minutely researched, superbly written, genuinely exciting' ANDREW ROBERTS 'Outstanding' JOHN PRESTON Pioneering human rights campaigner, patriot, traitor, romantic and martyr. Broken Archangel is the life of Roger Casement, one of the twentieth century’s most complex and compelling figures. In 1904, Casement became internationally celebrated for unearthing the grotesque, murderous violence of the Belgian Congo. Soon after he won even greater renown and a knighthood for his humanitarian work deep in the Amazon jungle. But his internal fault lines ran deep: neither fully Irish nor English, baptised both Protestant and Catholic, desperate for love but forbidden intimacy, betrayed in his only significant relationship, he was of the English diplomatic establishment yet an outsider who fought for Irish nationhood. His final act in wartime Berlin – a doomed scheme to promote an invasion of Ireland – overwhelmed him, although his subsequent trial for treason brought him some resolution even as it took him to an unmarked prison grave. Compassionate, self-deluding, courageous, altruistic, and plagued by poor health, Roger Casement was a contradictory figure made fallible by contemporary mores and his own powerful, unexamined emotions. Only decades later did an Irish state funeral finally assert his nobility above his notoriety – and only now can we fully understand his surprisingly modern and deeply relevant life and legacy. 'Vivid, poignant and hugely moving' HENRY HEMMING 'A rich and compulsively readable treatment of the most extraordinary of Irish lives' ROY FOSTER 'In Roland Philipps [Casement] has found the biographer he deserves' MICHELA WRONG

It is very easy to get polio. Patrick Cockburn was six when he woke up one day in the summer of 1956 with a headache and a sore throat. His parents, Claud and Patricia Cockburn, had recently returned to Ireland, to their house in East Cork, careless of the fact that a polio epidemic had broken out in Cork City. He caught the disease and was taken to the fever hospital. The virus attacks the nerves of the brain and the spinal cord leading to paralysis of the muscles. Patrick could no longer walk. The Broken Boy is at once a memoir of Patrick Cockburn's own experience of polio, a portrait of his parents, both prominent radicals, and the story of the Cork epidemic, the last great polio epidemic in the world.

When journalist William seeks out Elizabeth - an acclaimed author - to write her biography, the recluse grants him twenty-four hours to hear her story. William is not ready for what unfolds. Toggling the lines of insanity, Elizabeth tells the story of her darkness-filled past. The more Elizabeth delves into her psyche, the more William witnesses the mental conditions Elizabeth has developed to cope with a life without love, protection, trust or therapy. But what other secrets lurk inside young Elizabeth's mind? This book contains graphic violence and is not suitable for readers under the age of 18.

"Nothing in my army training had prepared me for what happened in Jerusalem in February 1965." In Chris McQuaid's stunning memoir, Elegy for a Broken Soldier, a traumatic event led to his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Music became the only respite that provides him solace. Chris was a member of the Irish Army guard of honour for the visit of US President John F. Kennedy to Dublin in June 1963. With the cheers of the crowds lining the presidential route still ringing in his ears, he felt "ten feet tall" as he prepared for his first UN peacekeeping mission to the Congo. On a UN mission to Cyprus in 1965, trauma changed Chris's life forever, marking the beginning of his PTSD. In Lebanon in 1980, his life was threatened, and the shock effectively ended his military career. Neither event originated on the battlefield, but from within the Irish Army. Despite severe depression and suicidal thoughts, Chris continued his education and returned to the service to become a commissioned officer. He left the army in 1986 with a glowing service record. A long legal wrangle and a succession of psychiatric and psychological assessments have led to even greater health problems, but Chris has survived it all.

“To understand trends in the Roman Catholic Church since Vatican Council II (1962-1965), Finbarr Corr’s new book Broken Promises is required reading. With his skill as an Irish storyteller that was vividly evident in his prior books, Corr, a former priest, constructs an important new window on what he describes as ‘the Church’s third major crisis since Jesus Christ established it on Simon Peter, the Rock.’ Drawing on decades of vital experience as a crusading priest, innovative family therapist, and provocative educator and author, Dr. Corr asks if the Church can survive its failure to follow through on the dictates of Vatican Council II which was initiated by Pope John XXIII to ‘open up the windows of the church and let in some fresh air.’ Dr. Corr provides a fresh look at the fifty years since Vatican II and presents a rich study of the Church’s relationship to the modern world. Broken Promises provides new insights into this challenging topic.” Tom O’Connell, B.A., M.A., S.F.O. Publisher of sanctuary777.com and Author of Power, Politics & Propaganda: Observations of a Curious Contrarian

Spring, 1849 was a devastating time for Big Spring, Kentucky as a tornado nearly leveled it. For the families living in and around the area, lives were altered and nearly destroyed by the destructive winds. For the Gray family, the tornado wreaked havoc for them and their loved ones. Who miraculously survived the disaster that would completely change their family forever. What would the future hold for them now? The Conner family had been a part of the Big Spring community for several decades. The family was well known for what it was not. Patriarch of the family, Matthew Conner held several secrets that would surprise many if they only knew. Two secrets from his life leave a daughter and his life in the balance. One weighed at the hands of his own flesh and blood. As 1854 begins, there are many changes. Has time shown that, both the past and the present, have led the residents of the Big Spring area to many a heart broken?