Rating: 
(7.00)
(7.00)138 pages. Black-and-white illustrations throughout. Preface, introduction, list of contributors, select bibliography.
This is the third volume in the Irish Perspectives series, now available in paperback, consisting of articles reprinted from History Ireland magazine. The theme for this work is the role played by monarchs in shaping Ireland.
The 17 articles are:
- Brian Boru: Imperator Scotorum
- Capsule biography of the Irish high-king. 4 pages.
- Life after Brian: the high-kingship
- Irish rulers of the 11th and 12th centuries who claimed to be 'high-king'. 8 pages.
- King John and the origins of colonial rule in Ireland
- Centralized, foreign authority imposed on the Irish. 8 pages.
- Thomas Holand: Richard II's king of Ireland?
- Was there a plan to make the king's nephew king of Ireland? 9 pages.
- The remonstrance of Irish princes, 1317
- By what right did the English rule Ireland? Would the Pope intercede? 9 pages.
- A Lancaster prince in Ireland
- Henry IV appoints his second son, Thomas of Lancaster, as lieutenant of Ireland. 8 pages.
- James IV, the O'Donnells of Tyrconnell and the road to Flodden
- The Stewarts receive Gaelic support against England. 9 pages.
- Contesting the sovereignty of early modern Ireland
- Ireland's sovereignty explored from Irish, British and European perspectives. 10 pages.
- King Billy: a military assessment
- The Battle of the Boyne and William of Orange's generalship. 13 pages.
- 'Fighting Dick' Talbot, the 'Chevalier' Wogan and Lally-Tollendal: Jacobites, jailbreakers and jailbirds
- Capsule biographies of three Irish Jacobites. 8 pages.
- 'Eric cordially welcomes the Empress': Elizabeth of Austria-Hungary in Ireland, 1879 and 1880
- An unhappy royal wife is too popular in Catholic Ireland. 8 pages.
- The chequered fate of a queen
- Queen Victoria's memorial falls from favor. 4 pages.
- July 1903: Edward VII, the Gordon Bennett Cup and the Emmett centennial
- Will a newfangled car race upstage an important Irish anniversary? 7 pages.
- The theft of the Irish crown jewels, 1907
- Was it an inside job? 12 pages.
- Edward VIII, Mrs. Simpson and Ireland
- How Mrs. Simpson influenced an important date in Irish independence. 8 pages.
- The queen was in the parlour
- The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and television in Ireland. 5 pages.
- Commemoration and conciliation during the royal visit, 2011
- Queen Elizabeth pays equal homage to different sets of Irish dead. 5 pages.
The articles have been edited for this publication, although there's still one reference to magazine cover art (not included!), and one picture is repeated.
The authors generally assume familiarity with Irish and British history. Each article stands on its own. The earlier articles have some military content, while the later articles become more political and cultural. Suitable maps are provided where needed.
An interesting book. Recommended.
Reviewed by 
Editor in Chief Bill 
.