Story of the Irish Race

Rating:
Summary: This is an old book
Review: Most of us raised in a religous context read the Bible, not out of a need for specific history, but as an introduction to a belief system. We recognize in the flight of the Jews and in Jesus feeding the multitudes not a single event but a symbol of God's love. Connections to "real" history are there, but not always evident on the surface.
In the same manner, MacManus should be required reading for every student of Irish History. Some "mistakes" are evident for those who want "real" history. But, the reader will never need question the romance, the passion, or the relationship to the world that is part at least of every "Nationalist" Irish or Irish American.
A Great Book!

Rating:
Summary: Understanding the "Story" of History
Review: Most of us raised in a religous context read the Bible, not out of a need for specific history, but as an introduction to a belief system. We recognize in the flight of the Jews and in Jesus feeding the multitudes not a single event but a symbol of God's love. Connections to "real" history are there, but not always evident on the surface.
In the same manner, MacManus should be required reading for every student of Irish History. Some "mistakes" are evident for those who want "real" history. But, the reader will never need question the romance, the passion, or the relationship to the world that is part at least of every "Nationalist" Irish or Irish American.
A Great Book!

Rating:
Summary: Clarification of other reviews
Review: The reason that this work only covers up to the first part of the twentieth century is that it was first written in 1921, before Ireland even had independence from England. Mr. MacManus did not get "tired", he simply wrote this work before much of the twentieth century happened.

Rating:
Summary: dated
Review: This dated book is so full of inaccuracies and myths masquerading as history that your money is best spent elsewhere. For a good general history of Ireland, check out Kee or Moody.

Rating:
Summary: 1/1542 Irish, a small mole on my pinky
Review: This is a THICK BOOK. The early part of it is interesting but starts to thin out after the 1800s. After taking on all of the effort of putting all of this stuff together, I think Mr. MacManus got tired. Bruce (above) says it is full of mistakes, etc. and this is obvious in many places. But Mr. MacManus makes the story fun. It really feels like a book told by an Irishman and not just another dry history book written in English. But to get a real sense of any history a person has to read all of the histories (Kee and Moody included), all the slants, all the myths and the lies, the stories . . . and still I don't think he or she will fully understand. In comparison, try reading all about the history of Japan or the relationship between Europeans and Native Americans and you can see how tough it is to get any "truth" at all. Blah, blah, blah, right?

Rating:
Summary: 1/1542 Irish, a small mole on my pinky
Review: This is a THICK BOOK. The early part of it is interesting but starts to thin out after the 1800s. After taking on all of the effort of putting all of this stuff together, I think Mr. MacManus got tired. Bruce (above) says it is full of mistakes, etc. and this is obvious in many places. But Mr. MacManus makes the story fun. It really feels like a book told by an Irishman and not just another dry history book written in English. But to get a real sense of any history a person has to read all of the histories (Kee and Moody included), all the slants, all the myths and the lies, the stories . . . and still I don't think he or she will fully understand. In comparison, try reading all about the history of Japan or the relationship between Europeans and Native Americans and you can see how tough it is to get any "truth" at all. Blah, blah, blah, right?