Ireland Since the Famine: An Appreciation

Ireland Since the Famine: An Appreciation

Ireland Since the Famine: 1850 to the Present by F. S. L. Lyons. Fontana Press, [1971] 1985. Paperback, 880 pages. Reviewed by John Rossi Fifty years ago, a book appeared that refined the writing and understanding of modern Irish history. F. S. L. Lyons’s...
A Splendid War Companion

A Splendid War Companion

Britain at Bay: The Epic Story of the Second World War, 1938–1941 By Alan Allport. Alfred A. Knopf, 2020. Hardcover, 590 pages, $35. Reviewed by John P. Rossi There is nothing an author fears more than that his or her book will appear shortly after one with a similar...
Churchill’s Summer of Destiny

Churchill’s Summer of Destiny

John P. Rossi Winston Churchill was the greatest orator of the twentieth century. His most famous speeches rank with those of giants like Lincoln and Martin Luther King. A master of rhetoric with a gift for the memorable phrase, six of his speeches were transformative...

A New Look at Benjamin Disraeli

Disraeli: The Novel Politician by David Cesarani. Yale University Press, 2016. Hardcover, 292 pages, $25. Reviewed by John P. Rossi Of the so-called “Victorian Giants”—William Ewart Gladstone, Lord Palmerston, Joseph Chamberlain—none have fascinated the public as much...

Fighting Cousins

Yanks and Limeys: Alliance Warfare in the Second World War. by Niall Barr. London: Jonathan Cape, 2015. Hardcover, 548 pages, $30. Reviewed by John P. Rossi It is generally agreed that World War II was a victory of Russian numbers and American industrial output. True...