Moderate self-promotion alert: I’m happy to say that the paperback edition of this book will be out early next month. My own very modest contribution is a chapter on Restoration Ireland (1660-1688). I’m grateful to the editor, Alvin Jackson, for inviting me to write it; having looked at this brief but decisive period of Irish history from a very specific point of view in my earlier work, I found it fascinating to attempt to grasp as many aspects of, and points of view on, the Restoration as possible — and the condense it all into a shortish chapter. I don’t know whether one can ever really “master” a period of history — I’m sure I haven’t yet — but working on this forced me to try.

Rest assured, though, that there are better reasons to shell out $50.00 for the book than that — including chapters by a host of older, wiser, and/or otherwise more accomplished historians of Ireland. And it costs a lot less than the hardcover….