This is the first complete history of Dublin Fire Brigade, from its inception in 1862 to the present day. It is the story of the dedicated firefighters, officers and ambulance personnel who have provided emergency response to the people of Ireland's capital city for many generations. The Brigade has been involved in many key historical moments over the last one hundred and fifty years: the 1916 Rising, the War of Independence, and during the Second World War, the bombing of both Belfast and Dublin. The book is illustrated with 27 colour plates and over 50 black and white photographs.
National Book Critics Circle Award Winner: “The terrifying story of the worst disaster in the history of the US Forest Service’s elite Smokejumpers.” —Kirkus Reviews A devastating and lyrical work of nonfiction, Young Men and Fire describes the events of August 5, 1949, when a crew of fifteen of the US Forest Service’s elite airborne firefighters, the Smokejumpers, stepped into the sky above a remote forest fire in the Montana wilderness. Two hours after their jump, all but three of the men were dead or mortally burned. Haunted by these deaths for forty years, Norman Maclean puts together the scattered pieces of the Mann Gulch tragedy in this extraordinary book. Alongside Maclean’s now-canonical A River Runs Through It and Other Stories, Young Men and Fire is recognized today as a classic of the American West. This edition of Maclean’s later triumph—the last book he would write—includes a powerful new foreword by Timothy Egan, author of The Big Burn and The Worst Hard Time. As moving and profound as when it was first published, Young Men and Fire honors the literary legacy of a man who gave voice to an essential corner of the American soul. “A moving account of humanity, nature, and the perseverance of the human spirit.” —Library Journal “Haunting.” —The Wall Street Journal “Engrossing.” —Publishers Weekly
"Siobhan Kilfeather explores Ireland's capital city and walks the streets immortalized by James Joyce's Ulysses. Kilfeather takes readers through one thousand years of Dublin's history and examines in detail its architecture, statuary, painting, and writing"--Back cover.
Pirates executed in St Stephen's Green; Mother Bungy's 'sink of sin' in what is now Temple Bar; the Viking thingmote in College Green where human sacrifices took place; hidden holy wells under the city streets: these are just some of the things uncovered by Dubliner Frank Hopkins in this surprising and entertaining book. Famous sons and daughters of the city also make an appearance: John Pius Boland of the famous milling family, who won two Olympic medals for tennis in 1896 playing in street clothes and leather shoes; Jack Langan, the bare-knuckle boxer of Ballybough; Sir William Cameron, the public health specialist who devised a bounty scheme for captured houseflies in 1913; and the Dolocher, the savage eighteenth-century beast in the form of a pig who turned out to be a man.
The long-awaited concluding volume of Pádraig Yeates' 'Dublin at War' trilogyIn A City in Civil War: Dublin 1921–1924, acclaimed historian Pádraig Yeates turns his attention to Ireland's bloody and hard-fought Civil War and its impact on the capital city and its inhabitants.The fascinating A City in Civil War tells the story of Dublin's troubled passage to independence amidst the acrimony and upheaval of the Civil War, a period in which Dublin became the capital city of an independent Irish state for the first time.Once again, conflict raged on Dublin's streets, but this time the combatants were Irishmen – neighbours, friends, families – fighting each other. For a great many Dubliners, life remained a cycle of grinding poverty, but for many southern Unionists, ex-servicemen and anti-Treaty republicans, the city became a hostile environment. And all the while, the Catholic Church strengthened its grip on Irish cultural life, supplying many of the vital social services an embattled government was too poor and too preoccupied to provide its citizens.In his distinctive and engaging style, Pádraig Yeates uncovers unknown and neglected aspects of the Irish Civil War in the capital and their impact on the rest of the country.'Pádraig Yeates excels as a social historian and never loses sight of the ordinary citizen.'The Irish Times 'A powerful social history ... reminds us that for all the headline grabbing events, putting bread on the table was still the most important priority for most'Professor Diarmaid Ferriter, The Irish Independent'Reminds the reader of how daily life went on side by side with the great events of history. In short, this is an excellent addition to the current literature.'Irish Literary Supplement
