Hitler's Irishmen

Hitler's Irishmen

Author: Terence O'Reilly

Publisher: Mercier Press Ltd

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 1856355896

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During the Second World War, two young Irishmen served in the armed forces of Nazi Germany, swearing the oath of the Waffen-SS and wearing the organisation's uniform and even its distinctive blood group tattoo. This account, which also covers some of the other Irishmen who sided with Nazi Germany, draws on their own accounts.


Book Synopsis Hitler's Irishmen by : Terence O'Reilly

Download or read book Hitler's Irishmen written by Terence O'Reilly and published by Mercier Press Ltd. This book was released on 2008 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the Second World War, two young Irishmen served in the armed forces of Nazi Germany, swearing the oath of the Waffen-SS and wearing the organisation's uniform and even its distinctive blood group tattoo. This account, which also covers some of the other Irishmen who sided with Nazi Germany, draws on their own accounts.


Suddenly, While Abroad

Suddenly, While Abroad

Author: David Blake Knox

Publisher: New Island Books

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781848402003

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In February 1943, 32 Irish merchant seaman were sent to a Nazi labour camp in northern Germany. They were being punished for refusing to join the Nazi war effort, and they became part of a slave work force that was used to construct an enormous bunker. However, in order to achieve this goal, the Nazis were prepared to work thousands of slaves to their deaths - including five of the Irishmen who died in one of their camps. This is their story.


Book Synopsis Suddenly, While Abroad by : David Blake Knox

Download or read book Suddenly, While Abroad written by David Blake Knox and published by New Island Books. This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In February 1943, 32 Irish merchant seaman were sent to a Nazi labour camp in northern Germany. They were being punished for refusing to join the Nazi war effort, and they became part of a slave work force that was used to construct an enormous bunker. However, in order to achieve this goal, the Nazis were prepared to work thousands of slaves to their deaths - including five of the Irishmen who died in one of their camps. This is their story.


Hitler's Irish Slaves

Hitler's Irish Slaves

Author: David Blake Knox

Publisher: New Island Books

Published: 2017-04

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781848405967

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This is the story of 32 merchant seamen from Ireland who were held in conditions of great hardship in an SS slave labour camp from 1943-45. They were being punished for refusing to join the German war effort, and they became part of a slave work force that was used to construct an enormous bunker near the village of Farge in northern Germany. The Nazis believed they could build a 'miracle boat' in this bunker which they thought could win the war. To achieve this, they were prepared to work thousands of their slaves to death, including five of the Irishmen who died in one of their camps. Despite the savage regime they were subjected to, and unlike some other Irishmen, they steadfastly resisted all attempts by the SS to turn them into collaborators with the Third Reich. This engrossing and dramatic book explores the fascinating and tragic story of hardship and struggle, and has been updated and expanded by the author following the huge response from readers of the previous edition, Suddenly While Abroad. *** "A fascinating account of a neglected aspect of Irish involvement in the Second World War...." --The Irish Times Subject: WWII, Irish Studies, History]


Book Synopsis Hitler's Irish Slaves by : David Blake Knox

Download or read book Hitler's Irish Slaves written by David Blake Knox and published by New Island Books. This book was released on 2017-04 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the story of 32 merchant seamen from Ireland who were held in conditions of great hardship in an SS slave labour camp from 1943-45. They were being punished for refusing to join the German war effort, and they became part of a slave work force that was used to construct an enormous bunker near the village of Farge in northern Germany. The Nazis believed they could build a 'miracle boat' in this bunker which they thought could win the war. To achieve this, they were prepared to work thousands of their slaves to death, including five of the Irishmen who died in one of their camps. Despite the savage regime they were subjected to, and unlike some other Irishmen, they steadfastly resisted all attempts by the SS to turn them into collaborators with the Third Reich. This engrossing and dramatic book explores the fascinating and tragic story of hardship and struggle, and has been updated and expanded by the author following the huge response from readers of the previous edition, Suddenly While Abroad. *** "A fascinating account of a neglected aspect of Irish involvement in the Second World War...." --The Irish Times Subject: WWII, Irish Studies, History]


Dachau to Dolomites

Dachau to Dolomites

Author: Tom Wall

Publisher: Merrion Press

Published: 2019-01-04

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 1785372270

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Dachau to the Dolomites is the dramatic but little-known story of a group of prominent Nazi SS hostages transported from various concentration camps to a remote Alpine valley in the final days of the Third Reich. Five Irishmen were among the 160 prisoners whom Himmler and other SS leaders attempted to use as barter to save the regime or, as a final resort, themselves. As well as eminent international statesmen, aristocrats and clergy, the group contained opposition German generals and civilian relatives of those who had plotted against Hitler, including the family of Claus von Stauffenberg, who placed the bomb in Hitler's Wolf's Lair. Among the hostages were a number of British officers, survivors of the famous 'Great Escape', and also Colonel John McGrath from Roscommon, a World War I veteran who had left his job as manager of Dublin's Theatre Royal to rejoin the British Army in 1939. They had been held with Russian, Italian and Polish special prisoners as 'Nacht und Nebel' - Night and Fog - prisoners, whose existence was a state secret. They lived in constant danger of execution, a fate some did not escape, including Stalin's son, who died following a fracas with Irish prisoners. It is an astonishing and epic tale encompassing heroic endurance, escape, betrayal, tragedy and love.


Book Synopsis Dachau to Dolomites by : Tom Wall

Download or read book Dachau to Dolomites written by Tom Wall and published by Merrion Press. This book was released on 2019-01-04 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dachau to the Dolomites is the dramatic but little-known story of a group of prominent Nazi SS hostages transported from various concentration camps to a remote Alpine valley in the final days of the Third Reich. Five Irishmen were among the 160 prisoners whom Himmler and other SS leaders attempted to use as barter to save the regime or, as a final resort, themselves. As well as eminent international statesmen, aristocrats and clergy, the group contained opposition German generals and civilian relatives of those who had plotted against Hitler, including the family of Claus von Stauffenberg, who placed the bomb in Hitler's Wolf's Lair. Among the hostages were a number of British officers, survivors of the famous 'Great Escape', and also Colonel John McGrath from Roscommon, a World War I veteran who had left his job as manager of Dublin's Theatre Royal to rejoin the British Army in 1939. They had been held with Russian, Italian and Polish special prisoners as 'Nacht und Nebel' - Night and Fog - prisoners, whose existence was a state secret. They lived in constant danger of execution, a fate some did not escape, including Stalin's son, who died following a fracas with Irish prisoners. It is an astonishing and epic tale encompassing heroic endurance, escape, betrayal, tragedy and love.


Hitler's Irish Voices

Hitler's Irish Voices

Author: David O'Donoghue

Publisher: Beyond Pale Publications

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13:

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Tells for the first time the history of German,Radio's wartime Irish service from 1939-1945. As,well as desrcibing in details the radio station's,on air operations from Nazi Germany, it also,provides in-depth profiles of those involved and,the service and what became of them after the,war. It reveals details long forgotten in both,Ireland and Germany, for example, the involvement,a permanent member of the Irish civil Service who,ran the service whilst on leave of abscence from,the National Museum of Dublin.


Book Synopsis Hitler's Irish Voices by : David O'Donoghue

Download or read book Hitler's Irish Voices written by David O'Donoghue and published by Beyond Pale Publications. This book was released on 1998 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tells for the first time the history of German,Radio's wartime Irish service from 1939-1945. As,well as desrcibing in details the radio station's,on air operations from Nazi Germany, it also,provides in-depth profiles of those involved and,the service and what became of them after the,war. It reveals details long forgotten in both,Ireland and Germany, for example, the involvement,a permanent member of the Irish civil Service who,ran the service whilst on leave of abscence from,the National Museum of Dublin.


Ireland, Germany, and the Nazis

Ireland, Germany, and the Nazis

Author: Mervyn O'Driscoll

Publisher:

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13:

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In the 1920s Germany and Ireland were new European democracies operating in adverse international, political and economic conditions. This book places the bilateral Irish-German relationship in the context of the professionalization of the Irish Foreign Service and the Irish Free State's progressive carving out of an independent foreign policy. It assesses the key Irish personalities involved in Irish-German relations. These include the successive Irish representatives in Berlin, the eminent scholar Dr Daniel A. Binchy, Leo T. McCauley, and the contentious Charles Bewley. Eamon de Valera and Joseph Walshe (Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs) also played a crucial role. Irish responses to the Wall Street Crash, the rise of the Nazis, and Hitler's policies (domestic and foreign) are all analysed. Did Irish officials foresee the fall of Weimar and the rise of Nazism? How did they view the unfolding nature of the Nazi regime? The clashes between Bewley's apologetic justifications of Nazism after 1935 and de Valera's critical attitudes towards domestic Nazi policies are examined. The ineffective efforts to expand Irish-German trade during the Anglo-Irish Economic War shed light on Irish attempts at export market diversification in the emerging protectionist world economic environment. The analysis places Irish-German relations within the maturation of events in Europe in the 1930s, taking account of the League of Nations' failure, the popularity of Fascism, the Blueshirts, the fraught international atmosphere, and Hitler's revisionist foreign policy. De Valera's support of Chamberlain's 'appeasement' of Hitler before March 1939 is located in the framework of de Valera's attitudes towards collective security, neutrality and Hibernia Irredenta.


Book Synopsis Ireland, Germany, and the Nazis by : Mervyn O'Driscoll

Download or read book Ireland, Germany, and the Nazis written by Mervyn O'Driscoll and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the 1920s Germany and Ireland were new European democracies operating in adverse international, political and economic conditions. This book places the bilateral Irish-German relationship in the context of the professionalization of the Irish Foreign Service and the Irish Free State's progressive carving out of an independent foreign policy. It assesses the key Irish personalities involved in Irish-German relations. These include the successive Irish representatives in Berlin, the eminent scholar Dr Daniel A. Binchy, Leo T. McCauley, and the contentious Charles Bewley. Eamon de Valera and Joseph Walshe (Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs) also played a crucial role. Irish responses to the Wall Street Crash, the rise of the Nazis, and Hitler's policies (domestic and foreign) are all analysed. Did Irish officials foresee the fall of Weimar and the rise of Nazism? How did they view the unfolding nature of the Nazi regime? The clashes between Bewley's apologetic justifications of Nazism after 1935 and de Valera's critical attitudes towards domestic Nazi policies are examined. The ineffective efforts to expand Irish-German trade during the Anglo-Irish Economic War shed light on Irish attempts at export market diversification in the emerging protectionist world economic environment. The analysis places Irish-German relations within the maturation of events in Europe in the 1930s, taking account of the League of Nations' failure, the popularity of Fascism, the Blueshirts, the fraught international atmosphere, and Hitler's revisionist foreign policy. De Valera's support of Chamberlain's 'appeasement' of Hitler before March 1939 is located in the framework of de Valera's attitudes towards collective security, neutrality and Hibernia Irredenta.


Dublin Nazi No. 1

Dublin Nazi No. 1

Author: Gerry Mullins

Publisher:

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13:

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In the 1930s, Dr. Adolf Mahr was head of the National Museum of Ireland, where he earned the title 'the father of Irish archaeology'. He was also the head of the Nazi Party in Ireland. Under pressure from Irish and British military intelligence, he left for Germany shortly before the outbreak of war in 1939 and never returned.


Book Synopsis Dublin Nazi No. 1 by : Gerry Mullins

Download or read book Dublin Nazi No. 1 written by Gerry Mullins and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the 1930s, Dr. Adolf Mahr was head of the National Museum of Ireland, where he earned the title 'the father of Irish archaeology'. He was also the head of the Nazi Party in Ireland. Under pressure from Irish and British military intelligence, he left for Germany shortly before the outbreak of war in 1939 and never returned.


Masquerade

Masquerade

Author: Mark M. Hull

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press

Published: 2017-05-18

Total Pages: 217

ISBN-13: 0806158360

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Phyllis Ursula James. Nora O’Mara. Róisín Ní Mheara. Like her name, the life of Rosaleen James changed many times as she followed a convoluted path from abandoned child, to foster daughter of an aristocratic British family, to traitor during World War II, to her emergence as a full Irish woman afterward. In Masquerade, authors Mark M. Hull and Vera Moynes tell James’s story as it unfolds against the backdrop of the most important events of the twentieth century. James’s life—both real and imagined—makes for an incredible but true story. By altering her identity to suit the situation, James manipulated almost everyone she encountered: the German intelligence service, the Nazi propaganda broadcasting service, British intelligence, and various Irish cultural groups. She was in a liaison with Irish writer Francis Stuart and, with him, provided a voice for Nazi radio programs aimed at neutral Ireland, served as the pseudo-Irish expert for German espionage missions, and participated in the failed, almost comical effort to recruit Irish prisoners of war to join the Nazis against Great Britain—quite a series of performances, considering her only contact with Ireland had been a weeklong visit in 1937. Immediately after the war, James was wanted by British intelligence as a “renegade” (traitor), but her case was quickly squelched by the British government. Drawing on an assumed wartime persona, she became fluent in Irish Gaelic and organized a number of conferences for which she won grants from the Irish government. James garnered wider attention in 1992 with her autobiography, published in Gaelic, in which she claimed that the Holocaust was a myth—a belief she maintained until her death in 2013. In documenting James’s life of deception, Hull and Moynes masterfully analyze how an intellectually gifted child turned traitor to her country and convincingly rebranded herself as an Irish patriot and intellectual, while denying historical reality. The story of Rosaleen James reminds us that reality may be much less—or more—than what meets the eye and ear.


Book Synopsis Masquerade by : Mark M. Hull

Download or read book Masquerade written by Mark M. Hull and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 2017-05-18 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Phyllis Ursula James. Nora O’Mara. Róisín Ní Mheara. Like her name, the life of Rosaleen James changed many times as she followed a convoluted path from abandoned child, to foster daughter of an aristocratic British family, to traitor during World War II, to her emergence as a full Irish woman afterward. In Masquerade, authors Mark M. Hull and Vera Moynes tell James’s story as it unfolds against the backdrop of the most important events of the twentieth century. James’s life—both real and imagined—makes for an incredible but true story. By altering her identity to suit the situation, James manipulated almost everyone she encountered: the German intelligence service, the Nazi propaganda broadcasting service, British intelligence, and various Irish cultural groups. She was in a liaison with Irish writer Francis Stuart and, with him, provided a voice for Nazi radio programs aimed at neutral Ireland, served as the pseudo-Irish expert for German espionage missions, and participated in the failed, almost comical effort to recruit Irish prisoners of war to join the Nazis against Great Britain—quite a series of performances, considering her only contact with Ireland had been a weeklong visit in 1937. Immediately after the war, James was wanted by British intelligence as a “renegade” (traitor), but her case was quickly squelched by the British government. Drawing on an assumed wartime persona, she became fluent in Irish Gaelic and organized a number of conferences for which she won grants from the Irish government. James garnered wider attention in 1992 with her autobiography, published in Gaelic, in which she claimed that the Holocaust was a myth—a belief she maintained until her death in 2013. In documenting James’s life of deception, Hull and Moynes masterfully analyze how an intellectually gifted child turned traitor to her country and convincingly rebranded herself as an Irish patriot and intellectual, while denying historical reality. The story of Rosaleen James reminds us that reality may be much less—or more—than what meets the eye and ear.


Hitler's Jewish Soldiers

Hitler's Jewish Soldiers

Author: Bryan Mark Rigg

Publisher:

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 536

ISBN-13:

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On the murderous road to "racial purity" Hitler encountered unexpected detours, largely due to his own crazed views and inconsistent policies regarding Jewish identity. After centuries of Jewish assimilation and intermarriage in German society, he discovered that eliminating Jews from the rest of the population was more difficult than he'd anticipated. As Bryan Rigg shows in this provocative new study, nowhere was that heinous process more fraught with contradiction and confusion than in the German military. Contrary to conventional views, Rigg reveals that a startlingly large number of German military men were classified by the Nazis as Jews or "partial-Jews" (Mischlinge), in the wake of racial laws first enacted in the mid-1930s. Rigg demonstrates that the actual number was much higher than previously thought-perhaps as many as 150,000 men, including decorated veterans and high-ranking officers, even generals and admirals. As Rigg fully documents for the first time, a great many of these men did not even consider themselves Jewish and had embraced the military as a way of life and as devoted patriots eager to serve a revived German nation. In turn, they had been embraced by the Wehrmacht, which prior to Hitler had given little thought to the "race" of these men but which was now forced to look deeply into the ancestry of its soldiers. The process of investigation and removal, however, was marred by a highly inconsistent application of Nazi law. Numerous "exemptions" were made in order to allow a soldier to stay within the ranks or to spare a soldier's parent, spouse, or other relative from incarceration or far worse. (Hitler's own signature can be found on many of these "exemption" orders.) But as the war dragged on, Nazi politics came to trump military logic, even in the face of the Wehrmacht's growing manpower needs, closing legal loopholes and making it virtually impossible for these soldiers to escape the fate of millions of other victims of the Third Reich. Based on a deep and wide-ranging research in archival and secondary sources, as well as extensive interviews with more than four hundred Mischlinge and their relatives, Rigg's study breaks truly new ground in a crowded field and shows from yet another angle the extremely flawed, dishonest, demeaning, and tragic essence of Hitler's rule.


Book Synopsis Hitler's Jewish Soldiers by : Bryan Mark Rigg

Download or read book Hitler's Jewish Soldiers written by Bryan Mark Rigg and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the murderous road to "racial purity" Hitler encountered unexpected detours, largely due to his own crazed views and inconsistent policies regarding Jewish identity. After centuries of Jewish assimilation and intermarriage in German society, he discovered that eliminating Jews from the rest of the population was more difficult than he'd anticipated. As Bryan Rigg shows in this provocative new study, nowhere was that heinous process more fraught with contradiction and confusion than in the German military. Contrary to conventional views, Rigg reveals that a startlingly large number of German military men were classified by the Nazis as Jews or "partial-Jews" (Mischlinge), in the wake of racial laws first enacted in the mid-1930s. Rigg demonstrates that the actual number was much higher than previously thought-perhaps as many as 150,000 men, including decorated veterans and high-ranking officers, even generals and admirals. As Rigg fully documents for the first time, a great many of these men did not even consider themselves Jewish and had embraced the military as a way of life and as devoted patriots eager to serve a revived German nation. In turn, they had been embraced by the Wehrmacht, which prior to Hitler had given little thought to the "race" of these men but which was now forced to look deeply into the ancestry of its soldiers. The process of investigation and removal, however, was marred by a highly inconsistent application of Nazi law. Numerous "exemptions" were made in order to allow a soldier to stay within the ranks or to spare a soldier's parent, spouse, or other relative from incarceration or far worse. (Hitler's own signature can be found on many of these "exemption" orders.) But as the war dragged on, Nazi politics came to trump military logic, even in the face of the Wehrmacht's growing manpower needs, closing legal loopholes and making it virtually impossible for these soldiers to escape the fate of millions of other victims of the Third Reich. Based on a deep and wide-ranging research in archival and secondary sources, as well as extensive interviews with more than four hundred Mischlinge and their relatives, Rigg's study breaks truly new ground in a crowded field and shows from yet another angle the extremely flawed, dishonest, demeaning, and tragic essence of Hitler's rule.


The True Origins of Irish Society

The True Origins of Irish Society

Author: Desmond Keenan

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781413429350

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This book had its origin when the author was glancing through an English translation of Adolf Hitler's book Mein Kampf. He was so struck by Hitler's account of German history before, during, and after the First World War that he went and bought the book. What amazed him was its resemblance to the version of Irish history that he had been taught in Irish schools. There was no question of either side borrowing directly from the other, but equally obviously both were drawing on a common set of ideas and used a common method of exposition. Further study showed that both exposed a racist view of history and believed in the Darwinian struggle of the races. Both regarded their countries as subjected by alien races who destroyed the pure native culture. Both attributed every evil in their respective societies to these malign evil influences. Both saw that the alien races would have to be expelled from their countries so that their countries could again prosper when their native cultures were restored. Protestant landlords in Ireland had the same place in Irish racist propaganda and political mythology that the Jews had in Nazi political mythology. Most Irish boys of the author's generation had, like Hitler, come across an inspiring teacher of history who inspired them to nationalism with his one-sided stories of Irish wrongs at the hands of the English. Having realised that the standard version of Irish history was vitiated in its roots the problem arose as to how a version of Irish history could be written which was fair to all parties involved. Many excellent books and monographs on various parts of Irish history have been written, and he has drawn on them considerably in this book. It is noticeable that the further the subject of an historical study is from the present the easier it is to be objective, and the less controversy there is. Some of the points examined and tested in this book are basic assumptions of racist propaganda, that separate races exist, that languages distinguish races, that each race has its own unique culture, and that foreign invasions necessarily destroy that unique culture. The author makes no claim to have done original research on any of the topics discussed in this book, but has drawn on the standard published works. He brings to the research a wide knowledge of the various subjects discussed which he has gathered over a lifetime. As a result of his researches he came to several conclusions. Firstly, that there was no unique Irish or Celtic race, Celtic being merely a language that had spread into many parts of Europe including Ireland. There was only one race in Europe, that of the Palaeolithic hunters who spread over it in the wake of the retreating ice-sheets. Celtic was a branch of the Indo-European languages which originated, apparently in southern Russia about 3000 BC. Gradually it broke into different dialects which further developed into distinct languages. But as late at 1500 BC Gaelic, Anglo-Saxon, and German were the same language. There was no evidence of invasions like those of Celtic warriors or any evidence that they wiped out the native population. As one author (Raftery) however remarked ruefully, it was regarded as virtually heresy to suggest that there never was a Celtic invasion. The culture of Ireland was not unique. It was derived bit by bit from centres of origin abroad, often in the Middle East. Nor were the various bits introduced by conquering warrior races. Farming techniques seem to have been spread largely by copying. Techniques in metal-working by travelling families who kept their secrets among themselves. Borrowing was selective. The Celtic language is as likely to have been introduced by traders as by warriors. Some things like writing and building with stone seem to have been neglected until introduced later in differing circumstances. There is no evidence that Ireland was a peaceful and prosperous land before the coming of the in


Book Synopsis The True Origins of Irish Society by : Desmond Keenan

Download or read book The True Origins of Irish Society written by Desmond Keenan and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2003 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book had its origin when the author was glancing through an English translation of Adolf Hitler's book Mein Kampf. He was so struck by Hitler's account of German history before, during, and after the First World War that he went and bought the book. What amazed him was its resemblance to the version of Irish history that he had been taught in Irish schools. There was no question of either side borrowing directly from the other, but equally obviously both were drawing on a common set of ideas and used a common method of exposition. Further study showed that both exposed a racist view of history and believed in the Darwinian struggle of the races. Both regarded their countries as subjected by alien races who destroyed the pure native culture. Both attributed every evil in their respective societies to these malign evil influences. Both saw that the alien races would have to be expelled from their countries so that their countries could again prosper when their native cultures were restored. Protestant landlords in Ireland had the same place in Irish racist propaganda and political mythology that the Jews had in Nazi political mythology. Most Irish boys of the author's generation had, like Hitler, come across an inspiring teacher of history who inspired them to nationalism with his one-sided stories of Irish wrongs at the hands of the English. Having realised that the standard version of Irish history was vitiated in its roots the problem arose as to how a version of Irish history could be written which was fair to all parties involved. Many excellent books and monographs on various parts of Irish history have been written, and he has drawn on them considerably in this book. It is noticeable that the further the subject of an historical study is from the present the easier it is to be objective, and the less controversy there is. Some of the points examined and tested in this book are basic assumptions of racist propaganda, that separate races exist, that languages distinguish races, that each race has its own unique culture, and that foreign invasions necessarily destroy that unique culture. The author makes no claim to have done original research on any of the topics discussed in this book, but has drawn on the standard published works. He brings to the research a wide knowledge of the various subjects discussed which he has gathered over a lifetime. As a result of his researches he came to several conclusions. Firstly, that there was no unique Irish or Celtic race, Celtic being merely a language that had spread into many parts of Europe including Ireland. There was only one race in Europe, that of the Palaeolithic hunters who spread over it in the wake of the retreating ice-sheets. Celtic was a branch of the Indo-European languages which originated, apparently in southern Russia about 3000 BC. Gradually it broke into different dialects which further developed into distinct languages. But as late at 1500 BC Gaelic, Anglo-Saxon, and German were the same language. There was no evidence of invasions like those of Celtic warriors or any evidence that they wiped out the native population. As one author (Raftery) however remarked ruefully, it was regarded as virtually heresy to suggest that there never was a Celtic invasion. The culture of Ireland was not unique. It was derived bit by bit from centres of origin abroad, often in the Middle East. Nor were the various bits introduced by conquering warrior races. Farming techniques seem to have been spread largely by copying. Techniques in metal-working by travelling families who kept their secrets among themselves. Borrowing was selective. The Celtic language is as likely to have been introduced by traders as by warriors. Some things like writing and building with stone seem to have been neglected until introduced later in differing circumstances. There is no evidence that Ireland was a peaceful and prosperous land before the coming of the in