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Lucy McDiarmid's "The Irish Art of Controversy"

Find out why the Irish say, "Argument is better than loneliness." The Irish Art of Controversy

“McDiarmid’s book . . . delivers an enjoyable, readable account of five 20th-century Irish spats. . . . The Irish Art of Controversy is an impressively researched, admirably intelligent study.”—Irish Times

“Rather than tell a familiar political tale of oppressors and oppressed, [McDiarmid] focuses on the dramatic subtleties of the domestic fight for control of the discourse of nationality . . . . Written with an objectivity of approach that reflects extensive research, with a strong narrative line that is maintained by a personable and sometimes even exclamatory style, The Irish Art of Controversy is an excellent referee for those who already know something of these fights, as well as for those new to the Irish cultural ringside.”—Times Literary Supplement

“McDiarmid’s book is a masterly survey of one of the most complex periods of modern European history. The thoroughness and extent of the research is astonishing . . . . The Irish Art of Controversy has significant implications for the ways we think about language, power, interpretation, and culture in the period that gave rise to Gregory, Shaw, Yeats, Synge, Joyce, and O’Casey.”—Irish Literary Supplement