A SKETCH OF IRISH HISTORY.
A Review of Irish History in Relation to the Social Development of Ireland. By John Patrick Gannon. (T. Fisher Unwin. Os.)— Mr. Gannon's aim is to show that the course of Irish history was inevitable from the circumstances of the case, and that it can be explained scientifically without "compiling lists of injuries, out- rages, and crimes, in the spirit of an advocate, without regard to historical perspective, not to speak of historical charity." With this purpose in view he has written a lucid and eloquent review of the main features of his country's history, confining his atten- tion to the development of society rather than to the chronicle of petty wars. He would sum up Irish history in terms of a series of oppositions. The old tribal system is acted upon by the early Church, and the early Church herself comes under Roman influence. Then comes the stress of foreign invasion, first by the Danes, then by Norman settlers. Each invader in tarn is naturalised and joins the native Irish in resisting his successor. So there are as many "degenerate English" as native Irish allied against English rule in the long struggles of the sixteenth century. Confiscation is followed by colonisation, and so through Irish history there is this unfortunate opposition of races, and cultures, which is sufficient ground for strife, apart from the action of the English Government. In his final chapter Mr. Gannon gives an admirable account of the "Rise of the Masses," written judiciously and sympathetically. The book is rather a series of essays than a history, for there is no connected narrative, and a certain degree of knowledge is taken for granted, since the author often analyses movements without explaining the facts of their origin. The style is picturesque and often eloquent, and to any one in search of a coherent scheme of Irish history the little book may be recommended.
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