Great Irish Reportage

Reports and dispatches from Irelands finest writers: the first-ever anthology of Irish reportage.

Alongside its world-famous tradition of great fiction, Ireland has a less well known but thrilling tradition of reportage: journalism, dispatches and eyewitness accounts. From Elizabeth Bowen to Colm Toibin, from Flann OBrien to Maeve Binchy, some of Irelands greatest writers have produced first-rate journalism. And from R.M. Smyllie and Conor Cruise OBrien to Eamon Dunphy and Olivia OLeary, Ireland has also produced a remarkable number of journalists who can really write.

Now, for the first time, the best of Irish reportage - some of it legendary, some of it unjustly forgotten - is gathered into a single volume. Whether its Kate OBrien on the reinterment of W.B. Yeats or Emily OReilly on the election to Westminster of Gerry Adams, whether its Hubert Butler on the Fetherd-on-Sea boycott or Joseph OConnor at the 1994 World Cup, the pieces in Great Irish Reportage illuminate Irish life in a way that no other form of writing can.

There is so much to admire and digest between the covers ... All of them put you right there, right on the frontline, right in the momentRTE Guide

Youll learn much about this great little nation of ours, and what makes it tick, from this incredibly well chosen collectionHot Press

There are superb examples of reportage here that combine hard fact and descriptive narrative Irish Times

Excellent ... In such time, the need for brave individuals to believe in the power of the words they write is essential. Despite changes in the media landscape in recent years ... it appears as if that hunger from journalists, to question, inspire, and hold those who we democratically elect to accountability, is as strong as everSunday Independent

Probably unbeatable for showing how Ireland has changed ... The editor has done a remarkable jobIrish Catholic