Search Results for 'Mercier Press'

Like most towns in Ireland, Galway was used to food shortages; they had occurred here in 1816, 1817, 1822, 1831, and in 1842 there were food riots in the city. Nobody, however, was prepared for what happened in 1845 when the potato crop failed. As winter approached, the situation did not seem any worse than usual, though people were concerned about food being exported from the docks while there was a shortage locally.

As we approach the annual pagan feast of Samhain and the Christian day for all souls, an oddly appropriate appeal has surfaced from a Longford author who is seeking to interview people who have had any contact with the afterlife.

A NEW book on John Wilson Croker, the Galwegian who played a key role in the development of the Conservative Party in Britain, will be launched tomorrow.

DESPITE THE general perception that the massive advances in technology threaten the future of the printed book, the parallel growth in the number of new publications would suggest the contrary.

IN TIMES of recession, when uncertainty is the name of the game, there is something solid and comforting about a book. It will always be there on the shelf, a source of strength, consolation, and reassurance.

World War 1 is the backdrop for the London box office success War Horse. It’s the story of bravery, loyalty and a mutual bond that grew between a young farm boy and his horse. But it is the highly imaginative and skilful way that the story is presented that has caught London’s imagination. The play is based on a book by Michael Morpurgo; and a recent acknowledgement by the public of the role animals have played in war, from the horse, the mule, the dog, the pigeon, even the humble glow worm used by sappers in No Man’s Land as they drew maps in the dark*. During the merciless, and relatively recent Battle of Stalingrad, (July 1942 to February 1943), 207,000 horses were killed on the German side alone (the human cost was an unimaginable one million). Animals are still used to help solders navigate rough terrain, or for dolphins to seek out mines, and dogs to sniff out contraband.