September Books 3) What If? Alternative Views of Twentieth-Century Ireland
3) What If? Alternative Views of Twentieth-Century Ireland, by Diarmaid Ferriter
This is a collection of twenty essays, of between eleven and fourteen pages each, summarising a series of radio discussions on RTÉ last year. I bought it because I find alternate history interesting as a genre, and was intrigued by its application to Irish history.
In fact hardly any of the essays is a real AH speculation; they are much more reflections on particular events, so "What if the Blueshirts had attempted a coup in 1933?" is really a consideration of what the Blueshirts were all about, with some reflections on why no coup attempt was ever really possible; and "What if Proportional Representation had been abolished in 1959 or 1968?" is simply an analysis of how Fianna Fail lost the argument at the time, with little speculation about what would have happened if they had won. There are also no less than three about single elements of the Irish media, (The Late Late Show, Magill, and The Irish Press) which presumably reflects the interests of those who commissioned the programme. Other areas suffer corresponding neglect.
The only essay that really does get interestingly into AH territory is "What if there had been no 1916 Rising?" which concludes, with Townshend (whose book had not yet been published at the time of broadcast) that the growth of militancy, and opposition to conscription, were such that Nationalism would have take a much more radical turn in 1918 with or without the Rising; indeed the discussants raised a slightly different and even more intriguing question - what if the Rising had been timed better, to coincide with the introduction of conscription, and/or had been better planned, so that in fact the insurgents had a better chance of winning?
Some of these covered areas I didn't know much about, two of which were particularly interesting. From the AH point of view, the important question is not "What if Donogh O'Malley had not introduced free secondary education in 1967?", but what if he hadn't dropped dead six months later? A progressive and vigorous voice such as his, competing with Charlie Haughey for the leadership of Fianna Fail (as indeed his son nephew actually did, fifteen years later), could have given the 1970s a completely different political complexion.
Not in any way an AH essay, but one which revealed to me my own ignorance, was the one on "What if Frank Duff had not established the Legion of Mary in 1921?" I knew very little about the Legion of Mary, and to be honest don't know an awful lot more now, but it's obviously a very interesting story; also the only real attempt in any of the programmes to get to grips with what in other countries would be considered class issues.
So, an interesting bunch of essays, but probably more interesting to get hold of the radio programmes if I can.
This is a collection of twenty essays, of between eleven and fourteen pages each, summarising a series of radio discussions on RTÉ last year. I bought it because I find alternate history interesting as a genre, and was intrigued by its application to Irish history.
In fact hardly any of the essays is a real AH speculation; they are much more reflections on particular events, so "What if the Blueshirts had attempted a coup in 1933?" is really a consideration of what the Blueshirts were all about, with some reflections on why no coup attempt was ever really possible; and "What if Proportional Representation had been abolished in 1959 or 1968?" is simply an analysis of how Fianna Fail lost the argument at the time, with little speculation about what would have happened if they had won. There are also no less than three about single elements of the Irish media, (The Late Late Show, Magill, and The Irish Press) which presumably reflects the interests of those who commissioned the programme. Other areas suffer corresponding neglect.
The only essay that really does get interestingly into AH territory is "What if there had been no 1916 Rising?" which concludes, with Townshend (whose book had not yet been published at the time of broadcast) that the growth of militancy, and opposition to conscription, were such that Nationalism would have take a much more radical turn in 1918 with or without the Rising; indeed the discussants raised a slightly different and even more intriguing question - what if the Rising had been timed better, to coincide with the introduction of conscription, and/or had been better planned, so that in fact the insurgents had a better chance of winning?
Some of these covered areas I didn't know much about, two of which were particularly interesting. From the AH point of view, the important question is not "What if Donogh O'Malley had not introduced free secondary education in 1967?", but what if he hadn't dropped dead six months later? A progressive and vigorous voice such as his, competing with Charlie Haughey for the leadership of Fianna Fail (as indeed his son nephew actually did, fifteen years later), could have given the 1970s a completely different political complexion.
Not in any way an AH essay, but one which revealed to me my own ignorance, was the one on "What if Frank Duff had not established the Legion of Mary in 1921?" I knew very little about the Legion of Mary, and to be honest don't know an awful lot more now, but it's obviously a very interesting story; also the only real attempt in any of the programmes to get to grips with what in other countries would be considered class issues.
So, an interesting bunch of essays, but probably more interesting to get hold of the radio programmes if I can.