John Bowman

ireland-the-autobiography

About us

About Us (Header 4)

Kate-Atkinson

James-Baldwin

Marian-Keyes

haruki-murakami-320×320-1

Richard-Osman

Malorie Blackman

Lisa-Jewell

Charlie-Mackesy

Authors (Header 3)

Children&#039;s

Company

Discover

Fiction

Non-fiction

Penguin Classics

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Work with us

Ireland: The Autobiography

Penguin Shop: 3 Clothbound Classics for £33

Absorbing and illuminating ... John Bowman has selected a range of accounts of Irish life that do justice to what happened, what it felt like, and the personal and societal experiences alongside the "official" version.

A remarkably varied and delightfully readable mosaic of voices and perspectives

A whistle-stop tour of the seismic, seminal and explosive events that shaped the nation

One Hundred Years of Irish Life, Told by Its People

Ireland: The Autobiography offers a fresh, vivid take on the last century of Irish life through a brilliant collection of eyewitness accounts and recollections. Broadcaster and historian John Bowman has spent years mining archives, diaries and memoirs to create a remarkably varied and intense mosaic of voices and perspectives. Collectively, they give us an image of Ireland unlike anything we've read before.

Ireland in its own words: a dazzling compendium 
 
Over the past hundred years, Ireland has undergone profound political, social and cultural changes. But one thing that has not changed is the Irish genius for observation and storytelling, invective and self-scrutiny. Ireland: The Autobiography draws upon this genius to create a portrait of a century of Irish life through the words of the people who lived it. 
 
Broadcaster and historian John Bowman has mined archives, diaries and memoirs to create a remarkably varied and delightfully readable mosaic of voices and perspectives. Ireland: The Autobiography is a brilliantly selected, wide-ranging and engrossing take on the last century of Irish life. It gives us a portrait of Ireland unlike anything we've read before. 
 
'Absorbing and illuminating . . . John Bowman has selected a range of accounts of Irish life that do justice to what happened, what it felt like, and the personal and societal experiences alongside the "official" version' Diarmaid Ferriter, Irish Times 
 
'A treasure' Irish Examiner 
 
'A whistle-stop tour of the seismic, seminal and explosive events which shaped the nation as we know it' Irish Independent 
 
'Entertaining and informative' Sunday Business Post 
 
'A remarkably varied and delightfully readable mosaic of voices and perspectives' Women's Way 
 
'A thoughtful and eclectic collection' Irish Mail on Sunday

Over the past hundred years, Ireland has undergone profound political, social and cultural changes. But one thing that has not changed is the Irish genius for observation and storytelling, invective and self-scrutiny. Ireland: The Autobiography draws upon this genius to create a portrait of a century of Irish life through the words of the people who lived it. 
 
Broadcaster and historian John Bowman has mined archives, diaries and memoirs to create a remarkably varied and delightfully readable mosaic of voices and perspectives. From the Leitrim priest who wished to ban jazz to the campaigner who imported contraceptives in defiance of the law; from taoisigh and senior officials to the survivors of industrial schools and Magdalen Laundries; from the School for Farmers' Daughters to the age of Ryanair - these texts give us a collective image of Ireland unlike anything we've read before. Ireland: The Autobiography is a brilliantly selected, wide-ranging and engrossing take on the last century of Irish life.

John Bowman is a broadcaster and historian. Since the 1960s he has presented programmes on current affairs and history on RTE television and radio. He is the author of De Valera and the Ulster Question, which was awarded the Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize, and of Window and Mirror: RTE Television 1961-2011. He lives in Dublin.

Ireland: The Autobiography

One Hundred Years of Irish Life, Told by Its People

Format:

Buy the book from:

Absorbing and illuminating ... John Bowman has selected a range of accounts of Irish life that do justice to what happened, what it felt like, and the personal and societal experiences alongside the "official" version.

Entertaining and informative

A thoughtful and eclectic collection

A remarkably varied and delightfully readable mosaic of voices and perspectives

A treasure

A whistle-stop tour of the seismic, seminal and explosive events that shaped the nation

About John Bowman

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter