Kirjahaku

On the hundredth anniversary of the production of Sean O'Casey's Dublin plays at the Abbey Theatre, this timely book, Sean O'Casey: Political activist and writer situates O'Casey in the literary and political context of his time. It is written in an accessible style that will appeal to both a general and an academic readership. O'Casey has been widely acknowledged as one of Ireland's foremost dramatists. Drawing on archival material as well as a close reading of his drama, O'Brien examines the influence of the Young Ireland writers, Charles Stewart Parnell, The Gaelic League, and especially the Irish labour leader James Larkin on his development as a writer and a political activist. This book places O'Casey at the centre of Ireland's cultural and political history, charting his involvement in the shaping of modern Ireland, which is interwoven with a political and dramatic critique of post-independent Ireland and the wider world.O'Casey was one of the most political writers of his generation, constantly exploring the frontiers between literature and politics. Like his friend Bernard Shaw, he wrote for a purpose. His life reflects the history of the early twentieth century, a period shaped by two great ideas: nationalism and socialism. History and politics are woven into the fabric of his life and his drama.This book is an engaging and highly original account of one of the finest dramatists of the twentieth century, with a focus on the social and political movements that inspired his writing across the entire span of his career, challenging traditional interpretations that have focused almost exclusively on the three Dublin plays and the dramatic aspect of his life. By placing the working-class at the centre of his drama O'Casey gave a voice to those who are rarely heard: the poor, the dispossessed and the tenement-dweller, whose lives he shaped into works of art.

Obesity has become a major problem in our society and is the major health challenge of the 21st century. We need a solution. The LAP-BAND[trademark] is a potential solution for the community. This book tells you about the LAP-BAND[trademark] solution.

The I Ching or Book of Changes - the world's most revered divination system presented here as a modern 64-card deck - enlivens the principle of the Tao, which is the universal flow of all things and will help you make better decisions and master perfect timing around what you want or need in life. The VISIONARY I CHING CARDS are a modern version of the ancient Chinese oracle that will stimulate yo

Is it actually possible? …that we might emerge from this pandemic with a peaceful global power switch from those who have too much to those who don't have enough? With billionaires able to decide the fate of nations, private corporations more powerful and less accountable than ever, and political autocrats around the world shaking our confidence in democratic institutions, power resides in all the wrong places. And so our world is in crisis. In such moments, activists find opportunities. Not to restore the pre-crises order, but to transform it. Paul O’Brien argues that progressive activists may never have a better opportunity to rewrite economic rules, systems and outcomes in favor of those who don't have enough. His book offers practical action steps for activists who want to drive a power switch that overcomes extreme inequalities in our world.

How did Benito Mussolini come to fascism? Standard accounts of the dictator have failed to explain satisfactorily the transition from his pre-World War I 'socialism' to his post-war fascism. This controversial new book is the first to examine closely Mussolini's political trajectory during the Great War as evidenced in his journalistic writings, speeches and war diary, as well as some previously unexamined archive material. The author argues that the 1914-18 conflict provided the catalyst for Mussolini to clarify his deep-rooted nationalist tendencies. He demonstrates that Mussolini's interventionism was already anti-socialist and anti-democratic in the early autumn of 1914 and shows how in and through the experience of the conflict the future duce fine-tuned his authoritarian and totalitarian vision of Italy in a state of permanent mobilization for war. Providing a radical new interpretation of one of the most important dictators of the twentieth century, Mussolini in the First World War will appeal to anyone who wants to learn more about the roots of fascism in modern Europe.

How did Mussolini come to fascism? Standard accounts of the dictator have failed to explain satisfactorily the transition from his pre-World War I "socialism" to his post-war fascism. This controversial new book is the first to examine Mussolini's political trajectory during the Great War through his journalistic writings, speeches and war diary. The author argues that the 1914-18 conflict provided the catalyst for Mussolini to clarify his deep-rooted nationalist tendencies. He demonstrates that Mussolini's interventionism was already anti-socialist and anti-democratic in the early autumn of 1914 and shows how in and through the experience of the conflict the future Duce fine-tuned his authoritarian vision of Italy in a state of permanent mobilization for war.

This book is about a radical idea: the idea that each of us deserves enough money on which to live - and that it should be paid independently of our personal means, and independently of whether we work, or even want to work. The concept of ‘basic income’ has been discussed internationally and has the potential to revolutionise the way that society functions. It would provide greater security for the young, for the self-employed and entrepreneurs as well as reshaping the social welfare system in its entirety. In this book, author and academic Dr Paul O’Brien explores the arguments for and against the idea and explains how this very real proposal might work in practise.

The 1916 Rising was about much, much more than the GPO. Around the city, many volunteers and British soldiers were killed and wounded fighting in vicious urban warfare. One of the many forgotten struggles centred on North King Street and the Four Courts and, in this brilliant new book, Paul O'Brien revisits that conflict. Delving deep into the archives and the testimony of those involved, Crossfire: The Battle of the Four Courts 1916 brings to life a desperate struggle between mismatched forces, one that forced rebels to learn new ways of fighting on the cuff. This gripping military history book is in turn exciting and tragic and does more than many books to expose the often forgotten stories of the 1916 rising.

Unlike the more urban Dublin locations of the 1916 Rising, the rural battlefield at Ashbourne is not easily found. Yet it was there that forces of the Royal Irish Constabulary were defeated in a bloody conflict during Easter Week, 1916. A complicated and bloody battle, The Battle of Ashbourne, 1916 was an integral part of the Rising, and also a template for the future tactics and strategies employed by Republican forces during the Irish War of Independence. In the book, O'Brien questions the strategy employed by the police, and explores the controversy that surrounds the number of casualties they suffered and if they could have been avoided while exploring the military competence of the Irish Volunteers during The Battle of Ashbourne, 1916 and how they managed to pull off one of the greatest victories of the 1916 Rising.

As a 26-year police veteran, Paul O'Brien faced armed gunmen, rubbed shoulders with terrorists and Hells Angels, purchased illicit drugs, arrested murderers, armed robbers, drug dealers and rapists, engaged in high speed pursuits and led up to 300 operational police. In his private life, Paul abseiled out of a helicopter, rock climbed, parachuted solo, scuba dived, fished for piranha, hunted boa constrictors, trekked through Nepal and South America, ran a marathon and played just about every competitive sport imaginable. His was a full and rewarding life and no challenge was insurmountable. Nothing, however, could prepare him for the personal tsunami that was to befall him in late 2010. That is when, after finding an innocuous lump in his groin, Paul was diagnosed with cancer. This was just the start of a tumultuous 4-year period where he resigned from the police, started a leadership consultancy, separated from his new business partner, became estranged from his life partner and her children, battled significant physical injuries, experienced financial hardship, and was diagnosed with acute depression and anxiety. Facing an uncertain future and in a dense fog of despair, Paul also lost the will to live. He found himself by the side of a remote road wondering what, if anything, life offered him. Paul's overwhelming situation was successfully overcome with typical stubbornness and determination and the assistance of a small team who believed in him. With little choice but to go on living, Paul responded by developing a successful 7 Elements life plan to achieve his life goals. Over the next 4 years, Paul regained full physical and mental health, coached elite Olympic and world class athletes, became a successful endurance cyclist and kayaked across Bass Strait. He also met his new partner, reinvigorated the leadership business and improved his financial situation to a point where he had the choice to continue working or retire comfortably. This is a remarkable story, told in a frank and fearless manner, about a truly ordinary individual who refused to allow a calamitous personal situation to beat him. The road back was full of potholes, but Paul negotiated and conquered them all - one by one. You will identify with his challenges and the strength required to beat them. This is the book all females should gift to the men in their lives.

The book examines the fortunes of a provincial, entrepreneurial family, the Glynns of Kilrush, County Clare, who came to local prominence in the early years of the nineteenth-century. It explores their networking strategies and acumen, and traces the rapid expansion of their business activity from small-scale corn millers to proprietors of a multifaceted enterprise. It examines the rapid expansion of their various enterprises from milling to shipping and railways. Paul O'Brien places the Glynn family and businesses within the wider context of networks developing between the urban, provincial and metropolitan industrial class. Networks which helped shape Irish society and its economy. It examines the family primarily from a social point of view while also exploring the family's business and trade enterprises. It addresses the issue of middle-class identity, examining the ways in which it was constructed and represented to the wider community. The book also explores the mechanisms that were used by the middle classes to establish and maintain their economic, social and cultural hegemony, and how these were reproduced down the Glynn generations. The book was helped by the availability of a superb, hitherto undiscovered, family and business archive belonging to the Glynn family. The most fascinating aspects discussed in the book are the interactions between class, networking, local administration, associational culture, education, religion, the Glynn women and last, but by no means least, the town of Kilrush itself where the family still remain based.

In the spring of 1980, the Irish Department of Defence sanctioned the establishment of a new unit within the Irish Defence Forces and the Irish Army Ranger Wing (ARW) came into being. In the decades that followed, its soldiers have been deployed on active service at home and abroad, generally without the knowledge of the wider public. The ARW is made up of seasoned men from across the island, who are selected through tough competition. Only the best of the best make it through and are trained in an extraordinary range of specialist skills. Being one of these elite operators takes more than simply being a skilled soldier – it means believing you are the best. Shadow Warriors tells the story behind the creation of the ARW, from its origins in specialist counter-terrorism training in the late 1960s and the preparation of small unconventional units in the 1970s to the formation of the ARW itself in 1980 and its subsequent history. The first and only authoritative account in the public domain of this specialist unit, authors Paul O’Brien and Sergeant Wayne Fitzgerald have been granted access to the closed and clandestine world of Ireland’s Special Forces, who train hard, fight harder and face unconventional types of warfare, yet prefer to stay out of the limelight.

From legendary wrestling announcer Jim Ross, this candid, colorful memoir about the inner workings of the WWE and the personal crises he weathered at the height of his career is “a must-read for wrestling fans” (Charleston Post Courier).If you’ve caught a televised wrestling match anytime in the past thirty years, you’ve probably heard Jim Ross’s throaty Oklahoma twang. The beloved longtime announcer of the WWE “has been a driving force behind a generation of wrestling fans” (Mark Cuban), and he’s not slowing down, having signed on as the announcer of the starry new wrestling venture All Elite Wrestling. In this follow-up to his bestselling memoir Slobberknocker, he dishes out about not only his long career, which includes nurturing global stars like Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, and John Cena, but also about his challenges of aging and disability, his split from collaborator Vince McMahon, and the sudden death of his beloved wife, Jan. The result is a gruff, endearing, and remarkably human-scale portrait, set against the larger than life backdrop of professional wrestling. Ross’s ascent in WWE mirrors the rise of professional wrestling itself from a DIY sideshow to a billion-dollar business. Under the Black Hat traces all the highs and lows of that wild ride, in which Jim served not only as on-air commentator, but talent manager, payroll master, and even occasional in-ring foil to threats like Paul “Triple H” Levesque and Undertaker. While his role brought him riches and exposure he had never dreamed of, he chafed against the strictures of a fickle corporate culture and what he saw as a narrow vision of what makes great wrestlers—and great story lines. When suddenly stricken with Bell’s palsy, a form of facial paralysis that makes it impossible to smile, he started down his greatest fear—being cast out of the announcing booth for good. Picking up where Slobberknocker left off and ending on the cusp of a new career in a reimagined industry, Under the Black Hat is the triumphant tale of a country boy who made it to the top, took a few knocks, and stuck around—just where his fans like him. Not only being one of the greatest wrestlers of the WWE, Ross is also “a master storyteller, and this book is the perfect forum for his forty years’ worth of tales” (Chris Jericho, former WWE champion).