Ireland

by Wendy McElroy

The "isle of poets and scholars" has known almost constant warfare for centuries. In 1920, it was divided into North and South. Yet this purely political solution left a religious and cultural schism intact. This presentation follows Ireland's tragic course from St. Patrick to Britain's imposition of direct rule in 1974.The World's Political Hotspots Series explains the basis of conflicts in some of the world's most politically sensitive areas. Many of these regions are in today's headlines, and tensions recently have become violent in virtually all of them. Each presentation covers up to ten centuries of background, revealing how and why today's problems occur.

Audio CD

First published June 1, 2006

About the author

Wendy McElroy is a Canadian individualist feminist and anarcho-capitalist.

Among feminists, she identifies herself as being sex-positive: defending the availability of pornography and condemning anti-pornography feminism campaigns. She has also voiced criticism of sexual harassment policies, particularly the zero-tolerance policies common to grade schools, which she considers to be "far too broad and vague" and lacking the sound research necessary to guide responsible policy-making decisions.

In explaining her position in regard to capitalism, she says she has a "marked personal preference for capitalism as the most productive, fair and sensible economic system on the face of the earth," but also recognizes that the free market permits other kinds of systems as well. She says what she wants for society is "not necessarily a capitalistic arrangement but a free market system in which everyone can make the peaceful choices they wish with their own bodies and labor." Therefore, she does not call herself a capitalist but someone for a "free market."

(This description is taken from Wikipedia.)

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The information is well presented, but a bit old as it ends in the late 1960s / early 1970s when The Troubles we’re still an unsolvable problem and Northern Ireland was a “political hot spot.” Informative and well presented as far as it goes.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I almost didn't count this toward my reading challenge because so much of it was beyond me. But I did listen to the entire thing and I did enjoy it, though it was too heavy on names and dates.
The book is by Paul Johnson and this version wasn't even read by Harry Reasoner, but I couldn't find any other version on goodreads.

[Trevor Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fine introduction to the history of Ireland. Lots missing, but it is also very short.