This anthology spans 150 years of modern Irish culture, from the dawning of a powerful nationalist consciousness inspired by Wolfe Tone and Daniel O'Connell to the waning of the so-called Literary Revival and the death of W. B. Yeats. The struggle for political independence found expression in songs and stories, poems and plays, as well as in essays, speeches, and memoirs, brought together in a unique literary history.

'Can we not build up a national tradition, a national literature, which shall be none the less Irish in spirit from being English in language?' W. B. Yeats

This anthology traces the history of modern Irish literature from the revolutionary era of the late eighteenth century to the early years of political independence. From Charlotte Brooke and Edmund Burke to Elizabeth Bowen and Louis MacNeice, the anthology shows how, in forging a tradition of their own, Irish writers have continually challenged and renewed the ways in which Ireland is imagined and defined.

The anthology includes a wide-ranging and generous selection of fiction, poetry, and drama. Three plays by W. B. Yeats, Augusta Gregory, and J. M. Synge are printed in their entirety, along with the opening episode of James Joyce's Ulysses. The volume also includes letters, speeches, songs, memoirs, essays, and travel writings, many of which are difficult to obtain elsewhere.

'Stephen Regan's anthology vividly and valiantly presents a nation, and a national literature, coming into being.' Paul Muldoon

ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

a lucid and informative introduction...the extracts are cleverly chosen