France – Ireland: Anatomy of a Relationship

France – Ireland: Anatomy of a Relationship, with a Preface by Professor Joe Lee, is a selection of essays that seeks to explore the many links (spiritual, literary, cultural and historical) that exist between these two Gallic cousins. Figures dealt with in the book include John McGahern, Kate O’Brien, Oscar Wilde, John Broderick, George Moore, Maria Edgeworth, Daniel O’Connell, Wolfe Tone on the Irish side and Barthes, Derrida, Balzac, Flaubert, Julien Green, François Mauriac, Jean Sulivan, Paul Féval, Lamennais, Jean-Pierre Droz, Montalembert, Germaine de Staël among the French. Irish involvement in philosophical debates in France and their military exploits on French soil are also discussed. There is something in these essays for anyone with even a passing interest in Irish or French history, politics and literature.