Ideas Matter Essays in Honour of Conor Cruise O'Brien

by English, Richard; Skelly, Joseph Morrison; Edwards, Ruth Dudley; Flanagan, Thomas; Foster, Roy; Grene, David; Levinson, Deirdre; Lynch, Patrick; Lukacs, John; McCartney-MP, Robert; Myers, Kevin; Murphy, John A.; O'Brien, Darcy; Pipes, Daniel; Rafael, Gide

• ISBN13: 9780761816553
• ISBN10: 0761816550
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-03-22
• Publisher: UPA

Summary

In Ideas Matter a wide array of Irish and international figures pay tribute to Conor Cruise O'Brien, with a collection of original essays on a wide range of issues which fascinated O'Brien: Irish history and politics, the United Nations, the Middle East, African affairs, American studies, the interplay of literature and politics, Edmund Burke, deTocqueville, Camus, and W.B. Yeats. They also reflect, with admiration and affection, on the highlights of a remarkable career. The broad reach of these topics underscores the scope of O'Brien's concerns. This book will be of interest to students of the humanities and political sciences.

Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors	1	(8)
I INTRODUCTION
Ideas Matter	9	(32)
Richard English
Joseph Morrison Skelly
II THE FUTURE OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Developing Human Rights, Together	41	(10)
Mary Robinson
III POETRY AND MEMOIRS
``The Stick''	51	(3)
Seamus Heaney
Myself and ``the Cruiser''	54	(9)
John A Murphy
Conor Cruise O'Brien and La Politesse de L'Esprit	63	(14)
Darcy O'Brien
My Scholarly and Sagacious Friend	77	(12)
Thomas Flanagan
IV IRISH LITERATURE, HISTORY AND POLITICS
Yeats at Fifty	89	(14)
Roy Foster
The Irish and the Great War: A Case of Amnesia	103	(6)
Kevin Myers
``In the Name of God and of the Dead Generations'': Nationalism and Republicanism in Ireland	109	(14)
Frank Callanan
More Pages from an Irish Memoir	123	(14)
Patrick Lynch
Following Conor	137	(11)
Ruth Dudley Edwards
The Union and the Economic Future of Northern Ireland	148	(37)
Robert McCartney
V THE CLASSICS, SHAKESPEARE AND HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS
About Learning Greek	159
David Grene
Politics as Psychology as Politics: A Reading of Macbeth	185	(10)
Deirdre Levinson
Polite Letters and Clio's Fashions	195	(16)
John Lukacs
VI BURKE, TOCQUEVILLE, IRELAND, AMERICA
``Burke's Political Testament'': Thomas Hussey and the Irish Directory	211	(20)
Daire Keogh
A ``Vanquished Aristocrat'' in Democratic America: Alexis de Tocqueville	231	(20)
John Patrick Diggins
VII AFRICAN CULTURE, EDUCATION AND POLITICS
The Arts of Africa	251	(14)
K Anthony Appiah
Conor Cruise O'Brien: A Legon Perspective	265	(12)
Alexander Kwapong
Conor Cruise O'Brien at the University of Cape Town: The Great Cacophony	277	(14)
David Welsh
VIII THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE MIDDLE EAST
Encounters	291	(12)
Gideon Rafael
You Need Beethoven to Modernise	303	(10)
Daniel Pipes
IX DEMOCRACY, HISTORY AND CULTURE IN MEXICO, CHINA AND EUROPE
Mexico: Between Past and Present	313	(12)
Enrique Krauze
Conor Cruise O'Brien and China	325	(8)
Xiao-huang Yin
The Necessity of Social Democracy	333	(12)
Eoghan Harris
X THE EUROPEAN LITERARY IMAGINATION
Albert Camus and the Dubious Politics of Mercy	345	(12)
Susan Dunn
Maria Cross Roads: A Study of ``Donat O'Donnell''	357	(21)
Owen Dudley Edwards
Notes	378	(23)
Bibliography	401	(2)
Acknowledgements	403	(2)
Index	405