This nationally important book reveals the untold story of the Irish tricolour: its true origins, a forgotten heroine, and the emblems it replaced. For the first time, a fully referenced history corrects long-standing myths and slurs surrounding Ireland's national flag. It also reinterprets iconic Irish symbols — from the harp and shamrock to the tri-spiral — placing them within the broader journey toward Irish nationhood and national identity. Along Ireland's road to a re...

A monastic outpost in the Celtic Sea, a fortress built to defend an Empire, a prison established to intern a nation; Spike Island’s remarkable 1300-year history far exceeds its modest acreage. No other place better encapsulates the Irish story. Spike Island tells of religious fervour, frequent rebellion, social endeavour, and a nation’s unextinguishable yearning for freedom. After 206 years off-limits to the public, its secrets can finally be divulged. The island has garnered international...

How partisan politics influence grant-related decisions at the state level.Each year, states receive hundreds of billions of dollars in grants-in-aid from the federal government. Gubernatorial success is often contingent upon the pursuit and allocation of these grants. In Governors, Grants, and Elections, Sean Nicholson-Crotty reveals the truth about how U.S. governors strategically utilize these funds. Far from spending federal money in apolitical ways, t...

The Presidential Election of 2020: Donald Trump and the Crisis of Democracy places the election of 2020 within the context of the Trump presidency, a chaotic and tense time in American politics and a dangerous one. The election is analyzed in depth and its meaning for the state of American society is made clear. A major theme in the book is a critique of Donald Trump's leadership, his incompetence in office, his appeal to followers and the danger this has proven to represent. Among other t...

In this illuminating examination of the Obama presidency, the contributors describe the policy directions followed, and the administration’s level of success in achieving its objectives. Throughout the Obama administration, efforts were intended to alleviate the worst of the economic stress facing the nation, move the president closer to the center of the American political spectrum, and prepare for the upcoming reelection campaign, to be fought primarily on the same issues as the earlier ...