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.
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 OBrien and La Politesse de LEsprit 63(14) Darcy OBrien 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 Clios Fashions 195(16) John Lukacs VI BURKE, TOCQUEVILLE, IRELAND, AMERICA ``Burkes 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 OBrien: A Legon Perspective 265(12) Alexander Kwapong Conor Cruise OBrien 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 OBrien 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 ODonnell 357(21) Owen Dudley Edwards Notes 378(23) Bibliography 401(2) Acknowledgements 403(2) Index 405
Richard English is Professor in the School of Politics, Queen's University, Dublin. Joseph Morrison Skelly is Assistant Professor of History at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, New York.
