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Simon Loftus - The Invention of Memory (2nd Hand Softback)
SKU B003373
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1 available
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Original price
£5.45
Original price
£5.45
£5.45
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£5.45
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Synopsis
Subtitled : An Irish Family Scrapbook (1560-1934).
From the arrival of his first ancestor in Dublin in 1560, Simon Loftus traces the fascinating story of his family's heritage in Ireland, piecing together fragments of legend and biography that span over 350 years of Irish history.
The background is the colonial conquest of Ireland and the clash of religious and national identity, but the focus is close at hand, familial. The passions and eccentricities, the daily concerns and relationships, the rich dramas and anecdotes of individuals in this Ascendancy family - over eight generations - combine to form an enthralling memoir of shifting viewpoints and entertainingly inconsistent accounts of a shared past.
The Invention of Memory is a profound family portrait and a sweeping history that examines the nature of recollection and how our memories are shaped by experience and time.
Details
- Format : Thicker 2nd Hand Softback with French Fold Sleeves
- Condition : As New
- Category : Non-Fiction - History & Futurology
- Published : 2013 (This Edition 2014 - Daunt Books)
- ISBN : 9781907970528
- SKU : B003373
- PPC : SP500gm
- RRP : £10.99
- Quantity Available : 1 only.
External Reviews
"An absolutely wonderful, gripping and totally absorbing book - written with such an easy style that it is like having a private conversation with Simon himself. He tells the tale of his family history - of adventurers who get themselves granted land in Ireland at the beginning of the English obsession with moving into other people's land and displacing indigenous people. He describes the absolutely breath-taking cruelty and distain for anybody who wasn't English and how as a consequence thousands of people were savagely oppressed and killed in large numbers. If you ever wondered what the Northern Ireland 'conflict' was about - you must read this book. It is illuminating and tells the grizzly tale, in a mostly non-judgemental manner, through the eyes of a family doing what they thought they should." - Goodreads Review.
"Spell-binding, full of treasures and often extremely moving." - Selina Hastings.
"A series of beautifully rendered evocations of landscape, people, attitudes, emblems and events. It treats the sweep of a melancholy history with the utmost poise and discernment." - Irish Times.
"A powerfully evocative mixture of biography and legend, peppered with heart-warming and heart-wrenching anecdotes." - Financial Times.
"The Invention of Memory is completely engaging, beautifully written. The quoted documents are wonderful in their contemporary language. With the splendid illustrations they distinguish each successive period they bring the history to life. If you know too little of Ireland's past and its horrors at the hands of the English some chapters might make uncomfortable reading. A marvellous book."
"The Invention of Memory is a wonderful excursion through history, illuminating more famous events of Anglo-Irish history through the delicious, inconsequential details of Simon Loftus's family. It evokes a clear sense of the texture of life and Simon Loftus writes with dancing elegance. It's a delight in every sense." - Amazon Reviews.
The Author
Simon Loftus is the author of Anatomy of the Wine Trade, A Pike in the Basement and Puligny Montrachet: Journal of a Village in Burgundy, which won the Glenfiddich Award. He has written extensively on wine, food, travel and social history. He lives in Suffolk.