This very sophisticated book is far more than the accompanying catalogue for a travelling exhibition by Irish artists that took place in 1998 -1999. Ireland is a country steeped in artistic tradition though most of us know that tradition in the guise of literature, poetry, and drama instead of painting. James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, J.M. Synge, O'Casey, Seamus Heaney, and the McCourts to just tickle the surface. The wise editor Steward opens this volume with a thoroughly entertaining and informing essay 'The Irishness of Irish Painting' and then has the good graces to turn over the remainder of the written half of this book to fine essayists who write about 'Politics', 'Jack Yeats and the Making of Irish Art in the Twentieth Century', 'Irish Women Painters and the Introduction of Modernism', and 'Madonna and Maiden, Mistress and Mother: Woman as Symbol of Ireland and Spirit of the Nation'. All of these ( and there are more!) add a variety of style and perspective to the impressive pictorial catalogue which follows in the second half of this book. Thus prepared solidly we are free to bask in the beauty of the works by Sir William Orpen, Willaim Leech, Sir John Lavery, Paul Henry, Roderic O'Conor, Jack B. Yeats, Sean Keating, Dermot Seymour, Patrick Graham, Christopher Campbell - the list is very large. So many of these fine painters are instantly recognizable to the inveterate museum goer, but many do not enjoy the world fame of their contemporaries. After spending time with this book I think you will wonder why....... A very fine collecton and well conceived and produced book.

This is an amazing book from an amazing art exhibit. Since all the artwork has returned to it's original collections, all that remains is this book. It illustrates the intense passion and political ideology of Ireland over the past 100 years. Many artist rarely mentioned are included in this vast work, artists whose work powerful, humourous, beautiful - art that enriches the human experience. If you have any interest in Irish art, be you an Irish-American or an international art enthusiast, purchase this book to open a new world of art for you and to enjoy for many years to come.

This book is essential for the library of every scholar of American constitutionalism. For those who have studied the subject, the superb selection of essays on different aspects of American political thought is enlightening. Those who are simply interested in America's founding may however be at a loss and overwhelmed by the wide range of arguments put forward in the different essays even if Gary L.Gregg did an excellent job in the introduction giving an overview to the reader of what he should expect in each essay. Thus, since all and even the American constituiton and its origins is a matter of perspective, this book can only be enjoyed after a thorough study of American political thought. For constitution freaks however it is not only useful to have, it is a real joy to browse through the essays.

There is a palpable fear that America has lost its way, and perhaps even been untrue to itself. Examples of this loss abound, from school violence to a youth culture nihilism. "Vital Remnants," a collection of essays by some of America's top scholars in history, philosophy, political science, and law, shows, with remarkable clarity, the ways in which contemporary American society has radically altered the course upon which it was originally set. To be sure, our century looks at America with a different set of assumptions than that of our ancestors. "Vital Remnants" gives us clues by which we might stay the course for the benefit of generations to come.