An intriguing, if unconvincing, examination of Irish servitude in America.
A debut book chronicles the enslavement and brutal treatment of the Irish by the British for nearly 200 years.
The story of African-American slavery is a familiar one, comprehensively covered by scholars. Comparatively neglected is the plight of the Irish, who were the chief source of slave labor for the British American colonies for more than 179 years. In this slim volume, Byrd traces the woeful treatment of the Irish at the hands of their British tormentors, beginning with an exploration of the origins of vitriolic sentiment in the 12th century, which lampooned the Irish as poor, vulgar, and lazy. The demand for labor in the British colonies, as well as the desire among many in England to reduce the Irish population in Europe, inspired the practice of forcibly sending Irish prisoners to places like Virginia to work. Eventually, Irish children were rounded up and transported as well. According to the author, in 1625, King James I delivered a proclamation that authorized selling Irish prisoners into slavery, and they were bought and traded like cattle and subjected to unspeakably inhumane treatment. The laws considered any child born to a slave also a slave, and owners purposely bred Irish and black slaves to increase their holdings. Eventually, both Irish and black slaves rebelled, and according to Byrd, their oppressors invented the notion of whiteness as a means to sow dissent among them. The author also discusses the evolution of white racism out of this strategy, the process by which the Irish became understood to be white, and the genealogical legacy left by planned miscegenation. Byrd’s study is clearly written and admirably concise. In addition, he evinces an impressive freedom from conventional historical accounts, boldly willing to soberly entertain counternarratives. But the brevity of the book necessitates that some of the arguments proffered are hypercondensed, and this can diminish their persuasiveness. Most scholars would argue that Byrd largely conflates the albeit brutal indentured servitude of the Irish with the chattel slavery experienced by Africans. The author’s study, while provocative, is simply not rigorous or expansive enough to inspire a rejection of the academic consensus view.
An intriguing, if unconvincing, examination of Irish servitude in America.Pub Date: April 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4602-8563-3
Page Count: 228
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Aug. 23, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
IN THE NEWS
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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