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In her novels and short stories, May Laffan Hartley (1849?1916) depicts the religious and political controversies of late nineteenth-century Ireland. Eire's own Helena Kelleher Kahn reintroduces us to Laffan's vivid, witty fiction, rich in political and social commentary. Laffan did not offer clear-cut approval to one side or the other of the social and religious divide but weighed both and often found them wanting. She adds a missing dimension to the Irish world of Wilde, Shaw, and Joyce. A woman of the age subtly embroiders the acute challenges and divisions of middle-class Ireland. As Kahn says, ?she chose to write about the alcoholic ex-student, the impecunious solicitor, the farmer or merchant turned politician, and their often resentful wives and children. On the whole her world view was pessimistic. Rural Ireland was a beautiful intellectual desert. Dublin was a place to leave, not to live in.' This account of her life and work will be of interest to students of Anglo-Irish literature and history, as well as women's studies. On the ELT Press website we will simultaneously publish an e-book version of Laffan's novel, Hogan MP, available free of charge.
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Drawing on previously unavailable archival material, this book argues that Indonesian nationalism rested on Islamic ecumenism heightened by colonial rule and the pilgrimage. The award winning author Laffan contrasts the latter experience with life in Cairo, where some Southeast Asians were drawn to both reformism and nationalism. After demonstrating the close linkage between Cairene ideology and Indonesian nationalism, Laffan shows how developments in the Middle East continued to play a role in shaping Islamic politics in colonial Indonesia.
This book explains how citizens are using referendums to challenge decisions taken by the European Union. The opening chapters compare the two chief institutions of electoral democracy: parliamentary elections to decide who governs, and referendums to decide policies. The EU relies on international treaties for its authority to make policies. Chapters analysing referendum voting on Europe in Britain, Greece and the Netherlands show that cultural values can have a stronger influence than class. The book uses Brexit – the British referendum in which a majority voted for the UK leaving the European Union – as the leading example of a conflict between national voters and the EU. However, taking back control of policymaking does not ensure effective policymaking when success depends not only on what the British Parliament does but also on decisions taken in Brussels, Washington and elsewhere. Boris Johnson’s electoral success is insufficient to deliver all his promises in the world beyond Brexit. The EU is challenged too, as its policies increasingly depend on what happens on other continents.
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