Economy, Trade and Irish Merchants at Home and Abroad, 1600-1988 (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781846823190)

Professor L.M. Cullen's writing over a long career has had a profound effect on the interpretation of Irish history. It has also been characterized by an extended chronological spread and by the use of foreign sources and perspectives. This volume is mainly drawn from the most central concern in his corpus of writing: trade and its wider impact on society. Development (rural and general), trade, banking, shipping, privateers (manned by smugglers from Rush), and merchants (at home and abroad) provide the main themes. Two studies based on Scottish and French sources respectively touch on Irish finance and financiers abroad. Three hitherto unpublished papers are included: one on Malthus and Ireland, another on testamentary evidence for wealth in rural Ireland, and a third putting merchants and bankers in the context of politics and institutions, 1731-1835. This book will be essential reading for all historians of Ireland from the 17th century onwards. *** "The large majority of the papers are based on Cullen's pioneering original research... Of particular interest is Cullen's rich picture of Irish merchant clans with members trading out of both French and Irish ports, a picture based in large part on exhaustive research in French provincial archives in the 1950s-60's and included in specialized journals and the proceedings of Franco-Irish academic conferences. Highly specialized and very demanding, these articles are a scholarly tour de force... Recommended." Choice, January 2013, Vol. 50 No. 05 *** "...(the essays are) marvellously well written and accessible.... The volume as a whole also demonstrates emphatically Cullen's mastery of a vast quantity of diverse primary materials, especially archival sources in many different countries. His knowledge of French local archives is particularly impressive." - International Journal of Maritime History, Vol. XXIV, No. 2, December 2012

Author: L. M. Cullen
ISBN-10: 1846823196
ISBN-13: 9781846823190
Publisher: Four Courts Press
Language: English
Published: 05/03/2012
Pages: 320
Format: Hardcover

Review Citation(s):
Choice 01/01/2013