'From Covid-19 we have been reminded, through tragedy and suffering, that we have a shared, globalized vulnerability common to all humanity … The lessons of necessity and solidarity learned during the pandemic must now inform a European-led transition to a just and ecologically sustainable society in its aftermath.'President Michael D. Higgins is one of the few public intellectuals to engage regularly with the abstract idea of an alternative European space, and to consistently reim...

Michael D. Higgins is one of Ireland's leading public intellectuals. As well as having made a significant contribution to public life, he is a prolific poet, whose work ranges from the personal to the political, and geographically from the west of Ireland to Nicaragua and the Middle East. Here, he has gathered together the very best of his poetic output over the years. In these poems, he casts a wry, compassionate eye on human weakness and resilience, and the centrality of love to all huma...

Michael D. Higgins' vision as part of his Presidential election campaign and now following through to his tenure as President of Ireland, is 'of [an] inclusive citizenship in a creative society, as we build a real Republic that makes us proud to be Irish in the world'. Renewing the Republicis an expansion of that vision as Michael D. lays out, through a series of essays and speeches, the ideals and philosophies by which this is possible. This collection of essays include Michael D.'s reaso...

A collection of five essays from the 2020 Hubert Butler Essay Prize that examine contemporary society, featuring a foreword from Irish President Michael D. Higgins.Bringing together the winning and shortlisted essays from the 2020 Hubert Butler Essay Prize, Self and Society presents five fresh perspectives on the tension between individual freedom and communal solidarity, asking what we owe our communities and why it matters. With a foreword by Ireland’s P...

This book is the result of a strong collaboration between the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations and Fordham University’s Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs. It is a record of a series of distinguished lectures that explored the current challenges to policymakers and humanitarian actors as they focus their efforts on larger and more complex emergencies. The contributors to this book both identify innovative measures in addressing established problems and addres...

The President of Ireland since 2011, when he was elected by a final tally of almost 57% of the votes, Michael D. Higgins has used his time in office to setout a vision of what he calls 'an ethical Republic'.In a series of remarkable and urgent speeches, which are anything but the bland commentaries of a ceremonial head of state, Michael D. Higgins has urged his fellow citizens to consider what makes the good life. He has asked how human rights, an active and empowered citizenry, wo...

A special twenty-fifth anniversary audio edition of Celtic spirituality and mysticism by beloved poet and philosopher John O’Donohue includes a new introduction by the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins; an afterword by the late author’s brother, Pat O’Donohue; and insightful material from O’Donohue’s circle of close friends.In this revered work, John O’Donohue excavates themes of friendship, belonging, solitude, creativity, and the imagination, among many others. Widely reco...

'Australia is a lucky country, run mainly by second-rate people who share its luck.'First published in 1964 The Lucky Country caused a sensation. The book was a wake-up call to an unimaginative nation, an indictment of a country mired in mediocrity and manacled to its past.Popular PenguinsHe just wanted a decent book to read . . .Not too much to ask, was it? It was in 1935 when Allen Lane stood on a British railway platform looking ...

Where did the Right go wrong? With the departure of George W. Bush and John Howard, conservative parties in the US and Australia entered a period of turmoil. Foreign affairs, economics, the environment – all were issues to be avoided. Most profoundly, conservatives no longer seemed to have a compelling vision of the future – and arguably still don’t. How did the Right end up in this state? How might conservatism renew itself?In this illuminating essay, Waleed Aly begins by unravell...

The nation has unfinished business. After more than two centuries, can a rightful place be found for Australia’s original peoples?Soon we will all decide if and how indigenous Australians will be recognised in the constitution. In the words of Professor Greg Craven: “We have a committed prime minister, and a committed opposition. We have a receptive electorate. There will never be a better time. We have no choice but to address the question. If constitutions deal w...

First published as part of the best-selling The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain, Christopher Harvie and Colin Matthew's Very Short Introduction to Nineteenth-Century Britain is a sharp but subtle account of remarkable economic and social change and an even more remarkable political stability. Britain in 1789 was overwhelmingly rural, agrarian, multilingual, and almost half Celtic. By 1914, when it faced its greatest test since the defeat of Napoleon, it was largely ...

The seminal history of Ireland’s most unusual century, thoroughly updated for the new millennium.With its starting point the bloody creation of the Irish Free State in 1922, Ireland: A Social and Cultural History explores how Irish identity has shifted across eighty years of unprecedented change and violence. What was the legacy of De Valera and Sinn Fein – or of remaining neutral during the Second World War? What were the effects of the establishment of a formally recognised Repub...