A A Tract for Our Times

These essays measure the applicability of  Joe Lee's Ireland 1912–1985’s historiographical and methodological approach to more recent history. Almost all of the contributors trained as historians with this book as a touchstone text and so it is fitting for each author revisit drawing on the tools of their own field of expertise.

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In 1989 renowned historian J. J. Lee published his magnus opus, Ireland 1912–1985: Politics and Society (Cambridge University Press). Not only had Lee written a classic, but he also managed to transcend the reach of the academy when the book became a highly popular bestseller which went into over a dozen reprints, sold in the multiple thousands and won an array of awards. Such was the reach of the book that Lee, along with Professors Terence Brown and Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh, appeared on a segment of over half an hour on The Late Late Show early in 1990. Three decades on, the purpose of this collection is to honour Lee’s contribution to historical scholarship by gauging the impact of Ireland 1912–1985 as a historical analysis and social commentary through the contributions of a dozen of the leading historians of modern Ireland. Simultaneously, these essays measure the applicability of Ireland 1912–1985’s historiographical and methodological approach to more recent history. Almost all of the contributors trained as historians with this book as a touchstone text and so it is fitting for each author revisit drawing on the tools of their own field of expertise.
Lee’s stature as a sought-after public intellectual and a widely published scholar, combined with the profile of contributors, makes A Tract for Our Times essential reading for anyone interested in the trajectory of Ireland in the twentieth century, as well as for those readers who are interested in the craft and practice of historywriting.