The History of MagpiesHere are twelve scintillating fresh tales by one Desmond Hogan, of Irelands leading writers, who has extended and redefined the tradition of the Irish short story with inimitable verbal force. Embedded in Hogans uniquely glancing poetic style, they form capsule character studies and micro histories of societys underbelly, variously located in the streets and back alleys of Edinburgh, London, Zagreb, Cork, Dublin, and in the small rural townscape

the battle of the Boyne

‘An unmissable Irish read

to look at the intricate glass panels

a brilliant burlesque account of the Irish squirearchy

wide-ranging interviews about Joyce and his works

Widely regarded as one of the foremost figures in the history of ballet

'It's a wonderful oddity when a debut novel is truly uncategorisable

things and places that remained in my memories of more than eighty years

Thomas Dillon Redshaw

This is no dry rehearsal of facts and figures: Ruth Delany conveys a vivid sense of business life and a series of fascinating vignettes of social and economic hardship in pre-Famine Ireland

Gogarty and Korotkoff

Its publication accompanied a major exhibition of his work at IMMA