The Silence of Constitutions: Gaps, 'abeyances' and political temperament in the maintenance of government

Politics & Social Sciences

Michael Foley

Politics & Government

Routledge

Makes a compelling argument about the increrased importance of political leaders and the changing style of leadership in Britain and the US. Introduces new concepts and backs them up with a convincing argument about the existence of a British 'presidency'. Completely up-to-date - the first convincing analysis of Tony Blair's leadership style. Locates the emergence of the New Labour project and its defining ideal of strong leadership within the context of Margaret Thatcher’s conviction politics and the dysfunctional premiership of John Major. Concludes that Blair’s rise to power and his dominating presence in government represents a decisive precedent and the standard against which his competitors and successors will be judge.

The British Presidency

Education & Teaching

Schools & Teaching

Manchester University Press

Poets from the North of Ireland

Literature & Fiction

John Montague

Gerald Dawe

JOHN HEWITT

Tom Matthews

Derek, Mahon

Louis MacNeice

Paul Muldoon

W.R.

michael-longley

James, Simmons

Ciaran. Carson

George Buchanan

Seamus

Roy McFadden

Tom Paulin

William Peskett

Poetry

Blackstaff Press

The Passion of Jamesie Coyle

Fortnight Publications

Michael Foley wants to understand why he doesn't appear to be experiencing as much 'fun' as everyone else. So, with characteristic wit and humour, he sets out to understand what fun really means, examining its heritage, its cultural significance and the various activities we associate with fun. He investigates pursuits such as dancing, sex, holidays, sport, gaming and comedy, and concludes that fun is not easy, simple and fixed, as many seem to believe, but elusive, complex and constantly changing. In fact, fun is a profoundly serious business - a range of new group rituals evolving in response to cultural developments, often motivated as much by spirituality as hedonism. Also, while fun is a modern phenomenon it turns out to have recreated many of the elements of early ritual. His findings will invigorate you with insights, make you laugh at life, and quite possibly help you to understand why the post-post-modern is actually the pre-pre-modern. Praise for ISN'T THIS FUN?: 'This book is such a wondrous kaleidoscope of rage, based on such a deep reading of all the sources, that I shall be searching out his other works to read forthwith. The man is a marvel.'Daily Mail Praise for THE AGE OF ABSURDITY: 'Reading Michael Foley's THE AGE OF ABSURDITY. I must be the last person in the world to read this but I'm glad I finally have, as it is fascinating. It looks at the quest for happiness and how we are getting it all wrong' Jeremy Vine, Sunday Telegraph 'Genuinely funny, sharp, truthful and intelligent ...striking a blow for the value of ordinariness' Times Literary Supplement 'Irresistible narrative with the sort of irreverent exuberance that carries all before it' Guardian 'Pungent, witty, perceptive ...like Larkin, only sharper, funnier and more cynical' Irish Times 'Not the usual cleverclogs claptrap. Fol

Isn't This Fun?

Simon Schuster Ltd

The good news is that the great thinkers from history have proposed the same strategies for happiness and fulfilment. The bad news is that these turn out to be the very things most discouraged by contemporary culture. This knotty dilemma is the subject of The Age of Absurdity - a wry and accessible investigation into how the desirable states of well-being and satisfaction are constantly undermined by modern life. Michael Foley examines the elusive condition of happiness common to philosophy, spiritual teachings and contemporary psychology, then shows how these are becoming increasingly difficult to apply in a world of high expectations. The common challenges of earning a living, maintaining a relationship and ageing are becoming battlegrounds of existential angst and self-loathing in a culture that demands conspicuous consumption, high-octane partnerships and perpetual youth. In conclusion, rather than denouncing and rejecting the age, Foley presents an entertaining strategy of not just accepting but embracing today's world - finding happiness in its absurdity. Cover credit: The Caravan Gallery.

Age of Absurdity, The

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Audible Studios on Brilliance Audio

On the morning of 21 November 1920, Jane Boyle walked to Sunday Mass in the church where she would be married five days later. That afternoon she went with her fiance to watch Tipperary and Dublin play a Gaelic football match at Croke Park. Across the city fourteen men lay dead in their beds after a synchronised IRA attack designed to cripple British intelligence services in Ireland. Trucks of police and military rumbled through the city streets as hundreds of people clamoured at the metal gates of Dublin Castle seeking refuge. Some of them were headed for Croke Park. Award-winning journalist and author Michael Foley recounts the extraordinary story of Bloody Sunday in Croke Park and the 90 seconds of shooting that changed Ireland forever. In a deeply intimate portrait he tells for the first time the stories of those killed, the police and military personnel who were in Croke Park that day, and the families left shattered in its aftermath, all against the backdrop of a fierce conflict that stretched from the streets of Dublin and the hedgerows of Tipperary to the halls of Westminster.

Bloodied Field

History

Europe

The O'Brien Press

The good news is that the great thinkers from history have proposed the same strategies for happiness and fulfilment. The bad news is that these turn out to be the very things most discouraged by contemporary culture. This knotty dilemma is the subject of The Age of Absurdity - a wry and accessible investigation into how the desirable states of wellbeing and satisfaction are constantly undermined by modern life. Michael Foley examines the elusive condition of happiness common to philosophy, spiritual teachings and contemporary psychology, then shows how these are becoming increasingly difficult to apply in a world of high expectations. The common challenges of earning a living, maintaining a relationship and ageing are becoming battlegrounds of existential angst and self-loathing in a culture that demands conspicuous consumption, high-octane partnerships and perpetual youth. In conclusion, rather than denouncing and rejecting the age, Foley presents an entertaining strategy of not just accepting but embracing today's world - finding happiness in its absurdity.

Anxiety Culture

Self-Help

Happiness

Simon&Schuster

Como o mundo moderno tornou a felicidade uma meta (quase) impossível.

A Era Da Loucura (Em Portuguese do Brasil)

ALAUDE

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Books by Michael Foley