A short history of Irish literature

From the jacketflap:Here is a book that combines scholarship of exceptional range and depth with the power to persuade us to read authors we have forgotten or neglected, and to re-read sympathetically those we have insensitively undervalued or dismissed.From the earliest Gaelic poetry to Seamus Heaney and John Montague, from O Bruadair to O'Casey, Professor Deane is an admirable guide. He combines the clarity of the critic with the sensitivity of the poet, remarkably providing refreshing and provocative insights into writers we thought we knew and valued, and resurrecting those who have suffered the eclipse of fashion. All the writing is seen in the context of its period, and its political and cultural environment.