Böcker av Peter Crooks

May 2nd, 2019, marked the 850th anniversary of the first landing in Co. Wexford in 1169 of the Anglo-Norman adventurers enlisted by the king of Leinster, Diarmait Mac Murchada. Their arrival marked the start of the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland. Within two years, Henry II would become the first reigning English monarch to set foot on Irish soil. In what was arguably the single-most consequential event in Irish history, King Henry formally brought the island under the lordship of the English crown, a constitutional relationship that endures to the present day in the case of Northern Ireland. The proceedings of the national conference marking the anniversary of that event are collected in this volume.

This is a brave, passionate and timely book. In it the author deftly weaves together history, accounts of his own travels and experience, and reflection. While largely told against the backdrop of Aden, it includes chapters on Israel/Palestine and Iran, where he and his wife have also lived and worked. It challenges some popular caricatures of Muslims and Islam, Iran, the Palestinians, Israel and Israelis. And whether the author is describing the plight of Somali refugees, being held up at gunpoint with friends on the road to Sanaa or being suddenly struck down by a life-threatening sickness on a remote island in the Indian Ocean , he tells the story with humour, warmth and hope.