"Urgent, lucid, and sophisticated, O'Faolain in his essays takes Ireland as a test-case of the modern world. The astute introduction and editing by Brad Kent show just how much these analyses have to say to us now. A rich and satisfying volume." - Declan Kiberd, University of Notre Dame " In the current ' Mart of Ideas' (to borrow the title of one of Sean O' Faolain' s essays), it is easy to lose sight of what it really means to be an engaged public intellectual. These essays, brought together here with care and coherence, offer us a timely reminder of the importance of such figures in fostering vigorous and intelligent debate. In so doing, they restore O' Faolain not simply as a significant figure in his own time, but as one of the precursors of the transformed Ireland of the twenty-first century." - Chris Morash, Trinity College Dublin

Brad Kent is associate professor of British and Irish literatures at Universite Laval.