The story of Ireland has been told many times but never quite in this form. Sarah Healy's book begins with a comprehensive historical portrait which presents the whole fabric of three thousand years of Irish life. In subsequent chapters she explores the most significant threads of Irish history; the themes of invasion, rebellion, the north, and aspects of Irish culture, especially literary, that make the island the cultural jewel of the Western World.This convenient, readable volume covers all the key aspects of the history of Ireland, drawing on recent scholarship but in a manner that the general reader will relish.Sarah Healy is the pseudonym of an Irish writer, historian and biographer with many books to her credit.