Blood And Thunder

<b>Liam O'Callaghan's revelatory <i>Blood and Thunder </i>shows that the rise of Irish rugby is inextricable from the tensions, debates and divisions – of politics, religion and class – that have defined modern Irish history.</b><br><br>Despite the political partition of the island, Ireland competes at rugby internationally with an all-island team – and with a bespoke anthem that nobody loves but everyone tolerates. Ireland has become a leading rugby nation despite its tiny population and the fact that the sport is only the fourth most popular team game on the island by participation.<br><br>In <i>Blood and Thunder</i>, O’Callaghan traces the dramatic evolution whereby a rugby nation that was deeply attached to amateurism has made such a dramatic success of professionalism. From the sequence of events that led Ireland's private Catholic secondary schools to embrace rugby, to the controversies and crises that have shaken Irish rugby – including the Northern Troubles, the Belfast rape trial, and the rising toll of head injuries – <i>Blood and Thunder </i>tells the rich and fascinating story of Irish rugby.<br><br><i>Blood and Thunder</i> is more than a social and political history of Irish rugby. It is also a shadow-history of modern Ireland, rooted in brilliant original research and packed with terrific stories.<br><br>---<br>'Excellent' <b><i>Sunday Times</i></b><br><br>‘Rigorously researched and incisively written … <i>Blood and Thunder</i> should be on every team bus.’ <b>John O’Donnell, <i>Irish Times</i></b><br><br>'The whole book is a delight.’ <b>Ciaran Murphy</b><br><br>‘Excellent … O'Callaghan willingly challenges any hyperbole about the sport's appeal here just as he keenly seeks to identify and explain some of the wonders of that reach’ <b>Kieran Shannon, <i>Irish Examiner</i></b><br><br>'I really enjoyed it.’ <b>Ken Early</b><br><br>‘O’Callaghan’s history of Irish rugby is a superb excavation of the place of that sport in Irish life.’ <b>Paul Rouse,<i> Irish Examiner</i></b><br><br>'Entertaining and informative' <i><b>Michael Taylor, TLS</b></i>