Ecletic Reader

A great introduction to Irish history from the time of English colonization. More interesting than the history is the lessons it should have taught most western colonial powers. Invading and occupying foreign country with no understanding of the culture, a belief in the superiority of your own culture, and the forcible removal of indigenous people from land that is then granted to foreigners. This is the story of colonialism and neo-colonialism. The Romans did it, the British did it, the French and Italians did it, and now America is practicing its own version of it. Unsurprisingly, it always ends in violence, and generally for similar reasons. Failing to truly understand circumstances as they are is always a recipe for atrocity, conflict, and eventual failure.