THE IRISH AT THE FRONT
Reading edition
By MICHAEL MacDONAGH
FROM THE REVIEWS OF THE FIRST SERIES
Westminster Gazette.—"Mr. MacDonagh has crammed into a small volume an almost incredible number of thrilling stories of great deeds, whether of collective dash and daring and endurance or of individual heroism. He has found his material in the letters of officers and men and the conversation of those who have come home, as well as from the records compiled at regimental depots; and he has utilised it skilfully, avoiding too frequent quotation and giving his reader a connected and fluent narrative that is of absorbing interest. He gives us vivid pictures of the retreat from Mons—of the Irish Guards receiving their baptism of fire; of the Connaught Rangers' part in the first stand that was made ('It was a grand time we had,' one of them said, 'and I wouldn't have missed it for lashin's of money!'); of the Dublins at Cambrai, where they went into the fray in a way that is well described as 'uproariously and outrageously Irish,' after singing all the Fenian songs for which they had time; and of the Munsters who harnessed themselves cheerfully, for lack of horses, to the guns they had captured from the Germans. He tells us of the green flag that Corporal Cunningham bought from a pedlar in London, and that the Irish Guards have since followed to the gates of death on a score of fields; of the Irish Rifles rallying to the 'view-hallo' that Lieutenant Graham gave them on a French newsboy's horn; of the glorious sacrifices of the Dublins and the Munsters at the Gallipoli landings; and of the desperate resistance at Loos, where, as the Brigadier said to his men when it was over, 'It was the London Irish who helped to save a whole British Army Corps.' From first to last it is a glorious story of almost incredible deeds."
Star.—"It is an amazing story of incredible gallantry and fantastic daring, gay with humour and poignant with pathos. I defy anybody except a tapeworm to read it without a lump in the throat and tears in the eyes."—James Douglas.
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THE IRISH AT THE FRONT
SOME FURTHER REVIEWS
The Times.—"'It is heroic deeds entering into their traditions that give life to nations,' writes Mr. John Redmond in his preface to Mr. Michael MacDonagh's The Irish at the Front. The phrase sums up the aim and temper of the book, which is designed to bring home to English, and especially to Irish, readers the magnificent service of Irish soldiers in the war and the sanctity of the cause for which they fight. It is an appeal to Irishmen not to let the national effort flag, for the sake of the highest interests both of humanity and of Ireland. In a vivid and earnest popular style Mr. MacDonagh puts flesh and blood on the dry bones of the official dispatches by drawing on regimental records and the narratives of officers and men. The letters of Irish soldiers give a lively impression of battle scenes, and add greatly to the spirit of the volume; but many of the most striking testimonies to the achievements of the Irish regiments come from comrades who are not Irish. It is indisputable that the traditional military valour of the Irish race has been brilliantly sustained in this war, not only by the old Regular battalions, but by the Irishmen of the New Army."
Irish Times.—"Page after page uncovers the story of a heroism such as few of us had dreamt of—a story told with the understanding of one who is an Irishman of Nationalist sympathies, intensely proud of his country, and of the form of faith which is predominant in Ireland. We do not regard ourselves as easily giving visible expression to our feelings, but we must confess that we found the tears coming to our eyes again and again as we read the magnificent, yet sad, story. Whether it was the valour of the Munsters in their retreat from Mons, or the headlong impetuosity of the Irish Guards at the Battle of the Rivers, or the football charge of the London Irish at Loos, or the glorious but ghastly tale of the 29th Division at Beach V, or the hardly less awful landing of the 10th Division at Suvla Bay, it was the same. We were overcome, yet filled with pride, at the glory and the sorrow of it all. The old spirit is still in the soldiers of Ireland. The shifting scenes of the narrative tell us that the imperturbability and daring which belonged to the Irish of past battles are seen as strongly marked as ever in the hurriedly trained units of the New Armies."
Freeman's Journal.—"A vivid human narrative of the war, at once a fine contribution to the history of the great deeds of our day and a tribute to the heroism and sacrifices of the Irish."