"In this concise but substantive work, historian David Brundage examines the protean subject of Irish American nationalism in a thorough and judicious manner... Is a convincing account of the way in which diasporic nationalism could serve as a unifying cause rather than a splintering distraction for those on the margins of American society. As such, Irish Nationalism in America deserves a place of pride on American history bookshelves as well as Irish ones." -- Matthew O'Briens (Franciscan University of Steubenville), The Canadian Journal of Irish Studies
"[A] tightly written and finely researched volume....[A]n outstanding model of transnational scholarship that will impress not only scholars of Ireland and Irish America but also those seeking to understand the dynamics of diaspora or long-distance nationalism more generally."--William Jenkins, Journal of American Ethnic History
"[P]rovides ample stimulus for students of Irish as well as American history....Kevin Kenny predicted in print, at an early stage of its composition, that Brundage's book 'promises to be one of the most important works in the field'. How right he was."--J. J. Lee, English Historical Review
"In barely two hundred pages, Brundage's book, with thoroughness and readability, covers a lot of ground....Brundage...[gives] laudable attention to the importance of women...in the development and propagation of the idea of Irish nationalism...His book comes close to being an intellectual history or at least a social history of ideas....Moreover, it provides the author the opportunity to develop an interesting sub-theme: the contest--and sometimes the alternation--between ideas about 'physical force' nationalism and more political 'constitutional' nationalism."--Dale T. Knobel, Journal of American History
"[C]oncise but substantive....Brundage's most significant contribution goes beyond cataloging the campaigns waged by transatlantic activists. As a whole, his narrative implicitly challenges recent works that dismiss Irish American nationalism, and ethnicity itself, as inauthentic and implicitly racist....[T]his is a convincing account of the way in which diasporic national-ism could serve as a unifying cause rather than a splintering distraction for those on the margins of American society. As such, Irish Nationalism in America deserves a place of pride on American history book-shelves as well as Irish ones."--Matthew O'Brien, Canadian Journal of Irish Studies
"[A] sharp and well-written book, and the narrative that Brundage tells is compelling and neatly contextualised by shorter sections on political developments in Ireland itself. He forces us to appreciate the ways in which nationalism was perceived, not unjustly, as a liberating force by many in the 19th century without himself succumbing to romanticisation."--David Sim, Reviews in History
"David Brundage's Irish Nationalists in America is an excellent survey of how Irish nationalists within the United States played an important role in developments on both sides of the Atlantic....Throughout the book, Brundage explores the diversity in Irish American nationalists' views....An impressive achievement. My students will be reading it for many semesters to come."--John Day Tully, American Historical Review
"This beautifully and concisely written book marks key phases in Irish American history, and Brundage navigates his way through the maze of organisations in a clear and focused manner. As Matilda Tone once did for her husband, this public act of publishing and remembering history puts different eras in context so that all of the histories fall into place and make sense."--Una Ni Bhroimeil, History
"...Brundage's book arguably expands our understanding of the Irish diaspora in creative communication with the homeland..."--Peter E. Gilmore, Reviews in American History
"[A] major contribution to the literature on Irish and Irish-American nationalism. It is elegantly written, well researched, and provides valuable new insights into some of the key aspects of Irish immigrant involvement with nationalist struggles in their ancestral homeland. Both academics and general readers interested in this topic, or in wider issues related to the study of diasporic nationalism, will find it necessary and profitable to consult Brundage's work here."--Andrew J. Wilson, New Hibernia Review
"This is an ambitious book...[O]verall this book is an excellent addition to both transnational history and the place of the Irish in American society."--Dr. Gillian O'Brien, Journal of American Studies
"Brundage succeeds in providing a readable and persuasive analysis that draws on an impressive body of research while addressing the diverse secondary literature on the topic. He develops the continuities within Irish nationalism as well as its ability to adapt to changes in both Ireland and the US, with full attention to the people and personal conflicts involved. This will be the starting point for future studies of Irish nationalism in the US for some time...The book will work well in courses on Irish history as well as on Irish America and the Irish diaspora generally...Essential."--CHOICE
"David Brundage delivers a most effective overview. It begins poignantly--like so many things Irish--with a commemoration, in a Brooklyn graveyard, twenty years ago, over the widow of the romantic homeland martyr, Wolfe Tone. Like the death of Sholem Aleichem in the Bronx, this little event points toward an undeniable globalism."--Paul Buhle, Labor Online
"David Brundage has erected a milestone in the worlds of Irish and Irish Diaspora studies. Sweeping from the United Irish Rebellion of 1798 to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, this is a masterful study of the two tumultuous centuries of Irish American nationalism. It is a deeply researched account--and a sophisticated and judicious yet sympathetic analysis--of the long struggle by Irish emigrants and exiles to free their homeland from the shackles of British imperialism."--Kerby A. Miller, author of Emigrants and Exiles: Ireland and the Irish Exodus to North America
"David Brundage reveals not only how vital the Irish in United States were to the course of Irish nationalism, but also how their divisions and diversity defy the green monolith of 'Irish America' often stereotyped on this side of the Atlantic."--Dr. Christopher Kissane, The Irish Times
"David Brundage brilliantly incorporates the traditional concerns of social history into a transnational political framework. Seeing nationalism as a dynamic process of social conflict, political imagination, and cultural invention, he shows how Irish nationalists in America--a colorful gallery of activists, journalists, politicians, intellectuals, and artists-shaped history on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean from the American Revolution to the present."--Kevin Kenny, author of Diaspora: A Very Short Introduction
"David Brundage's Irish Nationalists in America is an extraordinary achievement, distilling the fruits of prodigious research to present a judicious analysis of the role of Irish immigrants in influencing often turbulent Anglo-American relations over two centuries--from the Irish rebellion of 1798 to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, a triumph of American diplomacy in Northern Ireland brokered against the odds by Senator George Mitchell with the support of President Clinton."--J. J. Lee, New York University
"For such a broad survey it is quite a slim volume, but it is packed with...thought-provoking analysis....Brundage writes in a lucid prose that will appeal greatly to--and is certainly aimed at--the general reader, but there is plenty for the academics to sink their teeth into."--Joe Culley, History Ireland
"Brundage's ambitious focus of two hundred years of complex and nuanced history across two, and at times multiple, transnational arenas, does much to bring renewed analysis to the account of the Irish America diaspora and Irish nationalist progress within it."--Catherine Bateson, Irish Studies Review
"This beautifully and concisely written book marks key phases in Irish American history, and Brundage navigates his way through the maze of organisations in a clear and focused manner...this public act of publishing and remembering history puts different eras in context so that all of the histories fall into place and make sense."--Úna Ní Bhroiméil, History
"In just under three hundred closely argued and humanly rich pages, David Brundage covers and uncovers two centuries of Irish American history. It is a history...of a world between other worlds, of a political culture neither wholly Irish nor wholly American but somewhere in between."--Dermot Quinn, Journal of Modern History
"A valuable contribution to scholarship on the history of Irish-America, Irish nationalism, and the global Irish...Irish Nationalists in America is an interesting, engaging and well-researched survey of transatlantic Irish nationalism."--Rachel Wallace, U.S. Studies Online
