Ireland: A Graphic History

by Morgan Llywelyn

Book by Llywelyn, Morgan, Scott, Michael

Genres: History, Ireland, Graphic Novels, Irish Literature, Nonfiction, Comics, Graphic Novels Comics

Paperback

First published April 30, 2009

About the author

Morgan Llywelyn (born 1937) is an American-born Irish author best known for her historical fantasy, historical fiction, and historical non-fiction. Her fiction has received several awards and has sold more than 40 million copies, and she herself is recipient of the 1999 Exceptional Celtic Woman of the Year Award from Celtic Women International.

Reviews

[Karyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book hits the highlights of Irish history, but the presentation is, as another reviewer put it, clunky.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a bit weird to have an ongoing reincarnation theme to tie the stories together, but it worked. Also, I think some of the stories should've been shorter in page length to accommodate more stories (nothing about Michael Collins at all?), but I suppose when you have hundreds of years to cover...it's hard to pick and choose.

[sammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

i get what they were going for with the whole ongoing starcrossed lovers thing to unify the plot or whatever but the storytelling was just... clumsy. and the art was not my favorite. but honestly that’s what i get for choosing this teeny graphic novel over all the huge academic irish history books i know i should be reading.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an interesting take on describing some of Ireland's history which has been full of joy but also a lot of unrest, hard times and quite a bit of death that resulted from fighting, famine or other various situations that weren't of natural causes.

If you are curious about some of the history of Ireland and also enjoy graphic novels, I highly recommend checking out this book as it is well worth a read.

Trigger warnings: death including family members, famine, hangings, war, violence, poverty (there may also be other triggers so please keep that in mind)

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is clearly the year of the random graphic novel!

[Mark Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strange storytelling which wasn't really suited to a graphic treatment. The art was great and the history was okay. Succinct, anyway, but nothing to shout about. But the words and pictures together, the alchemy that is comics, failed in this instance. A couple of good segments, but not a cohesive success overall.

[Cris · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting blend of graphic novel and history. Short (one-page) summaries of significent events in Irish history are interspersed with short graphic novel stories illustrating the event. A good choice for someone who prefers visual material when studying history.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel blends history with epic storytelling to present a no-holds-barred panorama of the bloody and troubled history of the Emerald Isle. It is raw and real and easy to read with powerful images that tell as much of the story as the words themselves.

[WinterStars · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had mixed feelings. I think the layout of the text and dialogue was confusing at times, and instead of short clips that exemplify the introductory text preceding each chapter, they should have made something a bit more cohesive. Not bad for young people, but not very interesting either.

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had good information. Would be a good book to give kids a very basic overview of Irish history.

The first two segments really draw you in, but the rest could have been more engaging.

[Cecelia]

Bloody brilliant!

[Brett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ok. I expected more, but the art was great

[Gabi Portillo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Se lleva dos estrellas por la ilustración, porque lo que se dice la historia...
Historia era lo que buscaba, y he terminado el cómic con la sensación de que sé exactamente lo mismo de la historia de Irlanda que cuando lo empecé. Es decir, muy poco.
Me da bastante pena que no hayan sabido aprovechar el formato; no hace falta que se metan en profundidad en los sucesos históricos, con mostrar lo básico por encima era suficiente. Si buscas algo en más detalle, para eso están los libros especializados.
Sin embargo, el resultado es muy confuso, se quieren abarcar tantos momentos diferentes que al final ninguno se presenta correctamente, las viñetas son un lío y el texto no casa bien con lo que se muestra. Además, se intenta crear un hilo conductor entre todos los sucesos (una pareja que se reencarna a lo largo de la historia y siempre se encuentran, o algo así), que podría haber sido un elemento muy inteligente a la hora de unir los hechos, pero que termina entorpeciendo la historia. No se entiende bien, y faltan explicaciones.

En fin, no lo recomiendo. Que algo tan interesante como la historia de un país que ha vivido tantas cosas (vikingos, monarquías, rebeliones, independencia, etc.) resulte aburrida es difícil de conseguir, así que demasiada puntuación tiene.

[W M]

To be honest, I never really got into.