Shaw, Synge, Connolly, and Socialist Provocation: Natural History Narratives from Mexico and Central America: Florida Bernard Shaw Series

George Bernard Shaw has always been regarded as a political provocateur and socialist with ideas that reflected a complicated public philosophy. Scholarship abounds on Shaw s politics, but Nelson Ritschel s compelling study is the first to explore how Shaw s presence in Irish radical debate manifested itself not only through his direct contributions but also through the way he and his efforts were engaged by others--most notably by the socially liberal dramatist J. M. Synge and the socialist agitator James Connolly.

Looking closely at such works as "In the Shadow of the Glen, John Bull s Other Island, Playboy of the Western World," and "O Flaherty, V.C.," Ritschel opens an important door on the hidden dialogue between these men. The result is a gripping, even suspenseful, narrative of the intellectual march to the Easter Uprising of 1916."