An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir July/August 2014 www.dfmagazine.ie 42 | dorothy Stopford price: REBEL DOCTOR author: Anne Mac Lellan publisher: Irish Academic Press, April 2014 (www.iap.ie) iSBn: 978-0716532378 / aSin: B00JKN594K price: €9.99 ebook / €22.45 PB / €45.00 HB pages: 268 THIS IS THE captivating and compelling biography of the life of Dorothy Stopford Price. Claimed as possibly the most significant figure in Ireland's fight against Tuberculosis (TB). She has been unfairly forgotten over the last few decades as being responsible for the introduction of the BCG vaccine to Ireland. Born of Anglo Irish decent with a privilege education and later her profession as a doctor. Her startling involvement in the struggle for Irish independence especially during the Easter Rising as she witnessed the history of an early Ireland through the struggle of war. She was a committed nationalist, a member of Cumann na mBan and a doctor to the West Cork IRA Brigade during the War of Independence. This book offers a fascinating insight as Dorothy dedicated her life to improving the health of Irish People. KG Kildare BarracKS: FROM THE ROyAL FIELD ARTILLERy TO THE IRISH ARTILLERy CORPS author: Mark McLoughlin publisher: Irish Academic Press (Merrion), March 2014 (www.iap.ie) iSBn: 978-1908928467 price: €19.75 PB / €45.00 HB pages: 288 I SERVED IN the Artillery Corps for over 24-years, 12 of which I spent very happily in Magee Bks Kildare. So I was naturally curious about Mark McLaughlin's book, after all, what could be so special about "the barracks" that could fill a book? I couldn't have been more mistaken. This excellent book gives the reader a full and in depth history of Kildare Bks. From initial occupation by the British Army in 1901, through the War of Independence, the transfer of authority to Free State Forces, then the Irish Civil War. It continues on to the development of the barracks, the Artillery Corps, the Defence Forces, and Kildare town itself, right up to the closure of the barracks in 1998. I found the chapters covering the War of Independence, the Civic Guards Mutiny, and the establishment and development of our own Artillery Corps riveting. I had no idea of just how much an effect the military presence shaped the development of the town of Kildare and its environs. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who served in the barracks, or who lives in the area of Kildare Town, or who has an interest in local or military history. GS eScape froM hong Kong: ADMIRAL CHAN CHAK'S CHRISTMAS DAy DASH, 1941 author: Tim Luard publisher: Hong Kong University Press, January 2012 (www.hkupress.org) iSBn: 978-9888083770 price: €12.50 PB / €28.00 HB pages: 324 and 66 illustrations & photographs TIM LUARD'S BOOK brings this little known story of a Chinese-led British escape from the occupiying Japanese forces engulfing Hong Kong during the largest war in our history – World War II. Christmas Day 1941, Hong Kong's Admiral Chan Chak, the Chinese government's chief agent in Hong Kong surrendered to the invading Japanese army. He then led more than 60 Chinese, British and Danish intelligence, naval and marine personnel made a dramatic escape under fire as the Japanese Army engulfed Hong Kong. This story has been told in parts through individual diaries, letters and memoirs, but now Tim has a massed them into a well balanced and entrilling adventure story – that will interest military historians of all wars. WF

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