Does anyone know of some good books about the history of Ireland and Croatia/Slovenia? Something like Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States? I'm specifically interested in the last 500 years since Henry VIII decided to "conquer" Ireland. In the case of Croatia and Slovenia I'm most interested in the period from around 1100AD to 1918.
I am asking because I want to research my family history, at least in broad terms. My mother's family is Irish and my father's family is originally from Croatia and Slovenia. My mother's mother was born in Ireland and her father's family emigrated in the 1850s. My father's grandparents all emigrated around 1900 I think. It seems to me that I've inherited one set of programs and patterns of behavior from my parents, who inherited them from their parents and so on, and another set of programs from school and American culture. Looking back at the programs I inherited from my parents, I think it might help me to better understand them if I know more about where my ancestors come from, how they may have lived and what hardships they might have endured.
Taking Ireland for example, until I read Joe Quinn's article about British imperial policies in Ireland a few Dot Connectors ago, I still thought that the mass exoduses of the late 1800's and early 1900's were due to potato blight and nothing more. I knew that all of my older Irish relatives seemed to hate and despise the English, but I never really thought about why. So basically I know next to nothing about the history of either country except what is written in the history textbooks, which means I only know what the PTB want me to know. I'd like to change that.
I am asking because I want to research my family history, at least in broad terms. My mother's family is Irish and my father's family is originally from Croatia and Slovenia. My mother's mother was born in Ireland and her father's family emigrated in the 1850s. My father's grandparents all emigrated around 1900 I think. It seems to me that I've inherited one set of programs and patterns of behavior from my parents, who inherited them from their parents and so on, and another set of programs from school and American culture. Looking back at the programs I inherited from my parents, I think it might help me to better understand them if I know more about where my ancestors come from, how they may have lived and what hardships they might have endured.
Taking Ireland for example, until I read Joe Quinn's article about British imperial policies in Ireland a few Dot Connectors ago, I still thought that the mass exoduses of the late 1800's and early 1900's were due to potato blight and nothing more. I knew that all of my older Irish relatives seemed to hate and despise the English, but I never really thought about why. So basically I know next to nothing about the history of either country except what is written in the history textbooks, which means I only know what the PTB want me to know. I'd like to change that.
