The Sacred Egoism of Sinn Féin

Boyd, Ernest Augustus, 1887-1946Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.3

Word count: 69K words
Chapters: 7

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Sacred Egoism of Sinn Féin by Ernest Augustus BoydAuthor: Boyd, Ernest Augustus, 1887-1946,Language: English, Class: DA: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Great Britain, Ireland, Central Europe, Release Date: Oct 20, 2010

Editor's review

The Sacred Egoism of Sinn Féin is a political tract by Ernest Augustus Boyd (1887–1946), classified under Project Gutenberg's DA category—general history of Great Britain, Ireland, and Central Europe. Released on October 20, 2010, and presented by the platform in 2019. The title points directly to Sinn Féin's "sacred egoism," and the wording alone reveals the author's pronounced stance: not a neutral overview but an evaluative piece of writing on the Irish nationalist movement of the time. Its reading value lies chiefly in its historical documentation and as a sample of opinion: on one hand, it offers a window into the tone and argumentative methods of early twentieth-century English-language debate on the Irish question; on the other, it reminds readers to note the tendentiousness of political tracts. Given its length and genre, the book is better suited as topical material than as an introduction to general history. It is recommended to read alongside a basic outline of modern Irish history, separating the author's judgments from the historical facts—attending both to what he says and to why he says it. Project Gutenberg's free access makes this little-known political tract easy to consult, suitable as source material for quotation and analysis of viewpoints.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers studying modern Irish history and early public opinion on Sinn Féin
Students needing early twentieth-century English political tracts for analysis
Social science readers interested in nationalist discourse and political rhetoric
Research-oriented readers accustomed to critical reading who can distinguish stance from fact

Not a good fit for

Absolute beginners seeking an introductory general history of Ireland
Readers expecting a neutral, objective survey who prefer not to parse the author's stance
General readers who find political-tract genres and long English sentences difficult

Reading tips

First fill in an outline of modern Irish history, then read this book to avoid being carried along by a single stance.
While reading, mark the author's judgment sentences and factual statements, organizing them into two columns for comparison.
Read alongside other contemporary discussions of the Irish question to compare wording differences and argumentative strategies.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book an objective work of history?

Judging from the wording of the title "sacred egoism," the book carries a clear evaluative stance and is a political tract rather than a neutral general history. Readers should separate the author's views from the facts and cross-check with other sources rather than treating it as the sole authority.

What does Sinn Féin refer to?

Sinn Féin is an important Irish nationalist political party. This book comments on its ideas and actions, and "sacred egoism" in the title is the author's summarizing judgment of its positions. Understanding this background helps grasp the book's overall tone.

Can I read it without a background in Irish history?

You can, but it is advisable to first understand the basic outline of the early twentieth-century Irish home rule movement; otherwise, the author's evaluations may easily be mistaken for historical fact. Read a concise general history chapter first, then return to this book, and comprehension will be much smoother.

How can I access this book?

The book is published by Project Gutenberg, a platform founded by Michael Hart in 1971 and the earliest provider of free e-books. The release record for this book is October 20, 2010, and the English original can be read free of charge on its site.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Boyd, Ernest Augustus, 1887-1946 Author · Irish · 1887–1946

Ernest Augustus Boyd (1887–1946) was an Irish critic and writer who spent many years in New York working as a literary reviewer and editor. During his lifetime he was active in British and American periodicals with incisive book reviews and literary criticism, attending to the points where modern literature met social thought. His representative work, The Sacred Egoism of Sinn Féin, discusses the ideas and psychology of the Irish political movement in a polemical style, showing how he extended the observational habits of literary criticism to political questions. Boyd's output was small, and only one of his works is held in this collection; public information about his life and writing is quite limited, and his significance lies mainly in his record and commentary on the intersection of Irish politics and literature, which may be of use to those studying early twentieth-century Irish thought and its reception among British and American critics.