Ireland

Book excerpt: "There is something prescient about this collection of essays...... Evocative, beautifully written."- Irish Times The Passenger collects the best new writing, photography, and reportage from around the world. Its aim, to break down barriers and introduce the essence of the place. Packed with essays and investigative journalism; original photography and illustrations; charts, and unusual facts and observations, each volume offers a unique insight into a different culture, and how history has shaped the place into what it is today. Brimming with intricate research and enduring wonder, The Passenger is a love-letter to global travel. IN THIS VOLUME, Catherine Dunne, Colum McCann, Mark O'Connell, and Sara Baume, among other Irish writers tell of a country striving to stay a step ahead of time. On the centenary of the partition that split the island in two, The Passenger sets off to discover a land full of charm and conflict; a country that in just a few decades has gone from being a poor, semi-theocratic society to a thriving economy free from the influence of the Catholic Church; from a deeply patriarchal, conservative society to one that gives space to diversity, becoming the only country in the world to enshrine gay marriage in law through a referendum. emThe Passenger explores Ireland's ramifications in politics, society, culture, and sport. Memory and identity intertwine with the transformations – from globalisation to climate change – that are remodelling the Irish landscape.