I bought this book at a used bookstore yesterday and it was an interesting read (it's very small and less than 80 pages).

Its price was rather surprising (US$12.49), considering it was originally published at £4.99. I just searched Amazon.com, and the price I paid was at the bottom--it goes for over $50 at one place.

Is this some classic or something? Or just very few copies around? Googling didn't return much information on it.

P.S.--Anyone know who "Edward Purdon" is (the author's pseudonym)?

I remember reading that book many years ago. It's not a classic in any way. It's expensive probably because it's been out of print for a a while. I've no idea who this Edward Purdon is.

(Message edited by mbm on February 26, 2006)

Found it in a press. It is really a $1 book. It is more a brief history of ireland, the sort of thing devised to give our unsure ancestors who had lost their oral history some way of relating to been irish at the end of the 19th century. It is enjoyable in itself -it does menton that irish nationalism is not about flag waving and 'Celtic Twilight' and such follies, but about speaking irish and acting in ways that suport ireland practically, economicaly and community wise -advice current as ever