Any
person interested in the history and politics
of Irish Republicanism will immediately associate
the name of Roy Johnston with Cathal Goulding's
attempts to transform the Republican Movement
during the 1960s. In Century of Endeavour,
Roy Johnston publishes a biography of his father
as well as a detailed account of his own life
and times.
The
book is unlikely to have a wide readership as
not many people are likely to be familiar with
Roy Johnston or his father. Also, topics such
as Bishop Berkeley's economic theory, agricultural
research or life in Trinity College during the
1930s will only be of interest to the few. Finally,
the fact that this book is very expensive is unlikely
to encourage potential readers purchasing it.
The
way the book is organised is not very user friendly,
the separation of thematical from chronological
themes tends to confuse the reader. On top of
that the book refers to sources only available
on the internet. But when checking the online
material "available in full in the hypertext",
the reader will be frustrated to find out that
the hyperlinks do not work.
That
said, Century of Endeavour will become
a necessary reference for any future study of
the Republican Movement and left politics in Ireland
during the 1960s and early 1970s. The most useful
parts of the book are those dealing with the author's
personal involvement in political developments
within the Republican Movement of the 1960s; although
to get a full picture of the period, it is necessary
to compare this book with Sean MacStiofain's autobiography
and and Robert White's recent biography of Ruairi
O Bradaigh. Very good source material is provided
here by Johnston. He makes use of lots of original
documents not available elsewhere such as Ard
Comhairle minutes, obscure publications and personal
reminiscences. Johnston has fascinating insights
into the personality of people like Cathal Goulding,
Mick Ryan, C.D Greaves or Seamus Costello. The
author provides plenty of names, facts and annecdotes
about the Republican Movement, the Wolfe Tone
Society, the Civil Rights Movement, the Communist
Party and the Connolly Association which will
be of great interest to historians and political
activists.
Of
particular interest are his references to C. Desmond
Greaves' personal diaries. It was interesting
to find out what the author of The Life and
Times of James Connolly (1961) and Liam
Mellows and the Irish Revolution (1971) could
think for example about the Hungarian crisis of
1956 or Czekoslovakia in 1968. That said, Johnston
does not criticize Greaves' transformation of
Connolly's teachings into a Leninist trojan horse;
to the point of falsifying Connolly's real stance
during the First World War. Greaves' support for
Lyssenko's 'proletarian science' and rejection
of genetics is also recalled. This is hardly surprising,
as a crucial part of Roy Johnston's intellectual
project was to bridge the gap between science
and politics, technology and society. He stresses
his debt to and the importance of people such
as J.D. Bernal and Farrington; Irish scientists
reknowned for their contribution to relate Marxism
and Science.
However,
there are some regretable ommissions in the book.
Johnston for example does not reproduce his famous
controversial letter on the alleged sectarian
nature of rosary during Republican commemorations.
Reading the book demystifies the popular but mistaken
idea that the Republican Movement had become "Communist"
or "Marxist" during the 1960s: the intellectual
currents that Johnston tried to introduce were
more liberal than leninist in nature. Johnston
father and son are both fundamentally life-long
liberals.
The
quality of the material included in this book
should make it a "must read" to anyone
with a serious interest in the politics of the
period.
