The Great Melody: A Thematic Biography and Commented Anthology of Edmund Burke

Description

Conor Cruise O'Brien's majestic meditation on the life and writings of Burke was originally published in 1992. 'O'Brien [had] been brooding on Edmund Burke for decades. First he worked on a narrative approach and came to a standstill, he knew not why. Then, in the light of much painful observation of the world and its wickedness, he turned to a thematic treatment, inspired by Yeats's elliptic lines: "American colonies, Ireland, France and India / Harried, and Burke's great melody against it." "It", he decided, was the abuse of power.' Paul Johnson, Independent on Sunday 'The best book about Edmund Burke ever written . . . It succeeds in liberating this remarkable, tormented and brilliant man from those confusing and confining details of British high political life . . . O'Brien's version of Burke's career is a self-reflective and immensely personal one, but its authenticity penetrates to the core.' Linda Colley, Observer

Conor Cruise O'Brien (1917-2008) was a leading Irish intellectual of his generation and had a distinguished career in public life as a diplomat, politician, government minister, writer, newspaper editor, critic, and scholar. He published numerous books in subjects such as history, biography, politics, and religion.