Songs Of Freedom: The James Connolly Songbook

Description

Songs of Freedom is the name of the 1907 songbook edited by the Irish revolutionary socialist James Connolly. For the first time in nearly 100 years, readers will find all of his original songs. Both are reproduced exactly as they originally appeared, providing a fascinating glimpse of the workers' struggle in the early 1900s. To complete the picture, the book includes the James Connolly Songbook of 1972, which contains the most complete selection of Connolly's lyrics and historical background essential to understanding the context in which the songs were written.

Matt Callahan (Author): Mat Callahan is a musician and author originally from San Francisco, where he founded Komotion International. Callahan is the author of three books, Sex, Death and the Angry Young Man, Testimony, and The Trouble With Music. He presently resides in Bern, Switzerland. http: //www.matcallahan.com James Connelly (Editor): James Connolly (1868-1916) was an Irish republican and socialist leader. He was executed by a British firing squad because of his leadership role in the Easter Rising of 1916. Connolly was the author of many books and articles, becoming one of the leading revolutionary theorists of his time. At the head of the Irish Citizen Army, Connolly's vision and determination proved decisive in launching the rising which proclaimed the Irish Republic from the steps of Dublin's General Post Office. This set in motion the sequence of events that would unleash the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921), leading ultimately to establishment of the Irish Republic. James Connolly Heron (Foreword by): James Connolly Heron is a great grandson of James Connolly and author of The Words of James Connolly published by Mercier Press. Theo Dorgan (Preface): Theo Dorgan is a world-renowned poet, prose writer, editor and translator, originally from Cork, Ireland. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the O'Shaughnessy Award for Irish Poetry.http: //www.theodorgan.com/

"My grand aunt Nora Connolly, in her book We Shall Rise Again, said of rebel songs: 'For more may be remembered of a country's history and treasured deep in the heart of a people through a song or a poem than through the pages of a history book'--how true. It was Nora who taught singers her father's songs. 'After 1916, ' she said, 'I never did any more singing'--how sad. Now with this project and through the great talent and commitment of all involved we can hear Nora sing again." --James Connolly Heron, great-grandson of James Connolly and author of The Words of James Connolly