James Hawes talks about his book The Shortest History of Ireland

On Monday I went to the launch of James Hawes's new book The Shortest History of Ireland. I'm very glad I did, because Hawes gave a lecture on Irish history that taught me an enormous amount. So I'm happy to recommend his book even before I've read it.

You can hear much of what he said in an interview he gave to Oliver Callan on RTE Radio 1. It really is worth a listen

Early on he reveals that at one time the BBC was keen to adapt his novel Speak for England. It's a great shame for Hawes that they didn't, because he would now be feted as The Man Who Foresaw Brexit.

And it's a shame for us, because it would have offered an alternative version of Lord of the Flies. A version in which the prefects and housemasters survive and maintain their authority, and in which, after the boys are rescued, the headmaster returns to Britain and takes over the country.