Book excerpt: Irish affairs have been overshadowed by the British presence, and Anglo-Irish relations have usually been seen as central to Irish history. However, the wider continental influence on Ireland has been very considerable and has been unjustly neglected in the past. Dermot Keogh's book rectifies this situation by examining critically the connections between continental Europe and Ireland from the Treaty of Versailles and the influence of European Roman Catholicism to the formal declaration of the Irish republic. Ireland & Europe provides a valuable source for studying Irish political life during the first thirty years of independence. Contents: Introduction; From D-il ...ireann to Saorst-t: Continental Europe and the Development of Irish Diplomacy, 1919-32; De Valera and Foreign Policy Idealism: Apprenticeship in Classical Diplomacy, 1932-36; Ireland and the Popular Fronts, 1936-39; De Valera: Neutrality and the Retreat to Realism, 1939; The Diplomacy of Survival, 1939-40; Europe and the Path of 'Friendly' Neutrality, 1941-45; Epilogue: Ireland and the Diplomacy of Normalcy in Europe, 1945-48; References; Bibliography; Index^R