Whatever name you give it, Ireland's capital city cannot be ignored. Some worship it, others are appalled by it, but no one can fail to be fascinated by it. There is general agreement that the area around modern Dublin has seen human activity for the past seven to eight thousand years. The city has witnessed phenomenal growth and expansion in the past decade - and the allied problems of traffic congestion, ghettoisation and housing shortages. For all that, Dublin is a city of grace, charm and Georgian beauty, with a splendid hinterland, and the famed wit of its inhabitants and the genius of its writers cover a multitude of sins and scandals. Pat Boran's account is a canter through Dublin in all the ages of prehistory and history: as Viking settlement, medieval town and capital of colonised Ireland. Many of the events to which the city was host were tragic - tragic too were the poverty and disease that were rife until well into the present century. But Dublin had its eras of glory - architectural, literary and political- and the author charts these too, with great affection.
