ROBERT COLE. Propaganda, Censorship and Irish Neutrality in the Second World War. (International Communications.) Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 2006. Pp. ix, 196. $85.00

Abstract

Much analysis of Irish neutrality overlooks propaganda, but it was central to how Irish neutrality was depicted at home and abroad. Now, for the first time, a detailed and high-quality examination of American and British anti-neutrality propaganda efforts finally exists. Robert Cole's ably written and informative monograph will become a staple reference work for all engaged in researching Irish neutrality during World War II. He has produced a painstakingly researched and multifaceted examination of the interactions between Allied propaganda and Irish censorship in the heated “war of words” surrounding the legitimacy of neutrality. The propaganda conflicts regarding access to Irish bases and ports, partition, Axis espionage, Allied economic sanctions, and Axis diplomatic representation in Ireland are fully addressed. Cole's nuanced assessment of Allied information control and management is a vital complement to Donal Ó Drisceoil's Censorship in Ireland, 1939—1945: Neutralitiy, Politics, and Society (1996), which focuses primarily on the domestic context.