No one has mastered the sources the way Belchem hasthis is a mature scholar doing his style of history about as well as it can be done. * Queens University, Kingston, Ontario *
Building on his previous work, Belchem has written a thorough, evidence-based study that makes use of extensive archival sources and little-ready newspapers (such as the Liverpool Catholic Herald) to fulfil the vital need for a 'a longer-term assessment of crisis, continuity and change' among the Irish Catholics of Liverpool (p. 1). Belchem's work, however, is no mere exercise in obscurantist archive-grubbing, and one of the many impressive features of this book is the ease with which Belchem brings a diverse array of interdisciplinary perspectives to bear on his material. This level of theoretical sophistication and engagement places this book at the centre of wider historical and sociological debates about the nature of migration and the formation and maintenance of ethnic identity. This book provides a vital contribution to the historiography of the Irish in Britain. * Economic History Review, 61, 4 *
There can be no doubt that here we have the definitive work, packed with detailed and carefully researched material. ...thorough research, a very high standard of writing, a subject of major local and regional importance, and a readable and fluent quality which eschews jargon and tells a gripping story firmly based on the reality of history. * Northern History, XLVI *
Belchem's deeply documented study will appeal beyond Hibernophiles to students of modern cities containing very large and often unruly minorities in their midst. Belchem is well versed in current theories of globalization and ethnicity; he concentrate on the "essential" Irish identity and its preservation * American Historical Review *
The book is a coherent new analysis that introduces some new areas of discussion into the way we understand the Irish in Liverpool. It is an important contribution to Irish migration studies and is a valuable case-study in British social, economic and political history of the period. It includes some evocative photographs that, in themselves, illustrate the multi-faced nature of Liverpool Irish history. * Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire Volume 157, *
