Conor Cruise O’Brien

O'Brien is well known for his role in New York intellectual circles during the 1960s. Productive, acrimonious, and sometimes comic, his relationship with reigning intellectuals is part of a central chapter in American cultural history. His career in its entirety, though, could encompass several remarkable lives. Born in 1917 into an Ireland torn by nationalist passions, O'Brien was trained as a diplomat and rose to international prominence during the Belgian Congo crisis. As special representative for UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold, O'Brien was caught in the middle of big power politics. After resigning in a furor, he wrote To Katanga and Back (1962), a classic in modern African history and still the only book to reveal how the UN works behind its marble facade. O'Brien then became Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana and waged a battle for academic freedom against one of the most amiable of tyrants, Kwame Nkrumah. Next, O'Brien held the Schweitzer Chair at New York University, where he wrote prolifically, developed an innovative program in literature and society, and served as a model of courageous political activism.

A study of Edmund Burke's philosophy via close readings of his public speakings and private letters (the common themes from which making up the Grand Melody), with an eye towards correcting the distortions of his political opponents and later anti-Whig historians.

Four lectures dealing with Machiavelli, Burke, Nietzsche and Yeats.

In the early fifteenth century, as winter falls away, the people of Albania know that their fate is sealed. They have refused to negotiate with the Ottoman Empire, and war is now inevitable. Soon enough dust kicked up by Turkish horses is spotted from a citadel. Brightly coloured banners, hastily constructed minarets and tens of thousands of men fill the plain below. From this moment on, the world is waiting to hear that the fortress has fallen. The Siege tells the enthralling story of the weeks and months that follow – of the exhilaration and despair of the battlefield, the constantly shifting strategies of war, and those whose lives are held in balance, from the Pasha himself to the technicians, artillerymen, astrologer, blind poet and harem of women that accompany him. Brilliantly vivid, as insightful as it is compelling, The Siege is an unforgettable account of the clash of two great civilisations. As a portrait of war, it resonates across the centuries and confirms Ismail Kadare as one of our most significant writers.