Showing results by author "Paul Byrne" in All Categories

In the First World War of 1914-1918, thousands of boys across Australia and New Zealand lied about their age, forged a parent’s signature and left to fight on the other side of the world. Though some were as young as 13, they soon found they could die as well as any man. Like Peter Pan’s lost boys, they have remained forever young. These are their stories. This extraordinary book captures the incredible and previously untold stories of 40 Anzac boys who fought in the First World War, from Gallipoli to the Armistice.

The Austen Family descends upon a fashionable Georgian seaside resort in Devonshire for a six-week holiday. Jane's brother, Frank, is on leave from the Royal Navy, and dearly wishes to unite his sister with his friend Captain Peter Parker. But another holidaymaker, a handsome stranger, catches sight of Jane and is determined to make her acquaintance. This rival to Captain Parker is Samuel Rose: a lawyer, literary man and abolitionist. As the weeks pass, Jane's relationship with both men brings about unexpected surprises.

Since her death, people have got Jane Austen wrong. The real Jane - revealed for the first time in this landmark biography - was a less cosy, more spiky, more modern figure than she is usually imagined to be. Far from retelling a familiar story, Byrne’s book uses new research and new techniques to give us Jane Austen for the 21st century.

The remarkable life of the vivacious, clever – and forgotten – Kennedy sister, who charmed the English aristocracy and was almost erased from her family history. The favourite child of Joe Kennedy and favourite sister of Jack, Kick Kennedy was spirited, vivacious and legendary for her charm. When the Kenndys sailed to Britain in 1938 she was presented as a debutante amid the pre-war social whirl of the British aristocracy.

A terrifically engaging and original biography about one of England’s greatest novelists and the glamorous, eccentric, debauched and ultimately tragic family that provided him with the most significant friendships of his life and inspired his masterpiece, Brideshead Revisited.

In 2017, Tina Satchwell vanished from her quiet Cork home. Her husband Richard claimed that she had taken their savings and left of her own accord. But as time passed and questions mounted, suspicion grew. From how Tina and Richard met just days after she moved to the UK as a vulnerable seventeen-year-old, to the search of the house that would lead to Richard Satchwell's downfall, Beneath the Stairs traces the cold-blooded deception of a man, bent on control, who lied to hide the truth while living above his wife's hidden grave.

English novelist Barbara Pym’s career was defined, in many senses, by rejection. Her first novel Some Tame Gazelle was turned down by every publisher she sent it out in 1935, finally published only 15 years later. Though she picked up a publisher from there and received modest praise, the publishing industry grew restless and her sales spiralled downwards. By her seventh novel, she had been dropped. This brilliant biography, brimming with Pym’s private diaries and intimate letters, offers a first full insight into Barbara Pym’s life and how it informed her writing.

In one of the most famous portraits in the world, a pretty girl walks through the grounds of Kenwood House, a vision of aristocratic refinement. But the eye is drawn to the beautiful woman on her right. Pointing at her own cheek, she playfully acknowledges her remarkable position in 18th-century society. For Dido Belle was the illegitimate, mixed-race daughter of a Royal Navy captain and a slave woman, adopted by the Earl of Mansfield. As Lord Chief Justice of England he would preside over the notorious Zong case - the drowning of 142 slaves by an unscrupulous shipping company.

A radical look at Jane Austen as you've never seen her - as a lover of farce, comic theatre and juvenilia. The Genius of Jane Austen celebrates Britain's favourite novelist 200 years after her death and explores why her books make such awesome movies time after time.

One of the most flamboyant women of the late 18th century, Mary Robinson's life was marked by reversals of fortune. After being raised by a middle-class father, Mary was married, at age 14, to Thomas Robinson. His dissipated lifestyle landed the couple and their baby in debtors' prison, where Mary wrote her first book of poetry and met lifelong friend Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire. On her release, Mary quickly became one of the most popular actresses of the day, famously playing Perdita in The Winter’s Tale for a rapt audience that included the Prince of Wales.

How was it that the novelist who created some of the most memorable and modern female characters in literature had such troubled relationships with real women? In this highly innovative book, acclaimed biographer Paula Byrne re-examines novelist Thomas Hardy’s life through the eyes of the women who made him—mother, sisters, girlfriends, wives, muses. The story veers from shocking scenes such as his obsession with the sight of a woman hanged, to poignant vignettes of unfulfilled passion, to fascinating details of working women’s lives in the nineteenth century.

Join one of Ireland's greatest ever sports presenters Michael Lyster alongside two of GAA's finest pundits, Tomás Mulcahy and Martin Carney, for the very best in GAA chat & analysis. Tomás Mulcahy is a hugely popular GAA analyst in this country, having worked on 'The Sunday Game' for over 20 years and is also an All-Ireland Senior Hurling winning captain with Cork. While playing, he won 3 All-Ireland medals with his native county, including captaining his side to glory in 1990. He's also an All-Star Award winner. Martin Carney, a former inter-county footballer for Donegal and Mayo, is a ...

Advanced Tax Lecturer from Griffith College, Paula Byrne helping students pass their Irish professional accountancy tax exams. Disclaimer: The information in this podcast is intended as an exam revision guide only. While every care is taken to ensure accuracy of information contained in this podcast, Paula Byrne does not accept responsibility for errors or omissions howsoever arising. Email paula@paulabyrne.ie. #Irish tax

Paul Byrne was a Scotland Yard Detective. Dive in as he guides you through the story of the British Police via the prism of comedy. Desperately original and hilariously bizarre, this show really does rip open the back doors of the police service!

A debut novel by a best-selling nonfiction author, this is a witty, wholly entrancing story of the pleasures, pains and obsessions of contemporary life. Lisa Blaize - teacher and would-be fashion writer, mother and second wife - feels out of place when her high-flying husband becomes the headmaster of a school in a country town. Isolated and far from her metropolitan upbringing, she turns to the one place where she learns she can be uninhibited. But ‘Twitter may be my undoing’, Lisa discovers as her onetime private life becomes all too public. Soon she is dealing with an online stalker and her husband’s reputation is put at risk - but will she be able to give up her addiction?

Analyzing the movement's deep-seated origins in questions that the country has sought too long to ignore, some of the greatest economic minds and most incisive cultural commentators capture the Occupy Wall Street phenomenon in all its ragged glory. They give listeners an on-the-scene feel for the movement as it unfolds while exploring the heady growth of the protests, considering the lasting changes wrought, and recommending reform.

She is the most beautiful woman in the world. Discovered in a Berlin cabaret in the roaring 20s, she is brought to the glamour of LA. She becomes a superstar of the silver screen and Hollywood’s darling, but nothing perfect lasts forever. The cost of beauty is always high, for those who have it and those who live in its shadow. The weight falls on her daughter to untangle the complicated truths of being ordinary beside an extraordinary mother, a woman who has skewed her perception of reality, a woman adored by the world, but from whom her daughter longs to escape.

On the Mat is an audio project exploring the intersection of the Leadership Circle Profile with real-world business challenges and opportunities.