Magnum Ireland

Devoid of the standard Irish photobook fare of green pastures and smiling, freckled children, this collaboration between the Irish Museum of Modern Art and photographers of the cooperative Magnum Photos agency is a rich and complex retrospective of six tumultuous decades of Irish history. After a poignant introduction by John Banville, the book's opening salvo of photos (depicting crowds at a horse track) date from the early '50s and were snapped by Henri Cartier-Bresson. Chapters, each dedicated to a decade, begin with essays by notable Irish authors whose observations serve as a mooring post for the photos that follow. From Ian Berry's photographs of early 1970s clashes between British soldiers and stone-throwing gangs of children to Stuart Franklin's depictions, in 2003, of a generation of Irish youth coming of age in a new era of affluence, the hard-earned social and cultural change of a nation is chronicled by a legion of the most distinguished photographers from around the globe. It requires a certain suspension of disbelief to recognize the youth of today-drinking, partying, receiving lap dances-as the children of those, who just one generation (or chapter) ago, hurled stones at soldiers in the street.