Tom Garvin's survey of the 1950s is an interpretative narrative, based largely on a close reading of contemporary newspaper reports and analyses. He identifies the primary causes of the calamity as a revolutionary gerontocracy that overstayed its welcome

Introduction -- Advertising in Ireland 1850-1914. Prologue -- the Irish advertising scene from the 1850s to the 1880s; Advertising and the nation in the Irish revival -- Print culture. The Shan van vocht (1896-1899) and The leader (1900-1936): national identity in advertising; The Sinn féin...