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By Ray O’Hanlon

A DONNYBROOK AT DUSK

The Irish Brigade at Malvern Hill

Bradley Schmehl

This is the fifth and final in a series of Civil War prints depicting the famed Irish Brigade in battle and at rest during the conflict that raged between 1861 and ’65. Artist Bradley Schmehl began the series with a battle scene, Captain Clooney’s ill-fated charge at the battle of Antietam, and in this final work he concludes with a head-to-head confrontation at Malvern Hill, a battle in Virginia that was fought on July 1, 1862. The scene takes place at the end of a grueling day with the Irish Brigade’s 88th and 69th regiments slugging it out with the 10th Louisiana, itself a largely Irish unit. The Northern Irish eventually prevailed and Private Peter Rafferty of the 69th won the Irish Brigade’s second Medal of Honor. Available from Green Flag Productions, Box 471, Williamsburg, VA 23185; phone 1-800-739-6464 or at greenflag@widomaker.com.

MERCY ME WITH CURSES

Karl Mullen

Dubliner Karl Mullen has been at the center of Pittsburgh’s Irish artistic life for well over a decade. His band, Ploughman’s Lunch, developed a name for itself covering the ground between rock and traditional, but now Mullen is going solo with this CD featuring 10 of his own songs. Mullen is accompanied by a number of musicians and vocalists, including Tom Compton, Jennifer Goree and Megan Williams. Details on the CDs availability from www.karlmullen.com.

THOSE ARE REAL BULLETS

Bloody Sunday, Derry, 1972

Peter Pringle and Philip Jacobson

There are a handful events in the Northern Ireland Troubles that even the most uninterested have on the tips of their tongues. Bloody Sunday is one of them. This latest book on the fatal shootings in Derry in January 1972 draws on formerly classified British government documents and comes down heavily in the end against the British government’s investigation into Bloody Sunday and the use of paratroops on the fateful day to control the likes of a civil rights demonstration, the event that ultimately ended in the deaths of 14 marchers. British Journalists Peter Pringle and Philip Jacobson first reported on Bloody Sunday for the Sunday Times "Insight" team and have worked together on a number of books. Grove Press. 310pp. $25.

STARS & STRIPES IN PERIL

Harry Harrison

Harrison is a science fiction writer of considerable renown who here delves into sci-fi’s first cousin: the "alternate history" genre. "In Stars & Stripes in Peril," he has North and South fighting Britain instead of each other in the American civil War. and, as it states on the cover, Lincoln and Lee end up at Britain’s mercy and the road to freedom leads through, surprise surprise, Ireland. Ballantine, a division of Random House. 322pp. $25.95.