30多年来，著名作家兼历史学家凯文·C·卡恩斯一直在记录和出版都柏林人的宝贵记忆和回忆。在他的最新著作中，他重温了不同寻常的1963年，以传统历史无法比拟的方式让普通人的声音变得生动起来。
这是前所未有的一年。不是为了任何一个重大事件，而是为了一系列令人震惊的事件——胜利与悲剧、欢乐与悲伤——跨越了整整12个月。
1963年的爱尔兰，巧妙地记录了那一年戏剧、创伤和神秘事件的不屈不挠的过山车之旅：像《圣经》一样的山洪暴发、公寓倒塌和受害者、解放的宾果狂热，以及一个令人恐惧的冒充牧师的“神秘来电者”。当然，在这一年，肯尼迪总统对爱尔兰进行了为期四天的热情访问。
圣诞节期间，拉科尼亚号邮轮上的30名爱尔兰乘客在海上“着火并沉没”，这一年因恐惧而达到高潮。然而，一年中的一系列快乐和嬉闹的事件平衡了人们的情绪，给他们的生活带来了巨大的快乐。
如此令人困惑和迷人的一年需要草根类型的社会历史，一个传记性质的历史。凯文·C·卡恩斯依靠50多年前在场的参与者和观察者的口述历史，使这些活动人性化。他们的言辞和情感为这本关于1963年这一非凡年份的精彩传记带来了引人入胜的真实性和即时性。
Ireland 1963: A Year of Marvels, Mysteries, Merriment and Misfortune
For over 30 years, renowned author and historian Kevin C. Kearns has been recording and publishing the valuable memories and recollections of Dubliners. In his latest book, he revisits the extraordinary year of 1963, bringing to life the voices of the ordinary people who lived through it in a way no conventional history could match.
It was a year like no other. Not for any one monumental event, but for an astonishing sequence of occurrences – triumphs and tragedies, joys and sorrows – that spanned all twelve months.
Ireland 1963 deftly records the unrelenting roller coaster ride of dramas, traumas and mysteries of that year: a biblical-like flash flood, tenement collapses and victims, the liberating Bingo Craze, and a frightening ‘mystery caller’ posing as a priest. And, of course, it was the year of President Kennedy’s rapturous four-day visit to Ireland.
The year reached its climax with fear for thirty Irish passengers aboard the liner Lakonia, “ablaze and sinking” at sea during Christmas week. Yet, a series of happy and frolicsome events throughout the year balanced people’s emotions and brought great joy to their lives.
Such a bewildering and fascinating year demands a grass-roots type of social history, one that is biographical in nature. Kevin C. Kearns humanises these events by relying on oral history from participants and observers who were on the scene over fifty years ago. Their words and emotions bring a riveting authenticity and immediacy to this wondrous biography of the extraordinary year of 1963.
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