Books by and about the Irish have become increasingly popular as Irish-Americans rediscover their roots. Most readers, however, will find it hard to know where to begin. There are so many books available that anyone visiting a library or bookstore faces a bewildering variety of offerings. This work provides a selection of the books that best and most truly reflect the Irish experience.100 Essential Books for Irish-American Readers has something for everyone -- autobiography, biography, history, humor, America's relationship with Ireland, mythology and folklore, novels, poetry, reference books, and picture and travel books. In it the reader will find every kind of work, from scholarly books to exciting popular fiction.Autobiography and biography includes 100 Irish Lives by Martin Wallace, Before the Dawn by Gerry Adams, and As I Was Going Down Sackville Street by Oliver St. John Gogarty.Fiction titles include The Country Girls by Edna O'Brien, Hungry Hill by Daphne Du Maurier, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, and The Year of the French by Thomas Flanagan.The reader will learn about history by consulting The Great Hunger by Cecil Woodham-Smith and The Troubles by Tim Pat Coogan.Poetry includes the lyrical beauty of William Butler Yeats and the Northern Irish experience of Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney. But there is also an assortment of poetry from lesser known poets whose vision of Ireland is clear and true. Picture and travel books have been chosen both for their artwork and their informative text. History and reference works have been carefully selected for accuracy.For years Americans have been swamped with books cashing in on Irish popularity.Irish-Americans need a guide to this vast outpouring. 100 Essential Books for Irish-American Readers is that guide.