The impact of the Irish upon the arts, popular culture, scholarship, and politics has been immense. Literature in English cannot be fully understood without consideration of James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, Samuel Beckett, Seamus Heaney, among others. The Irish struggle for independence in the early twentieth century, and the strife that continues today over north-south question, have received international attention and concern. The Encyclopedia of Irish History and Culture is written for a broad audience of students, academics, and general readers. It spans prehistoric times to the present, and examines both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in detail. It offers, in A-Z format, 25 long, thematic articles on politics, economics, religion, the arts, and society; 200 mid-length entries on key movements, periods, institutions, and cities; and 175 succinct articles on specific people, groups, and events. Entries represent an inclusive, cross-disciplinary approach, written by specialists in history, archaeology, anthropology, geography, politics, economics, the Irish and English languages and literatures, the visual arts, and other fields.