Tudor Wolfpack and the Roots of Irish America

"The Irish people have suffered mercilessly at the hands of conquerors over the past thousand or so years.... The Normans tried with only limited success to conquer the Irish in 1167, a hundred years after their takeover of England.... Irish resistance to British rule provoked a lengthy war between the clans of the Irish chieftains and the English soldiers.... They confiscated the lands once more and instituted such harsh and outrageous controls that it ultimately resulted in the great Irish emigration to the United States. Jack Bray tells this thrilling story from an immense wealth of knowledge and such a writer's eye for detail that no one even remotely interested in the period will want to miss it. " żFrom the Foreword by Winston Groom, Best-selling author of The Generals: Patton, MacArthur, Marshall And The Winning Of World War II; Vicksburg, 1863; Shiloh, 1862; and Forrest Gump "The Irish are a story-telling people and Jack Bray is one of them. And what a story he has written: the centuries of tragedy ending in the building of a great country across the sea, America. Deeply researched and deeply felt, 'The Tudor Wolfpack And The Roots Of Irish America' has a brave and musical heart." ż-Richard Reeves, Best-selling author of President Kennedy: Profile Of Power; President Nixon: Alone In The White House; American Journey: Travelling With Tocqueville; Senior Lecturer, Annenberg School For Communication at the University of Southern California "Jack Bray tells the gripping story of the wolves the British sent to govern the Irish. The tale of atrocities, the horrid indifference towards suffering and starvation, makes me marvel at how Irish people with their poetry, humor, story-telling and dedication to justice emerged. Miracles abound in this action-packed history. A must read for those who want to know the best and worst of human nature." ż-Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University Public Policy Institute, Visiting Fellow at The Kennedy School of Government, Fellow at St. Mary's College of Maryland "Combining the soul of Ireland's ancient storytelling Seanchaí with the great talent and skill of an American lawyer-historian, Jack Bray tells a powerful story about the military conquest and colonization of Ireland in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Describing in vivid detail how the Tudors and their successors sent a "Wolfpack" of imperial agents to violently steal Ireland's land, enslave its people, and deprive them of fundamental rights based on religious and cultural identity, Bray shows how this period set the stage for centuries marked by violent conflict, starvation, and mass migration of its people. Yet despite these immense historical challenges, the resiliency and gifts of the Irish spirit soar in all aspects of life today. In the context of our own time, when so many "wolves" still roam the Earth and many millions of refugees flee for their lives, this important story offers a timely reminder about how deeply ingrained predatory instincts are in the human family and how much work is needed to overcome them." ż-Edward J. Markey, United States Senator, Massachusetts