Vice President of Academic Affairs Receives Rave Review for Book on Irish History

Hackettstown, N.J., September 28, 2010 – Dr. James Patterson, Vice President of Academic Affairs at Centenary College, recently received a rave review of his 2008 title, In the Wake of the Great Rebellion, in the Winter 2009 Irish Review: Contemporary Irish Culture.

In his review of Dr. Patterson’s book, Ruan O’Donnell, the Head of History at the University of Limerick in Ireland, says that “James Patterson’s detailed and insightful book addresses a much-needed gap in the considerable bibliography of the United Irishmen. Although very clearly a work of long gestation, its appearance in the aftermath of the main flurry of Rebellion era histories is a major strength.  Given the lack of an integrated, multi-volume overview of the eventful and complicated revolutionary period 1791-1803, Patterson would have faced a logistically impossible task of fashioning this original and expansive study directly from the archives.  Instead he has painstakingly married his work with manuscript and printed primary sources to the many skeletal written histories. The result of his work is an impressive, mature and pioneering endeavor….In the Wake of the Great Rebellion is a stimulating and valuable addition to the cannon.”

Dr. Patterson earned a Ph.D. in British and Irish History from Fordham University in 2001 and In the Wake of the Great Rebellion is a revision of his dissertation.  The research for this work was conducted in Ireland under the auspices of a Fulbright Fellowship.  He has also published several well-received articles in Irish and American journals and presented papers at over a dozen conferences and seminars in the Ireland, England and the United States (including two at Harvard University’s International Seminar on the History of the Atlantic World and one at the Folger Shakespeare Institute). Most recently, Dr. Patterson chaired a panel at the ACIS Conference held at the University of Galway in 2009.

For more information on In the Wake of the Great Rebellion, please visit the Manchester University Press website at www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk. 

Founded in 1867 by the Newark Conference of the United Methodist Church, Centenary College’s academic program integrates a solid liberal arts foundation with a strong career orientation. This mix is designed to provide an educational experience that prepares students to succeed in the increasingly global and interdependent world.

Centenary College’s main campus is located in Hackettstown, N.J., with its equestrian facility in Washington Township (Morris County). The College’s Centenary Adult and Professional Studies (CAPS) program offers accelerated degree completion programs in Parsippany, with an additional facility in Iselin, and at corporate sites throughout New Jersey.
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