And maybe somewhat related to that, you know, early on in the book you mentioned that there are certain kinds of Russian attitudes, Russian responses, Russian perceptions to, or perceptions of the land war and the home rule movement, and could you maybe just talk us through that? Like what did Russians think about these events? What did they get right about it? What did they get wrong?

Yeah.

So, so the Irish Land War really provokes a lot of interest in, in the Russian Empire and also internationally, including through, through interest in boycotts and interest in different forms of resistance to, to landlordism.

I think there's a, there's a really strong sense in terms of, you know, being able to learn lessons from the Irish example that, that you might then be able to apply in the Russian Empire.

Um, so like there's one, um, Russian economist and professor I look at, um, called, um, Alexander Manuilov, who, he's so interested in Irish land questions that he goes to Ireland and to Britain in the 1890s to carry out all this research, which he then uses to, to help write, um, liberal cadet policy, um, in Russia.

So there's kind of like very direct trying to learn, learn from it.

Um, Lenin as well is writing about how, you know, all, all, um, land has been transferred to the, the hands of the farmers in Ireland, um, and he contrasts this to the situation i- in Russia in the aftermath of the 1905, um, revolution.

You know, I remember reading and thinking like, "Well, a Christian state is definitely not what Leon Trotsky wants." How representative is that? Like, how, how much accurate information are Irish people getting about the Russian Revolution as it's actually happening, like live as it's happening? And are they doing the same thing that, that these Russian interlocutors you're looking at doing, of like reading certain meanings into Russian affairs that were not really about Russia at all maybe, but actually were about Ireland?

And maybe somewhat related to that, you know, early on in the book you mention that there are certain kinds of Russian attitudes, Russian responses, Russian perceptions to, or perceptions of the land war and the Home Rule movement, and could you maybe just talk us through that? Like, what did Russians think about these events? What did they get right about it, and what did they get wrong?

Yeah.

So, so the Irish Land War really provokes a lot of interest in, in the Russian Empire and also internationally, including through, through interest in boycotts and interest in different forms of resistance to, to landlordism.

And there's a, there's a really strong sense in terms of, you know, being able to learn lessons from the Irish example that, that you might then be able to apply in the Russian Empire.

Um, so like there's one, um, Russian economist and professor I look at, um, called, um, Alexander Manuilov, who he's so interested in Irish land questions that he goes to Ireland and to Britain in the 1890s to carry out all this research, which he then uses to, to help write, um, liberal cadet policy, um, in Russia.

So there's kind of like very direct trying to learn, learn from it.

Um, Lenin as well is writing about how, you know, all, all, um, land has been transferred to the hands of the farmers in Ireland, um, and he contrasts this to the situation i- in Russia in the aftermath of the 1905, um, revolution.

Uh, you know, I remember reading and thinking like, "Well, a Christian state is definitely not what Leon Trotsky wants." How representative is that? Like, how, how much accurate information are Irish people getting about the Russian Revolution as it's actually happening, like live as it's happening? And are they doing the same thing that, that these Russian interlocutors you're looking at doing, of like reading certain meanings into Russian affairs? That were not really about Russia at all maybe, but actually were about Ireland.

How representative is that? Like how much accurate information are Irish people getting about the Russian Revolution as it's actually happening, like live as it's happening? And are they doing the same thing that these Russian interlocutors you're looking at doing, like reading certain meanings into Russian affairs that were not really about Russia at all, maybe, but actually were about Ireland?

Yeah, I think that's a really important point in terms of it being, you know, there is clear engagement here and interest, which we should take seriously.

But at the same time, there's also a lot of simplification, misunderstanding going on.

And I guess more widely, this is a period where you're getting bigger quantities of news information from Russia and also elsewhere becoming available much, much more quickly.

and much more accessibly, but also it's often very fragmented and contradictory.

And there are all these debates going on about who you can believe, what news you can believe.

And this really happens in terms of the news, particularly from the October revolution.

So who's making those comparisons and why?

How representative is that? Like how much accurate information are Irish people getting about the Russian Revolution as it's actually happening, like live as it's happening? And are they doing the same thing that these Russian interlocutors you're looking at doing, like reading certain meanings into Russian affairs that were not really about Russia at all, maybe, but actually were about Ireland?

Yeah, I think that's a really important point in terms of it being, you know, there is clear engagement here and interest, which we should take seriously.

But at the same time, there's also a lot of simplification, misunderstanding going on.

And I guess more widely, this is a period where you're getting bigger quantities of news information from Russia and also elsewhere becoming available much, much more quickly.

and much more accessibly but also it's often very fragmented and contradictory and there are all these debates going on about you know who you can believe what news you can believe and and this really happens in terms of the news particularly from the October revolution so the initial reports are pretty like slow to come in and then you get all these rumors flying around so even like that Lenin's been captured and what they call these like Kerensky versions of events, which they kind of want to believe because they don't want to take Bolshevism too seriously in some of the mainstream newspapers.

And then, you know, as it becomes clear that the Bolsheviks are holding on to power, you get these polarized narratives.

So we see among Irish Republicans and socialists, this sense of genuine excitement and, you know, the Russian Revolution can help maybe emancipate this kind of small nations as they're often termed of the world.

And then I mean maybe echoing that in some way like you do also talk in the book about how there are certain comparisons made between Ireland and Ukraine in this period so who's making those comparisons and why?

And maybe somewhat related to that, you know, early on in the book you mention that there are certain kinds of Russian attitudes, Russian responses, Russian perceptions to, or perceptions of the land war and the home rule movement, and could you maybe just talk us through that? Like, what did Russians think about these events? What did they get right about it, and what did they get wrong?

Yeah.

So, so the Irish Land War really provokes a lot of interest in, in the Russian Empire and also internationally, including through, through interest in boycotts and interest in different forms of resistance to, to landlordism.

I think there's a, there's a really strong sense in terms of, you know, being able to learn lessons from the Irish example that, that you might then be able to apply in the Russian Empire.

Um, so like there's one, um, Russian economist and professor I look at, um, called, um, Alexander Manuilov, who, he's so interested in Irish land questions that he goes to Ireland and to Britain in the 1890s to carry out all this research, which he then uses to, to help write, um, liberal cadet policy, um, in Russia.

So there's kind of like very direct trying to learn, learn from it.

Um, Lenin as well is writing about how, you know, all, all, um, land has been transferred to the, the hands of the farmers in Ireland, um, and he contrasts this to the situation i- in Russia in the aftermath of the 1905, um, revolution.

You know, I remember reading and thinking like, "Well, a Christian state is definitely not [laughs] what Leon Trotsky wants." How representative is that? Like, how, how much accurate information are Irish people getting about the Russian Revolution as it's actually happening, like live as it's happening? And are they doing the same thing that, that these Russian interlocutors you're looking at doing, of like reading certain meanings into Russian affairs that were not really about Russia at all maybe, but actually were about Ireland?