Out Now: Judging Shaw by Fintan O'Toole

George Bernard Shaw, the first person to win both a Nobel Prize and an Academy Award, has left a vast legacy of theatrical, fictional, polemical, critical and philosophical writing. Shaw bridges the Victorian era and the contemporary culture of celebrity. The GBS brand came to be recognised globally as referring to an Irish provocateur with a red beard and startling opinions. He was a master of self-invention, a nobody who captured the zeitgeist and one of the first private individuals to understand fully how to generate—and how to use—global fame.

Judging Shaw, which is being released today, looks at the legacy of George Bernard Shaw, as prizewinning author, playwright and commentator, and as GBS—the first great brand. The timing of Judging Shaw is fortuitous, as it will serve to reintroduce GBS to an Irish and international readership. The book is an interesting, informative, and well-written survey of Shaw/GBS and will be a welcome addition to the library of those who know Bernard Shaw perhaps only as the author of Pygmalion, his most popular and frequently performed play. Buy your copy of Judging Shaw here.

Fintan O'Toole has written books on Irish history, politics, society and culture. With the Royal Irish Academy, he has published A History of Ireland in 100 Objects and Modern Ireland in 100 Artworks. He has been awarded the European Press Prize 2017 and the Orwell Prize for Journalism 2017.

The Royal Irish Academy is coordinating a series of Shaw-themed events at venues around the country, beginning on 2 November, the anniversary of Shaw's death. The full programme can be found at www.judgingshaw.ie.