... scholarly and politically alert, forensic and fascinating.Among the many angry books to poke through the debris of the crisis that still engulfs Ireland, this is the most scholarly explanation of how it happened.Byrne has produced a perspicacious, highly readable account of the way Irish corruption morphed as the state's political, economic and social structures changed. In the wake of Ireland's loss of economic sovereignity, the book's central message - that only a vibrant, transparent political culture offers effective protection against the corrosive power of corruption - seems particuarly vital.Byrne’s study has found a broader audience beyond academia, and this should be commended, but most of all we should praise the way in which it has helped to stimulate a broader debate on political corruption in European democracies.