Few countries have been as dramatically transformed in recent years as Ireland. Once a culturally repressed land shadowed by terrorism and on the brink of economic collapse, Ireland finally emerged in the late 1990s as the fastest-growing country in Europe, with the typical citizen enjoying a higher standard of living than the average Brit. Just a few years after celebrating their newly-won status among the world's richest societies, the Irish are now saddled with a wounded, shrinking economy, soaring unemployment, and ruined public finances. After so many centuries of impoverishment, how did the Irish finally get rich, and how did they then fritter away so much so quickly? Veteran journalist David J. Lynch offers an insightful, character-driven narrative of how the Irish boom came to be and how it went bust. He opens our eyes to a nation's downfall through the lived experience of individual citizens: the people responsible for the current crisis as well as the ordinary men and women enduring it. “In this solid debut, USA Today global affairs reporter Lynch tells the story of a small nation that has changed profoundly in recent decades…Incisive and well-reported.”--Kirkus "David Lynch's book is an amazing story of rampaging greed, dirty doings and even adulterous sex!Old Mother Ireland doffs her peasant's garb and emerges as a provocative siren, infecting the Irish with diseased materialism. Along with a concise history of Ireland, Lynch makes even economics funny and fascinating." --Malachy McCourt "A brilliant set of insights into the true and completely general nature of 'crony capitalism'. Close connections between politicians, bankers, and property developers brought Ireland great apparent prosperity -- while really creating the conditions for a huge and horrible crash. Lynch is optimistic that Ireland can rise again and find a more robust model for growth. Let's hope he is right." --Simon Johnson, Professor, MIT Sloan School of Management and author of 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown "David Lynch's book will enrage, enlighten, and sadden you. His superbly written account of what really happened in Ireland during the boom of the Celtic Tiger and the ensuing bust is, to be sure, a story about Ireland. But it is also a cautionary tale for all of us. The next time somebody tells you that the market can only go up, run away and re-read this book!" -- Terry Golway, columnist, The Irish Echo and author of So Others Might Live "Lynch marvelously weaves together politics, history, and religion to explain the incredible economic and social transformation that has swept Ireland over the past three decades and the deep financial crisis that Ireland is grappling with today." --Kenneth S. Rogoff, Professor of Economics, Harvard University and coauthor of This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly "David Lynch has produced a terrific read -- a hair-raising gallop through the hills and valleys of modern day finance. After reading this book, you'll never think about Ireland -- or global financial markets -- in quite the same way." --David M. Smick, author of The World Is Curved: Hidden Dangers to the Global Economy "A tour de force of reportage and analysis. As much social anthropology as economic forensics, it is a cautionary tale of post-colonial success and excess. As cold as the eye he casts upon the land of his forebears is, Lynch retains an unmistakable affection for Ireland and a confidence that it can change, change utterly, for the better." --Kevin Cullen, columnist and former Dublin bureau chief, The Boston Globe David J. Lynch is a senior writer with Bloomberg News in Washington, D.C., focusing on the intersection of politics and economics. Previously, he covered global business issues for USA Today , first writing for the Money section, then becoming the founding bureau chief in both London and Beijing. In 2001, he became the first journalist from USA Today to be selected for the prestigious Nieman fellowship at Harvard University. He has made numerous television appearances on BBC and Sky News in London and C-SPAN and PBS in the United States. His writing has also appeared in The New Republic, Time, and The New York Times . He lives in Washington, D.C.