![[node-title]](http://www.umass.edu/umpress/sites/default/files/imagecache/Title_Image_Scale_300H/covers/9780870236839.jpg)
Beyond the Ballot Box
A Social History of the Boston Irish, 1845-1917
In Beyond the Ballot Box, Dennis P. Ryan examines the social experience of the Irish in Boston between 1845 and 1917. He discusses their private and institutional responses to poverty, their education in both public and parochial schools, their difficulties in breaking into businesses and professions, their relations with other racial and ethnic groups, their leisure activities, and their experiences as domestic workers.
"A well-executed book with abundant documentation. . . . A fine product of scholarly research."—American Historical Review
"Ryan's excursion into the lower depths of Boston's Irish neighborhoods successfully evokes a sense of time and place through vivid images. . . . Unusually imaginative and exhaustive research [and] a valuable manual for anyone wishing to write underclass history."—Journal of American History
"The struggles and accomplishments of the Irish in Boston have never been more concisely or gracefully written about."—Boston Globe
"Carefully researched social history. . . . For any of you Bostonians with a little drop of Irish blood in your veins, this book is a must."—Boston Herald
"Social history told in loving detail and written with affection and verve. . . . Thoroughly documented, well organized, and written with lucidity and grace."—Irish Literary Supplement
"A marvelous book, whose great value can only be suggested here."—Catholic Historical Review
"Ryan's excursion into the lower depths of Boston's Irish neighborhoods successfully evokes a sense of time and place through vivid images. . . . Unusually imaginative and exhaustive research [and] a valuable manual for anyone wishing to write underclass history."—Journal of American History
"The struggles and accomplishments of the Irish in Boston have never been more concisely or gracefully written about."—Boston Globe
"Carefully researched social history. . . . For any of you Bostonians with a little drop of Irish blood in your veins, this book is a must."—Boston Herald
"Social history told in loving detail and written with affection and verve. . . . Thoroughly documented, well organized, and written with lucidity and grace."—Irish Literary Supplement
"A marvelous book, whose great value can only be suggested here."—Catholic Historical Review