This is an ambitious book. It sets out to tell a history of Irish nationalists in the United States from 1798 to 1998, and all in 220 pages (excluding notes and bibliography). To a large extent Brundage, a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, achieves his ambition.

In nine chapters (with an introduction and epilogue) Brundage takes the reader on a journey through two centuries of Irish and Irish American history. Short introductory sections within each chapter focus on events in Ireland, while the rest of the chapter examines both the impact that Irish America had on events in Ireland and the reverse. At times this make the book quite stilted. It is clear that Irish Nationalists in America is written largely for an American audience and, while informative, it tends to simplify and condense complex events. For example, the 1916 Easter Rising and the subsequent War of Independence are dealt with in a little under four pages. To a large extent this book is a synthesis – much of the information is available in other sources – but what Brundage does is to put this material together with a new angle and focus and he does so in a very accessible and readable way.

Brundage sets the scene well in the opening chapter establishing Theobald Wolfe Tone's significance as the “father of Irish Republicanism” and exploring the role played by Tone's family in America. Indeed, throughout the book Brundage rightly stresses the importance of the memory of Tone (whether accurate or imagined), discussing Roger Casement's self-identification as Wolfe Tone's reincarnation and considering the importance of Tone's grave in Bodenstown for generations of Irish nationalists and republicans.

One thing that emerges clearly from reading this book is the broad spectrum of opinion contained within Irish nationalism and republicanism in America. In the second half of the nineteenth century, radical republicans such as the Fenians and Clan na Gael grabbed the headlines, but Brundage's nuanced approach draws out the variety of viewpoints within Irish America.

In other books on Irish America, the substantial emigration from Ireland to the United States before the famine is often overlooked. But Irish Nationalists in America traces the rising immigration figures through the nineteenth century and considers the role played by Irish immigrants both pre- and post-famine. It is interesting to note that the Irish were the largest immigrant group as far back as the 1783–1819 period, though the numbers were obviously much smaller than the millions that arrived on American shores from the 1840s.

Brundage brings to the fore often overlooked elements in Irish American life, such as the relationship between Irish America and the labour movement. There was a long tradition of American labour support for Irish nationalism, and indeed many Irish nationalists and republicans were heavily involved in labour movements, from Terence Powderly and the Knights of Labor in the 1880s to James Connolly's work with the Irish Socialist Federation in America in the early twentieth century. The discussion of the 1920 New York dockers' boycott, called to protest against the imprisonment of the Cork mayor Terence MacSwiney, is interesting as Brundage uses it to highlight and explore racial and class issues in the United States as well as the Irish question. Indeed, the complexities around Irish American opinions on slavery and later the African American civil rights movement is a significant theme that runs through the book. Support for O'Connell's repeal movement in America virtually ground to a halt when he refused to accept funds accompanied by pro-slavery statements, money he referred to as “bloodstained,” while in the 1960s Clan na Gael campaigned for civil rights for Catholics in Northern Ireland but refused support for the black civil rights campaign in the United States. Brundage is also strong on the internal tensions between Irish Americans and the United States government, particularly evident when the United States entered World War I. Despite general antipathy towards the war among Irish American nationalists, most came around to US policy.

The strongest sections of the book cover the nineteenth century. The chapter on the Troubles feels a little slight but overall this book is an excellent addition to both transnational history and the place of the Irish in American society.