Samuel Beckett referred to Brendan Behan as ‘the new O’Casey’ and yet, despite all his international success, despite his enduring popularity, and perhaps because of his fame (and indeed, notoriety), Behan remains a neglected figure in literary criticism today. This is why this new volume is so timely. Penned by an impressive group of international scholars, the book looks beyond the author’s all-too-well-known personality and focuses on what ultimately matters – the writing. It explores how Behan sought to identify the proper role for the post-independence Irish writer in a country where clerical and political policing and rigid censorship laws allowed little room for artistic manoeuvre.