Considered Moore's masterpiece, this has greatly influenced both past and contemporary views of the Irish Literary Revival and its members - Yeats, Lady Gregory, G.W. Russell (AE), Plunkett, and Synge. It is a prodigious work, containing Moore's assessment of the Revival, the Abbey Theatre and its predecessors, as well as remarkable insights into not only the literature and art of the period, but also its social and religious life.