What follows is the raw material of history in the making. It must be winnowed, weighed and 'evaluated' before acceptance by the historian. -- David Gray, Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary to Ireland, 1940-47 ** Lawyer, soldier, journalist, and playwright, David Gray cuts an unlikely diplomatic figure. Born in Buffalo, New York in 1870, Gray took up the post of US Minister to Ireland in 1940. His memoir of that year, Behind the Emerald Curtain, is published here for the first time. Vivid, lyrical, forthright, and eviscerating, Gray reveals a life in a privileged milieu amid the darker currents of war, political discord, collaboration, and espionage. Diary entries, secret documents, press extracts, letters to Roosevelt, and conversations with his ideological opponent Eamon de Valera are knitted together in this intriguing narrative, introduced by editor Paul Bew. ***"....a truly remarkable man who lived in truly remarkable times....a fascinating read....highly recommended." Midwest Book Review, Library Bookwatch, December 2012, The Biography Shelf.