Ireland Books

This difficult-to-find personal history of Ireland's fight for freedom and its legendary leader is well worth searching for. Written by a man who was an intimate of Michael Collins and a trusted conspiratorial comrade in the struggle against England, it has fascinating details about the day-to-day operations of a guerrilla war and the nervewracking lifestyle of the on-the-run participants. Beaslai, although a close friend and admirer of Collins, nonetheless gives a relatively objective picture of the man and his leadership, and this account, more than any other I have read, reflects the perspective and immediacy of a real participant in the history-making events it recounts. This sets it apart and makes it a highly recommended read for anyone truly interested in Irish history.

Written in 1924, only two years after Collins' death, this two-volume biography is as enthralling and relevant as it was when first published. Beaslai actually owes his own life to Collins, who planned and carried out his jail-break. This fact however does not cloud his judgement of Collins. This is the authoritive biography of Collins. You can be sure that all of Collins' more recent biographers have a copy! Buy it!!!

This atlas is great if you are planning to drive around Great Britain. It includes helpful blow-ups of each city for orientation and excellent detail. We traveled around Great Britain for 2 weeks and never got lost!

I recently did a 12 day driving tour of southern Ireland with this atlas as a companion and I never got lost. Very clear, and well laid out. I'm going to use it again for a trip to England and Scotland in the fall. If you going to Great Britain or Ireland, you can't go wrong with this guide. So enjoy, stay left, and. . ."mind the pedestrians."

This book is gives very good insight into local Irish folklore. Written by a local who grew up in a time when the fairy folk were taken very seriously, this book is certainly hard to put down.

A Friend found this book for me in the childrens section of our city library, but this is not a childrens book, but that seems to be the typical attitude though. Dermot Mac Manus writes very poetically, which is not that suprising considering he was good friends with William B Yeats. This Book was used as one of the main source books for Patrick Harpur when he wrote Daimonic Reality. I will probably never look at trees in the same way after reading the section on Fairy Trees, which is great.

The author defines fairies at the begining so if your expecting a book solely on the peter pan type of fairy you may be disapointed, as he point out they come in all sizes and to add to that, there not all malevolent or benevolent for that matter... All in all it was quite eerie at points, but also very romantic and peaceful to read at night.

Montecuccoli was actually the very first military intellectual in the modern world of firearms. After his death in 1680, Montecuccoli's military works were published posthumously. Some of them had been held by the Hapsburgs as state secrets throughout his entire life. For decades afterwards, Montecuccoli was just as popular as Clausewitz is today. His works are published in almost every Europen language except English. This is the ONLY publication which contains a work of Montecuccoli in an English translation. Montecuccoli was a product of the Enlightement and his military theories refelct this influence. Montecuccoli was the "real thing" in the 17th Century - a nobleman, an expert cavalryman, a prisoner of war, a military strategist, a victorious general, a diplomat, a military theoretician - a man of many military roles. If you want first hand knowledge of how military theory actually got started in the modern world - then get your hands on Montecuccoli !!

Montecuccoli was an Italian officer in the Thirty Years War serivng in the Imperial Army. He draws on his own vast experience as well as his readings of the ancients to develop a scientific system of warfare. Everything from how to scout the enemy, set up camp, speak to the troops, utilize the different forces at your disposal, conduct a pursuit or retreat is all covered in detail.

After reading this closely, It seems that many of the myths that have developed around the tactics of the Thirty Years War -especially the role of firepower cavalry-may have started with some misreadings of Montecuccoli. These misreadings are not to hard to trace back to this book.

The book actually consists of three parts. First, a well researched bio of Montecuccoli, written by Barker. Second, a translation of Montecuccoli's Military Intellectual and Battle. Third, descriptions of several major battles of the 30 Years war. The descriptions rely on some old sources, especially the Breitenfeld and Lutzen battles, but are still well done overall.

Reccomended for historians, both amateur and professional, and wargamers of the period.

Anne Campbell looks at why females are too easily presumed to be merely passive receivers of winning males' sperm.

Considering the enormous burden of motherhood and a mothers need for resources for both herself and her limited number of potential offspring it should follow that females will compete with each other for resources and there will be differential reproductive success amongst females.

But it is also essential for females to preserve their own health throughout their reproductive lifetime so open, physical aggression is not normally an option. (It is an option for males who can maximise their number of offspring in a brief spell of copulatory access to a number of females.)

So female competition is indirect and low-level harrassment except when the mother needs to show full aggression to directly protect her offspring.

Campbell discusses hormone studies - particularly serotonin and dopamine - suggesting that different levels of these in the sexes provide a braking system on female emotions and impulsive behaviour but less so on males. Hence greater male impulsivity, risk-taking, violence and even suicide. Only the male had the potential for reproductive gains via this weaker braking system.

Campbell also makes many more points about females and males such as the rarity of male parental care in nature and the possible reasons for monogamy eg the female trades sex for the protection of one male against numerous other males who may also be infanticidal. She also discusses female crime and female friendship.

And regarding modern women she points out that there is nothing new about women working except that women have to leave their children to do so.

This is a solid, wide-ranging book providng sound evolutionary reasons for women's psychology and behaviour. She includes the important points about variation within the sexes and the overlap of the sexes. But by considering the reality of how males and females achieved reproductive success in different ways during evolution she explains much about the differences between the sexes today.

Highly recommended.

Quite simply, I am impressed with the value and scope of this manuscript. It is the most influential piece of work written about the mind and behavior of women to appear in history (and yes that is a bold statement, read it you won't be disappointed). I say kudos for taking on a topic of such magnitude, and bringing to light the fact that women too have an evolutionary past. This book is loaded with insight about women's behaviors such as social aggression, friendship, love and marriage. And far from offering simple opinions, the ideas and explanations are backed up by a stagering mound of scientific data. Whether you are an academic or the average Jane, this book is bound to be a classic read for anyone interested in the unique behaviors of women.

i would have no reservations buying from this supplier again!

Those who are curious about the historical workings of modern Spanish labour and political history from 1875-1980, will serve their minds quite well in reading this title. The author, Mr. Carr, brings to the reader - an illuminating work distinctly expressing a balance of sufficient historical detail counteracted most positively, by an obligatory laconic approach.

Preceding 1875, Spain's "anaemic" history of the industrialist/labourer relationship had long been existant from the 1830's. Throughout the book, the author serves to describe more or less emphatically, natural obstacles hindering the early Spanish industrial revolution. For over a thousand years, psychological and environmental differences amongst the varying regional mentalities and topograghies of the country were acutely (and still are) recognized and preserved by Castilians, Catalonians, Valencians, Asturians, Galicians, Andalusians, Aragonese, Leonese, Basques etc.

Hence, nineteenth-century economic needs and demands from both labour and industrialists were always at odds from region-to-region. Augmenting this basic complexity was the growing frequency of intra-party factions, electoral manipulation, church-burning, innumerous strikes and assassinations by both civilians and, an increasingly intervening military. The core issue throughout this time period: An effective, congruous establishment of a "national economic" vision entailing long-term growth. The entry into what was considered by some to be a "Godless" era of mass-modernity, were the traditionally-minded peasants, industrialists, conservatives and churchmen - for they feared the gradual, societal disintegration of Classical, Catholic Spain.

Yet astonishingly, there were those political, military, religious and civilian figures wanting to see a Spain fully industrialized via the exemplary French/English model. It is this overall social/political dichotomy (also recognized by Spaniards), that Mr. Carr gently explicates, the understanding of how such perennial intransigence (both an excellent and horrible human quality) on the part of all parties, generated the unfortunate broth for a "violent soup" that became the Spanish Civil War.

Post-civil war recovery, Opus Dei, growing consumerism, transition to democracy and the restoration of monarchy are covered in more general detail.

Some American Jews think of pre-WW II German Jewry as an exotic species, a land of ultra-Reform kooks and not much else. But this fascinating book shows how German Jewry circa 1906 wasn't that much different from American Jewry circa 2006.

There, as here, Orthodox Jewry constituted about 10-20% of the Jewish population - a minority with a higher birth rate than the more liberal majority.

There, as here, the first post-ghetto generations gravitated towards a sort of Modern Orthodoxy that rigorously followed Jewish law but enthuasiastically endorsed German patriotism and German culture; but just as American Orthodoxy in recent decades has been influenced by a more tradition-migrated East European migration, some 20th-century German Orthodox Jews became enthralled by pre-modern, mystical-minded East European Orthodoxy. (Of course, at that time East European Orthodoxy actually still existed in Eastern Europe).

There, as here, much of Orthodoxy sought to reconcile Torah and Science. For example, one Orthodox newspaper wrote on Charles Darwin's 100th birthday: "that which Darwin created as an enduring intellectual good, namely the insight into an uninterrupted, gradual ascent of the organic universe, is nothing but the exact scientific proof of ancient Jewish axioms."

There, as here, Jewish education (and especially Jewish day schools) went into a tailspin in the early post-ghetto generations, but were gradually rebuilt in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, just as Jewish day schools have boomed here. Even in the rough economic times after World War I, new Orthodox schools were created in Berlin and other cities.(Though unlike in America, non-Orthodox Jews did not join this trend; liberal Jew were less interested in Jewish schools than in equal treatment within public schools).

There, as here, Orthodox Jews were politically divided: The classically liberal National Liberal party had a great deal of Orthodox support, though some Orthodox Jews supported Catholic parties that sought to unite believing Jews and Christians.

However, leftist hostility towards accommodation for religion kept Orthodox Jews from supporting socialist parties; for example, left-wing politicians generally supported forcing businesses to close on Sundays in the interest of protecting labor. On the other hand, right-wing anti-Semitism kept Jews away from the more right-wing parties.

Of course, Germany is not identical to America in 2006. Some of the differences that this book points out:

1. German Jews were less welcoming of migrants from Eastern Europe than American Jews have been; for example, East European children were sometimes segregated in separate schools.

2. To a greater extent than American Jews of any denomination, German Orthodox Jews were more dependent on the work of one leader: Samson Raphael Hirsch. Breuer asserts that Hirsch's "writings were read and studied over and over", and that areas of Jewish tradition not covered by Hirsch's works were generally ignored by German Jews.

3. German government was generally less willing than American government to accommodate religious observance; German public schools held classes on Saturdays and expected students to write on Saturdays (an act forbidden by Jewish law). Orthodox Jews also battled Sunday closing laws (which made it highly unprofitable for Jewish businesses to close on Saturday) and municipal refusal to build eruvim to allow carrying on Shabbat.

4. Although right-wing politicians lusted after Orthodox votes, they still viewed Jews as second-class citizens to a much greater extent than do American conservatives. Breuer asserts that right-wingers praised Orthodox Jews for their relative lack of interest in civic equality and for their willingness to tolerate aristocratic domination of government and Christian domination of the public sphere. One reactionary commentator wrote that Orthodox Jews were the best citizens "because they never distress themselves about the government but care only about their true fatherland, Jerusalem."

5. Breuer leaves the impression that the divisions between Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews were sharper than in America; nominal Jews could not always be counted on to support Orthodox interests in promoting Jewish education and opposing Sunday closing laws, and Orthodox and Reform Jews sometimes blamed each other for German anti-Semitism.

The best critical history of Orthodox Jewry available in English (and, it might be added, one of the few works on the subject). Gives overdue credit to the vitality and size of the 19th century German Orthodox community, thoroughly refuting a wide array of sterotypical notions. Holistic in scope, it is part of an emerging focus upon traditional Judaism in Germany and central Europe generally.

Perfect! Just what I had in mind and the person I gave it to liked it a lot! Great pictures!

This is a fantastic coffee table book. The photographer has captured so much color in each photograph, you almost expect some sort of visual explosion -- how can such a dynamically variegated palette be contained in a single picture?! The whitewashed cottages, the blue-green sea, the dun colored old castle walls... even the street signs are beautiful. I myself am half of Irish descent, and half of Italian descent. Although I must confess that in culinary terms, my Italian forebears had considerably more "on the ball" than my Irish ancestors, this book makes me appreciate some of the beauties that Ireland itself has to offer. It makes me determined to visit it at some point.

The book is divided into four parts. Each traditional ancient Irish kingdom has its own section -- Ulster, Leinster, Connacht, and Munster. Each section is also followed by a brief photographic essay, dealing with such topics as "Ancient Ireland," "Bar and Shop Fronts," and "Painted Villages." At the end, there is a useful map, a travellers guide complete with phone numbers and addresses of Inns and hostels, and a very handy little bibliography.

I would just like to also recommend, for anyone with an interest in Irish history, "The Atlas of Irish History" by Sean Duffy. It is out of print, but you should ask your local librarian if he or she can find it, using OCLC or inter-library loan. If, like me, you have Irish blood in you, you will be familiar with the feeling of being quite alienated from the broader sweep of European history prior to the settlement of America. I once looked in the index of an encyclopedia, and actually found more entries on Native Americans, who of course are considered to be a marginalized people, than I could find on the Irish. This book, and the atlas I recommended, can help remedy that situation, and "The Most Beautiful Villages of Ireland" can beautify any home. Two thunbs up -- check this one out.

It was pure enjoyment to read this book written by the Mother of a man I greatly admire. I have been acquainted with her son, Daniel, since December 2002. That was when I first saw him on PBS and discovered an entertainer I could love not only for his exceptional easy-listening singing voice, choice of songs, and stage presence; but because he was down-to-earth, honest, humble, and always spoke of his Mother in a respectful, loving, and admiring way.

I have met him several times in Branson and have received replies to the many letters I have written him and even received a phone call after writing my first fan letter. Not many famous entertainers take time to respond to their fans and meet hundreds of them in the lobby for pictures after giving them nearly three hours on stage. His Mother's story proved to me why 'behind every good man is a good woman'! Not perfect of course, no mother is; but after becoming a heartbroken widow, she put her distress aside and supported, loved, and inspired her five young children to be their best with the talents God gave them.

Her story is one of the most inspiring I have ever read, and I highly recommend it. I am not only a fan of Daniel's for life, but of Julia O'Donnell as well. May God continue to bless her and her wonderful family.

I am amazed at this woman, Julia O' Donnell. She has shown some unbelievable strength. I enjoyed her sense of adventure and her tenacious character. I have passed this book on to three other people at this time and all of them thoroughly enjoyed it. Our younger generation could never go through any of this hard work and keep up the spirit that Mrs. O'Donnell did. She has raised a great family and I have bought almost all of Daniel's DVD and CD's. His music inspires me as much as his mother's book did. I only wish I could meet this woman and her son. They both are a role model of humility for me. All the best to both of them and thank you for being part of my life through your story and music.
Fran Johnston
suziej@telus.net

"Mouring Glory" is certainly one of my favorite historical accounts of the French Revolution because it reaches beyond the conventional interpretations of this frightening (but fascinating) period of history. Huet gives the reader an informative analysis of the Revolutionary ideology of the sublime, and an incredibly well researched look into how and why the Revolution's idealistic leaders are portrayed as they are. The author gives insight into the Revolutionary will, and how it has been dramatized and incorrectly interpreted in an effort to remember the Revolution and its disturbing but hauntingly mesmerizing effects.

Marie-Helene Huet's collection of essays is a thought-provoking and fascinating account of the ways in which the past two centuries have dealt with one of the most controversial and multi-faceting events of all time; the French Revolution. Combatting Furet's bold "La Revolution est finie," Huet's work examines various aspects of the revolutionary myth, a myth that continues to influence popular culture to the present day. From a brilliant discussion of the meaning of the sublime in the late 18th century to the "feminization" of Robespierre and other Terrorists in historical accounts in order to embody the Chaotic as Feminine, Huet not only synthesizing previous studies of the Revolution but, most importantly, tells us how the perception of the Revolution always reflects upon the culture that created that perception. This is a fantastic combination of comparative mythology and history which should be read not only by those interested in the French Revolution but by anyone who wants to learn how society treats its dead and how that mirrors itself.