Murray Books

This is an excellent book about an ignored group of heroes from the Battle of Briton. It is well written and documented. It gives a gripping and true account of the gallant Polish airmen who helped save England from Nazism. It also sadly shows how they were mistreated after the war. I would highly recommend this book for anybody studying World War II history and / or Polish history. It is rich with details but not boring. I could not put this book down and began reading large segments to my wife. She previously had minimal interest in history and found the book very facinating!

This book recounts the role of Polish pilots in the Allied war effort. It discusses how the Poles accounted for a disproportionate share of German planes downed over England. It also discusses the personal lives of the pilots, including the homesickness felt every Christmas. The all-but-forgotten sufferings of the Poles under both German Nazis and Soviet Communists is recounted in some detail. There is discussion of the heartbreak and outrage experienced by the pilots once they learned that the western Allies betrayed Poland to Soviet control after the war, ruling out a return home for most of the pilots. The postwar lives of some of the pilots are also recounted. The ingratitude of the British shown in politics was duplicated by much of the civilian population soon after the war. The short memory of the British, who forgot that Poles were fighting for the very survival of Britain a few short years earlier, were now clamoring for the Poles to go home. Other details are also provided. There is even mention of a Polish pilot, decades after the war, locating, in Bavaria, the German pilot he had shot down back in September 1939.

This book beside being interesting and intelligently written is unique in showing the "reverse of the coin". It is the book which shows the reality of the (sometimes mundane) life endured during II world war by people described in it. It was refreshing to read it. After reading many historical books I was almost always left with feeling that something was missing. Of ourse yes, the ordinary every day life was omitted in those books, but not in this one. I am looking forward to the next book of this author !

When I was growing up, I never was able to read much about Poland's role in WW2, except that it was conquered in less than a month by the German army. The only documentary I saw on the subject was Frank Capra's "The Nazis Strike", part 2 of his famous "Why We Fight" series on the war. Unfortunately, the documentary gets the facts completely wrong concerning the Polish Air Force. Believing the German propaganda version of the invasion of Poland, it claimed the Polish Air Force was caught on the ground and quickly wiped out by the German Luftwaffe.

It is true that many airfields were damaged and many planes were destroyed on the ground, but those planes were either training or sporting planes. The Polish Air Force were equipped with old-fashioned fighter planes and each fighter had only two machine-guns, compared with four machine-guns and two cannon on the Me-109. Even the German bombers were faster than the polish fighter planes, but many were still brought down in daring ariel attacks.

During the German invasion of Poland, the Polish pilots had to suffer many hardships. There was virtually no coordination with Polish army forces, and indeed quite a few Polish planes were mistakenly shot down by Polish troops! Also, as the Polish army retreated, the lack of gasoline as well as suitable airfields became a big problem for the brave airmen who were trying desperately to save their country.

After the surrender of Poland, much of the air force (without their planes, though) found their way to France where they continued the fight against Hitler's Third Reich. But France was quickly captured by the bold "Blitzkrieg" tactics of the German army, and so the Polish Air Force left for England. It was in England where the Polish Air Force became legendary, making a huge contribution to the British victory against the Luftwaffe. There were even movies made about Polish airmen, but their popularity in England was eventually poisoned by Stalin and the Soviet Union, who weren't about to help Poland win back its country.

Although the Polish army and air force constantly made big contributions to the Allied effort, Poland was betrayed by the Allies following the end of WW2. Many refused to return to their once beloved country that was now controlled by a communist dictator in Russia. This is a tragic, compelling, and very important story from WW2 that all history buffs should read. For the very best on the Polish Air Force, you can't do better than Jerzy B. Cynk's massive 2-volume official history of the Polish Air Force, packed with hundreds of photos. As an introduction to the subject, this awesome book is highly recommended.

This book is for you if you want to learn little-known facts about World War II, as well as the under-rated and often minimized contributions of Poland to the Allied war effort. This book is NOT for you if you are content to wallow in false stereotypes of Poles charging German tanks with lances.

Este libro le mencionara las propiedades para la belleza, yerbas curativas para cualquier enfermedad. ES EL MEJOR INSTRUMENTO QUE EXISTE PARA LA BELLEZA POR LAS MAÑANAS !

SUS BENDICIONES PARA NUESTRA SALUD...
¡Y PARA LA BELLEZA !
Estas "criaturas " de La Naturaleza,nos embellecen por dentro y por fuera...
PUEDES USARE ALGUNA DE ELLAS CADA MES ( SON 12 )
O A DIARIO ( ¡NO SABES QUÉ RESULTADOS !)
SE TE DEJA DE CAER EL CABELLO, SE TE HIDRATA LA PIEL, ADQUIERES MAS AGILIDAD...

¡Y TE SIENTES...COMO NUEVA !

as this book advises, and you'll look and feel healthy!
I mean it!

WE ARE WHAT WE EAT...AND WE FEEL SO WELL WHEN WE EAT RIGHT !
Yes, I love chocolate and cookies and also ice cream..But we can't live on that, NOT WITH ALL HEALTH AND DEVELOPED POTENTIAL!

These 12 keys to health DRIVE YOU TO HEALTH..And you canb still have chocolates and cookies and whatever you like if you add this book elements to your daily diet...

Y HACE MUCHISIMOS QUE USA LA SABIDURIA DE ESTAS CLAVES...
Yo no lo había hecho... Hasta que, hace unos meses, me dio coraje y pena que me confundan CON SU HERMANA !

As a London Underground enthusiast, I just couldn't resist what this book had to offer. The sections on the history of the Underground were very informative and easy to read.
But there's more to the book than that. I thoroughly enjoyed every page. The author's conversational (and often amusing) tone lend a lightness to a subject that could otherwise be very dull. The book runs the gamut of subjects--from the underground and now mostly mysterious Fleet to the high-speed cables of British Telecom. It's all there.
This book is an excellent resource for anyone doing research, and a great read if you're fascinated by things beneath the surface.

Except for Anglophiles and London Buffs most people's knowledge of the London Underground is limited to its use as a bomb shelter during the World War II Blitz. However, the Underground existed for centuries before WWII. Chapter 1 succinctly narrates the Underground during the Blitz, and concludes stating "....to understand the full complexity of what lies under London, we must begin with her subterranean rivers."

Chapter 2 notes "There are over a hundred miles of rivers in London, fed by over a hundred springs and wells....Hidden from view, recalled only in street names...." As early as 1463 a Royal Act ordered "The covering-in of the Walbook's middle and lower reaches" vaulting and paving it over. These rivers were covered over or diverted into tunnels. Many of the rivers underground became more sewers than rivers. The text also notes "There are several lost rivers under London referred to by London's chroniclers but impossible to trace."

The text devotes several chapters to the development of underground sewers, water systems, gas pipes, trains, and later telegraph, telephone and electricity systems. The text gives captivating accounts of several engineering problems that were confronted, how they were resolved together with thumbnail sketches of the engineers and managers involved. . Tunneling under the Thames River was a major venture taking fifteen years to complete. Most intriguing is the account of The London Hydraulic Power Company founded in 1871where "Raw water (untreated) water was pumped at a pressure of 400 pounds per square inch through the miles of pipes running beneath London, and was used to raise and lower cranes, operated lifts.... theatre safety curtains, wagon hoists, even hat hat-blocking presses...." Amazingly the company survived until the mid-1970s.

As telegraph lines were developed underground, the Post Office gained control of the telegraph system and later gained control of the telephone system which they tried to suppress. As electricity developed around a national grid, distribution moved underground and by WWII was operating as a national industry. After the dropping of the first atomic bomb, the British government considered operating from the underground but by the 1960s gave up plans to fighting and surviving a nuclear war from under London. The text notes that new water and electricity tunnels characterized the 1980s and early 1990s with "The biggest capital project under London in the last ten years has been the completion of the London Ring Water Main"

This is a fascinating book and the reader will be amazed by the extensive underground systems under London that are still in use today.

This is a fantastic history of what's underneath the ground of today's London. Blending history, geography, and engineering, this book describes the smothered streams and covered rivers, the water pipes and sewers, and the tunnels under the Thames.

A major section is devoted to the London Underground - the "Tube" - and its history. The Post Office's automated mail-handling railway is briefly touched on as well.

The role of London's underground spaces during wartime is reviewed including the underground factories and the Cabinet War Rooms of the Second World War.

The book is profusely illustrated with a heavy emphasis on contemporary cut-away and explanatory drawings. The pictures make the text come alive.

A really great book for the Anglophile or London-buff.

Having spent some time in London, and being a card-carrying historian, I was already aware of the hidden Fleet River, and the government bunkers from World War II, and (of course) the Underground itself. But I'd never heard of the Little Conduit beside St. Paul's, or the pneumatic postal railway, and the 1,500-mile network of 19th-century sewers (on which the metropolitan area still depends) never entered my mind. And I don't know how safe the pedestrian tunnels under the Thames would be these days, in any case. But the authors have done an amazing job tracing a number of "lost" rivers, and scores of independent water company pipelines, and assorted arsenals and crypts and tramways. And now I have a list for my next visit to London!

It's a great book if you're interested in this sort of thing. From the early beginnings of London's sewers to the modern day tube and postal networks, this book covers it all in a remarkably easy to read fashion. Of particular interest to me were the sections on Londons 'lost' rivers as well as the Underground, both covered in this book. Highly recommended.

I bought part I a few years ago. I am an economist interested in using examples from biology to explain and model commercial markets, more as a hobby than as a professional. I recently worked on Lotka-Volterra predator prey models and competitive models (a grey squirrel competing a brown squirrel out of business). I hope to find patterns in time series that are similar to patterns in economic time series. Book I covers this but most of the subject is in book II. With help of the Mathematica package I played with the examples in the book and it worked fine. It is a high level mathematical book and although the approach is pragmatic and well written, this book is primarily written for specialized mathematicians which I am not. However I like these two books very much just because of the mathematical depth. Normally the author decides how deep I will dig into matters, here I can decide myself.

This product was in fabulous condition and was shipped quickly--I recommend the company to all.

A few decades ago mathematical biology consisted mostly of evolutionary and predator-prey models. This has changed dramatically in recent years with the advent of computational biology and gene sequencing projects. The applications of mathematics to biology are now exploding and this book is an excellent example of that. The book could best be described as the application of nonlinear dynamical systems and reaction-diffusion partial differential equations to biology structures and processes. Readers with background in these areas of mathematics will find their ideas applied beautifully in this book. The best sections of the book for me were the discussions of synchronized insect emergence, models of testosterone secretion control, insect dispersal models, calcium waves on amphibian eggs, mammalian coat patterns, models of hallucination patterns in the brain, and modeling the transmission dynamics of HIV. Numerous exercises end each chapter, and the mathematical algorithms can easily be coded in Mathematica or some other high level language. This is a fine addition to the literature on mathematical biology and for the price it is a real bargain.

Many reviews here are about the old edition of Mathematical Biology (the softcover one volume, 2nd ed). Recently J.D. Murray split the second edition in two hardcover volumes. Volume 1 discusses mainly models that use Ordinary Differential Equation, while slightly more complicated Math is required for Volume 2. These new books have added topics (modelling of marital interaction, temperature-dependent sex determination, wolf territoriality, etc). While sometimes the model is still very simple and in its inital stages (e.g. marital interaction model), the books show how much biology and applied mathematics intersect, and they make very interesting read.
There is a certain lack of analysis of the nonlinear cases, so for those who need examples of amplitude equations, different ways of perturbing a linear model, these books are not so good. These books might be too complicated for a bio person with not much mathematical background, but it is very accessible to those with some math background, and are certainly easy for Math or Physics people who want to know more applications to biology.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Although a tough read, it is well worth your time and effort. The sections on spots and stripe formation are excellent and quite interesting. An excellent book!

Release The Butterfly: A Manifesto For Change In The Studio is an informed and informative aid to the heart and spirit of studying music or any other creative learning pursuit. Humorous anecdotes from the life of author Robert Murray Diefendorf (a professional pianist and teacher); proverbs of how important it is never to give up; and ponderings that transcend the physical world fill the pages of this inspirational and enthusiastically recommended work.

by Robert Murray Diefendorf

I loved this book. When I picked it off the bookstore rack, I thought it was

probably a thoughtful tutorial on teaching. Instead, it is an amazing and

entertaining lesson about life, about thought processes, about innovative

approaches to any workplace, about the power of the human spirit, about

the potential of the person who wants to learn or to teach. I read it through

quickly one time, then savored a chapter a day for the second reading, now

use it for reference for immediate lifts to my spirit.

L.A. Collins, author: "Collecting Books in New England, Zephyr Press;

"New England Thrift Shops", Globe Pequot

This book is especially pitched to musicians, but any artist could benefit from reading "Release the Butterfly." From "The Tai Chi Master at the Piano" to learning about psychic noise that distorts or inhibits art (jealousy, for one thing), the artist will gain insight into the secret processes of creating art in performance or in the studio. This is a very deep, philosophical, yet eminently readable book. Highly recommended.

Robert Diefendorf's Release the Butterfly is a must-read and destined to be a classic. With professorial wisdom, a master's proficiency, occidental scholarship and oriental philosophical clarity (zen?), Mr. Diefendorf gently guides his readers through a miraculous journey of discovery of how learning and teaching should be approached. It is an eye-opener.

Succinct, simply written, and broad in scope, this book will improve Anyone's eandeavor to learn or teah ANYTHING!

Bob's book brings out feelings of our self worth, making us feel good, that after all, we as human beings, are packaged with weaknesses and strengths. That we can overcome obstacles strewn along the path of life, and that we do have the will to plod on, regardless...and reading material like Release the Butterfly puts us back in perspective, giving us courage to shape our own destinies, with, of course, spirituality to help us along the way.

A mendicant bush father ends up with his young daughter, something that he really doesn't want to have happen.

The daughter, of course, needs a parent, although a tough and independent kid. Gradually, she grows on him, even though he sees her as a burden to start with, etc.

This 1955 Australian literary classic is hardly known at all in the US. And for a good reason: no publisher has seen fit to publish an annotated edition that would put translations of the copious "Strine" expressions (Australian slang) at the bottom of each page. Some geographical and cultural annotations would be a big help too. As it is, the reader is obligated to have an Australian dictionary at hand at all times to get through the story.
Why bother to publish an annotated edition? Here's why. Out of hundreds of novels dealing with the important topic of parental kidnapping ("PK"), this is the finest (in English at least). Not only is this a masterpiece of the PK sub-genre, it is a profound and poetic evocation of parenthood, fatherhood in particular. It's the sort of book that one might choose as required reading for high-school and college students if the topic of fatherhood ever overcame educators' lack of interest in fatherhood.
Like Joyce's "Ulysses," "The Shiralee" is inspired by an ancient epic, "The Odyssey." Unlike Joyce, Niland is spare with words and wears his learning so lightly you might not even realize you are reading an epic studded with symbols Melvillesque in scale. Like the Homer's hero, Niland's is a physical, not merely mental, wanderer.
Niland's hero is an Everyman who evokes another precursor as well, the voyager of Pilgrim's Progress. The Shiralee's pilgrimage is, however, the progress of the soul of fatherhood itself.
There is so much to be read "between the lines" (the place from which the story's real power emanates) that the book virtually demands a prompt second reading.
How many copies can sell in the US market? Just count the number of fathers in this country and add all their coming-of-age sons and you'll have that figure.

My mom recorded the Shiralee on tape some years ago. I love it! It is such a good story. They really need to get it on DVD.

I was fortunate enough to have recorded the movie, The Shiralee, when it was on Masterpiece Theater all those years ago. Actually, my grandparents taped, it as I about 10 years old. This film moved me in a way, even then, that I can only describe as profound. When I watch it today, it brings me something different each time. I only wish I could get my hands on the book!

I loved the book. My husband saw it on Masterpiece Theatre the same 10 years ago as other readers. I would like to know if the video is available to purchase or if it will air again soon. I've tried desparately in the past 5 years to locate the right people that might air it again-No luck. please help. Thanks

Wow, I loved this book and my wife did as well.It has all the answers and GREAT recipes to boot. The pictures are a wonderful way to tell the story of how it was and should be at the Holiday or everyday table. I really enjoyed the pic's of all the children praying, just like we all did back when. Hurry and get this for anyone for Christmas or any special gift giving days ahead.

It is obvious that these two women have lead full and entertaining lives.
They have wonderful recipes and know how it is to please friends and family. Their recipes are not pretentious, yet not so homey you couldn't
serve them to your boss or wow people at a function. I made several
recipes to give to friends and co workers this christmas because my budget
was tight. I am not the best baker, but all were pleased. I heartily
enjoyed the book, so I bought one for my mother, too.

I bought this for my wife and she went happy.Now I don't have to help her figure out the next party. Very creative, very unique. Thanks.

What a wonderful book. It's full of great recipes and ideas for entertaining. But it is more than just a cookbook. The use of photos and stories reminds us that family and friends are blessings and life should always be a celebration!

Wow, what a great book!! Just loved it. I am always looking for new and interesting cookbooks and this one is so fun and wonderful. You do not need to be a twin to enjoy this book, it is for all who love to cook, love food, family and faith. The best part (aside from the receipes) are the graces...how sweet! I plan on ordering more as gifts for friends and family.

What impresses me most about this touching book is that the children tell the story. Through their candid words and telling pictures, we enter a world that no one ever expects to find themselves in; much less a young child. And yet, the message conveyed is simple: hope. Hope to enjoy life... no matter the length of it. Billy Howard's photograpy allows the soul of each child to shine through. Buy this book. You won't be sorry!

Children's perspective of cancer is presented in this uplifting book through their own words, drawings, and photographs. Despite our natural sadness when confronted with this subject, the reader senses courage and hope when turning the pages of this book. Sadness is there as well, but the faith and fighting spirit of these children remind us of the resilience and strength and unceasing hope within all of us.

As always, Billy shows us the value of each individual. His work focuses on groups of people that we often would prefer not to acknowledge, those with AIDS, those with disabilties, the homeless and, in this case, kids with cancer. But Billy always shows us that we can learn much from each individual and that all can bring joy to our lives. Contrary to being "depressing," this book is full of hope.

Amazing .. the strength we can get from children. I knew Katie and she was a wonderful little girl. Her story continues here and she will always be in the hearts of those who knew and loved her. "Katie's Angel" is on the front of this book and on so many things she left to those who cherished and loved her. I can't see an angel that I do not think of Katie. She even wrote a personal cookbook and this angel is on the cover. The book is suitable for adults and children, because it gives us all hope and the power to be strong, sick or not. Nice pictures and very good reading... but you will fight a lump in your throat.

Angels & Monsters: A Child's Eye View Of Cancer by art therapist Lisa Murray and professional photographer Billy Howard is the impressive result of an eight year project in which Murray worked with children and had them express their feelings about their cancers through their artwork -- and then talk about their art. Howard took a photographic portrait of each child. The artwork and the portraits where paired and presented in a stunningly beautiful and thought-provoking exhibit under the auspices of the American Cancer Society, and which is memorably presented in the pages of Angels & Monsters. Sensitive, insightful, unique, and thoroughly "kid friendly", Angels & Monsters is highly recommended reading for any child (and their parents) having to cope with cancer, and would make a welcome and valued addition to any school or community library collection.

Patrick Leigh Fermor not only fills the 'unforgiving minute' but describes that experience in a way that transports us to that minute. One line from "Between the Woods and the Water" stays in my mind. "The heat and weight of the summer bore down and not a leaf stirred". Or, how about, "the newly distilled spirit had taken out the peasants like sniper". For a feeling of 'being there' he can't be beaten, certainly not by Ernest Hemingway who tried and failed by appearing too contrived. The writers who achieve this power to transport, as musicians or painters do can let us ignore their presence and I think that is their artistic intention, to merely present (with all their craftsmanship but so it doesn't show). Paul Bowles is such a writer as is Elmore Leonard. But that's another story.

The author, a rebellious teen in England, undertakes to walk from the Hook of Holland to Constantinople -- in 1937. This is the second half of his journey, through the Balkans and Danube lands. He has an ear for peoples' opinions, the oddities of Hapsburg imperial goulashes of different ethnicities & religions--most of which would be erased by the coming war. One has the sense of a "last glimpse" of the highly cultivated, varied human landscape of Europe before the war and Cold War divided its peoples.

I loved this book and other writing by the Author. Reading this book is like travelling with a friend. The author tells a beautiful tale of Europe just before the war. His style and tempo are close and personal, and when you reach the end of the trip, you know that you have encountered the Europe of a bygone era. Here in Canada many of my friends parents' were born in Germany, Hungary, and Romania. I tell them that this book is required reading.

Like most literary masterpieces this marvelous book has a outer vehicle that develops an inner theme. The vehicle is a journey on foot, horseback and barge across Europe in the 1930's when the author was 19. The inner theme is a resolution of polarities and opposites of all kinds. First there is the overriding polarity of solitude and company. He enjoys spending time with friends and friends of friends at their country homes in Hungary and Roumania and passing hours in their sometimes fabulous libraries but he finds refreshment and spiritual renewal in long solitary walks in wooded mountains and along the banks of the Danube where he meets an occasional deer or golden eagle. He relishes staying with his wealthy, worldly and sophisticated hosts but also enjoys the company of peasants, gypsies and lumberjacks. He likes passing comfortable nights in reasonably soft beds with clean linens but doesn't shrink from sleeping in hayricks or under sheltering oaks. The interplay of past and present are another polarity he weaves into the narrative. His knowledge of history and use of it in this work is both magnificent and enviable. Leigh Fermor is in fact one of the most cultured contemporary writers I have had the good fortune to read. He is a good linguist, a masterful historian and , surprisingly, a knowledgeable theologian. But that is only half the story. He is also a super-macho man of action completely aware of his body and its interaction with the environment. This we know from his activities, almost heroic feats, during WWII, especially in Crete. In the present book he coordinates his mental and physical endowments to produce a gorgeously textured masterpiece of English prose. Sex is not absent from the narrative but it is never described in terms that could be considered even remotely graphic. Acts are kept in the wings while he concentrates on the social, intellectual, and aesthetic dimensions of his relations with women. Unfortunately Amazon.com does not keep an ample stock of Leigh Fermor's works, so I had to purchase my copy from Amazon.co.uk. I may be impatient but my sense of company loyalty is unimpeachable. No?

I am not aware of any other account of Ada Kaleh, the island in the Danube populated by a Turkish enclave that was lost when the river was dammed in the '40s. I found an old postcard of the island in Hungary, and it's one of my favorite possesions.

And that ain't no blarney! Hey, I couldn't resist. A delightful subject with talented writers!!

This anthology delves into the past to tell the story of different generations of a family, going back into the 900s. A very interesting and well written book by these four authors. All four of the stories reaches for your heart.

A Legend of Love: Linda Windsor
Ballymara, Present Day: Moyra Rose O'Cullen has her work cut out for her when a cynical American journalist arrives in Ballymara, Ireland, determined to debunk the legend of the pledging stone. Ballymara's tourism depends on the romance of the local legend, and Moyra meets this threatening challenge by digging deep into the past to uncover the roots of the legend. Not only does she have to prove the legend is authentic, but Moyra finds herself praying that the pledging stone can work its magic one more time-for her.

A Legend of Peace: Vickie McDonough
Ballymara, 1895: Jilted and hurt by an American cowboy, Keely O'Cullen has her defenses up when yet another one comes into her life. Touring Ireland as part of a Wild West sow, Nick Dalton is injured when Keely's carelessness causes his horse to throw him. He ends up in her home being cared for by Keely's doctor father. Keely tries to keep her walls up, but Nick is just as determined to tear them down.

A Legend of Mercy: Pamela Griffin
Ballymara, 1359: Breanda and orphaned Ardghal have loved each other since they were children when the injured Ardghal was taken into Ballymara castle. Yet English law may prevent them marrying because Breanda is Anglo, and Ardghal is pure Gaelic-an association forbidden by the Statutes of Killkenny. Then, Breanda is kidnapped and all evidence points to Ardghal and his clan. To rescue her could result in capture and death for him.

A Legend of Light: Tamela Hancock Murray
Ballymara, AD 500: Conn, a Christian, has arrived in the glen to find rest and quiet. Instead, he discovers he's landed in the midst of a druid society and ends up teaching them the word of God and about Jesus, and becomes known as the Holy Man. Word of the healing of one of their clan women piques the curiosity of Sorcha and she goes to hear him speak. Conn is very handsome and Sorcha is captivated. She determines to have him for her own, even if she has to resort to trapping him through lies and pretense to force a union between them.

This Barbour four-in-one is a bit different. We start out in contemporary Ireland with the O'Cullen clan and start the journey into the past to discover the roots of the legend of the pledging stone. Instead of starting at the earliest time, we go backwards each time. At the end of each period, we come back to today and learn more of how Moyra and her American journalist are faring.

This is fun reading, a unique blend of "now" and "then" that will keep you turning the pages to learn how the pledging stone influences each of the O'Cullens as their story unfolds. Get your copy now.

Peggy Phifer ©2005

This is a fun collection of stories-within-a-story, all centering around the fictional Irish town of Ballymara and its romantic local legend, spanning several generations from 500 AD, when Christianity first found the Irish people, to the present.

To be honest, I am not a huge fan of novellas and was most interested in this set because of Linda Windsor, a favorite Christian historical novelist. The three other stories, however, provided a wonderful surprise: well-written, engaging characters and the charm that makes me love nearly anything Irish. By the time I finished reading this volume--straight through, I might add, putting real life on hold as one should with a good book--I felt I'd truly visited the Emerald Isle myself, in four different time periods.

If you have not had the pleasure of reading a historical christian romance before you are in for a treat. This book takes place in Ireland in the present time of now. Moyra, lives and works in Ireland. She is involved with tourism and advertising. Jack comes to Ireland to write an article for a travel magazine. But right from the start he intends to write a negative article so he can save his job. Moyra has to show Jack around, she immediately doesn't like him and knows he could take away her job and livelihood, as well as a lot of other townspeople, with his article. She grows to dislike him even more when he challenges there sacred "Pledging stone" which means any promise made there has never been broken. Well on film Jack promised to love Moyra over the pledging stone. She was furious with him! Does the pledging stone work? Does Moyra and Jack fall in love?

Through the story there are flashbacks into the past. Which is great if you like history, like me! (1850, 1350, and 500) Jack and Moyra learn all about Moyra's family trhough three more fabulous romances! I couldn't put this book down. I recommend it for anybody who wants to read about Ireland, Faith, and Love. It was such a great and inspirational read.