Ireland Books

I first viewed this book at my local library and after going over it, decided to purchase it for my own personal library. The book covers a wide expanse of gardens in Britain, Ireland and not mentioned in the title, Scotland. Book does not give in depth information about layouts of gardens and such, but does contain one or two pics of mentioned gardens and locations in write ups. The photographs are simply beautiful.
The gardens in England are broken down into sectors, such as south-east England or North England for those who may be going to visit. Often, they contain pictures of the manor houses, cottages, castles or architectural elements in the gardens.The book also includes antedotal information about past occupants of houses, gardens or historical events surrounding the houses and gardens. For me, that added immensely to the overall enjoyment of the book. It's a winner.

This large and attractive book is a reference book on over 1,700 of the most beautiful gardens in the British Isles. The largest part of the book is the Guide, in which public-available gardens are discussed, complete with colorful pictures. Grouped by region, each of the gardens is given a quick introduction, a more in-depth description, and important information, including location, size and when open. After the Guide comes the Gazetteer, in which the author looks at many different gardens, including some still privately held and those belonging to cemeteries and hospitals.

Overall, I found this to be a very enjoyable book. I really liked reading the descriptions of the gardens, and the interesting historical notes. The one thing that would have made this book better would have been more pictures. But, it is already a pretty hefty book, and I do realize that adding more pictures would have made it huge.

But, that said this is a very interesting book, especially for anyone who plans on being able to visit these wonderful gardens themselves.

This is an excellent resource for both advanced beginners and experienced reseachers. Well organized, conversational, and very factual. Specific strategies for solving a variety of research challenges are developed and illustrated. The authors want the researcher to be able to locate the specific piece of Irish soil where the ancestor lived.

Betit and Radford do not attempt to address every record type or resource, nor does this work replace the standard reference works of Mitchell, Ryan, etc. It is not Irish county specific, nor is Argentine emigration addressed. What they have done very well is present the material in such a way that can enable the serious researcher, whatever the experience level, to get arms around a complex subject.

As you may surmise, I definitely recommend this book. Good luck and have fun.

A Genealogist's Guide To Discovering Your Irish Ancestors was specifically designed and written for the aspiring genealogist seeking guidelines for determining an Irish ancestor's place of origin. Dwight Radford and Kyle Betit effectively collaborate to present sound advice for researching Irish records both domestically and overseas; basic strategies essential to successful Irish research; special advice about tracing Scots-Irish ancestors; practical advice for accessing Irish cemeteries, land, church, estate, census, and military records; how to access civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths, as well as emigration lists; sources and strategies for researching Irish ancestors who settled in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, Wales, and the Caribbean, as well as timely information on Internet resources and favorite sites on the World Wide Web. Highly recommended for personal and community library genealogical research reference collections, A Genealogist's Guide To Discovering Your Irish Ancestors offers both the novice and the experienced genealogist with everything necessary to trace and record their family's Irish history.

After all that's been written about Lafayette, this book was a complete surprise. It added much to read of his wife's devotion and abilities and their lifelong relationship. It also places them in history, and by reading their letters, you are introduced to them directly. This book is not only entertaining but scholarly. Should be in every college library.

After reading both Unger and Kramer on the astounding life of General Lafayette, I was very curious about his wife. This book of letters and history concerning her life of privilege and partnership is a complement to what most people know about her famous husband. Both the American and French Revolutions were pivotal in their life together of sharing their wealth to the very end. Adrienne generously gave the peasants working her land the best circumstances of the day, while Lafayette at age 18 bought and outfitted a ship to help the colonies win freedom. Three daughters and a son were born while the General was going back and forth across the Atlantic to muster more help from the French for the new nation. Their only son was named George Washington Lafayette and he escaped being imprisoned due to his mother's clever arrangement. Before she joined her husband in prison voluntarily, she snuck her son out of France to be raised for several years by Martha and George Washington. Lafayette's two daughters also joined their father in prison. When Lafayette was not allowed to enter France, his wife pursued their family interests in war torn Paris and environs. She regained La Grange for Lafayette's retirement. He survived Adrienne by almost 30 years at this lovely chateaux and never remarried. She died at 50 due to her illness contracted at the prison where she decided to join her beloved husband. Many relatives were guillotined, so Adrienne arranged their burial site at Picpus Cemetery to be close to the thousands dumped in a mass grave. An American flag flys over their grave for they were both truely "Partners in Liberty's Cause." Lafayette took a triumphal tour of all the United States and returned to France with American soil to spread over their graves. Both equal partners and generous souls.

This is a very well researched book using the rich Genoese archives as well as material from other Italian collections. The subject, policy and power in Genoa, provides a good comparison with the more fully covered Venetian republic. It is a good contribution to the complex world of the Mediterranean in the Early Modern period.

There are many histories of Florence and Venice, but far fewer of Genoa. Genoa And The Sea: Policy And Power In An Early Modern Maritime Republic 1559-1684 is the story of one of Italy's great cities along the Mediterranean coast, and its transformation from a maritime republic into one of Europe's most crucial financial centers. When Spanish prosperity began to wane, Genoa, whose trade and prosperity had been closely linked with Spain, had to reinvent itself to continue its prosperity. A critical key to Genoa's success was a free-port policy that spurred trade and made it especially inviting to merchants. A thoroughly researched, scholarly scrutiny of a changing economic era as reflected in a bustling and complex metropolis.

The usual men-at-arms quality and concise coverage of all facets of the topic. This second title on the armies of Medieval Germany is illustrated by the late Angus McBride and reveals some of the bizarre costumes and armor decor of the knights and mercenaries of this period.

The usual good basic coverage by Osprey, covering the Holy Roman Empire. Wars were frequent, between principates, towns and cities, leagues, robber barons, religious groups. It's no wonder that Germany would be the site of some of the bloodiest campaigns during the later Thirty Years' War. There is also an excellent section on the Hussites and their unique method of fighting the Empire. There is even a halfway decent map in this one! The excellent color plates by Angus Mcbride start with chainmail and end with full gothic plate armor.

I have read this story to my third graders for the past few years and they absolutely love it. This is a great story for March. Use as an introduction to the folklore of leprechauns. This story keeps my students' attention until the last page.

The Gift is fantastic! While reading this book, my fourth grade students sometimes roll on the floor in fits of laughter and sometimes sit quietly with eyes glistening. It is beautifully written with an important message about family, love, and roots. Unfortunately, the original art in it is GROTESQUE, probably to blame for its being removed from print. I BEG A PUBLISHER TO GET IT BACK IN PRINT--without illustrations!! I KNOW it will be a big seller!

What a wonderful book this is! Conlon's voice is real...her character are people, living, loving, despairing, and making the best of it all.

Every single one of them rings a bell and the honesty is refreshing and true. They are a group of real friends who know when to tell the truth and when to think over telling the truth. Everyone takes responsibility for who they are and they accept, support, and make allowances.

This is what it's all about.

Best novel I read since Charming Billy. Had trouble putting it down, it gripped me immediately and does s fine job of increasing conflict up to the very last chapter. Story told with letters and an occasional chapter devoted to a single character providing his/her background from childhood on. Well written, characters developed in full. Read the book from our library - it was published in Ireland - and purchased a copy to send to a daughter who will loan it to others. Wonderful story - or stories really.

The author has artfully created a painful and powerful portrait of a woman ravaged by social conventions and the horrible perversions of sexual abuse. The book is extremely well-written...even so, it is painful to read simply because the horror of abuse wallops one right in the face. One's heart aches for Elizabeth. The story serves as a stark reminder that this is not just a "fiction" account. Many children throughout the world today are living Elizabeth's life. Although I've read other reviews of the book which claim a "hopeful" ending, I found the ending to be a resignation to the stagnant, love-starved state of a woman's bloodied heart. Elizabeth's decision to become a single parent is a cry of despair. Do read the book to get a true idea of how the abused feel.

This is a very emotional book. The central character is Elizabeth Wallace and it tells of her childhood stolen by abuse and dependence, her adolescence filled with confusion and her early womanhood leaden with the difficulties of coming to terms with her abuse by her father as well as the dependence and later the loss of her mother. The Elizabeth at the end of the book is a strong woman who, disillusioned with family life as she has experienced it, chose a commitment to motherhood on her own terms. It is a book that will bring home to you the destruction caused by alcohol and abuse and remind you that every child has a right to their innocence. It is an extremely well written book, which even though the subjects dealt with are at times far from pleasent, makes the book a pleasure to read. Definitely worth a try and you will not forget it in a hurry.

As a child of the Scotch Irish diaspora, I am finding this book riveting.

The thesis presented here carefully demonstrates the powerful and ongoing impact of the Hebrew Scripture, particularly the covenanting of God's "Chosen People," on peoples who read and take seriously (even literally) the several thousand year old constructs of the ancient Hebrew tribe of Israel.

Most of my pondering about the "why" of customs and belief systems of my own almost entirely Scotch Irish family find articulation in this amazing book. Four hundred years after Calvin and over 200 since the last of my family left Ulster, the power of the covenant lingers still.

I wish Dr. Akenson could consider exploring the town of Due West, South Carolina, and Erskine College, to find the very strong threads of this culture alive and well in the United States.

D.H. Akenson has masterfully taken a complex subject, that being the Old Testament, along with South African, Irish, and Jewish histories, and has put it together in a very compelling thesis. It is well organized in sections dealing with the origins of the particular covenants, a section on the covenant and the state, and a section of the covenant in recent times. The book is very hard to read for the layman, but for the informed he has done a great service. The only weaknesses I find is that he does not do present enough analysises of the differences within the covenanted peoples, especially as certain factions differed on the application of the covenant.

This is a fantastic, thorough and (most importantly) readable guide to the daunting ask of attempting family history research in Ireland. It is obvious that the authors have plenty of experience with the subject, and offer some unexpected and well thought out advice. I found it very helpful.

I just want to point out that the authors of the book are Sherry Irvine AND Nora M. Hickey. The book is erroneously listed as being written bu one person named "Nora Hickey Irvine". Maybe this can be corrected to make it easier to find.