Ireland Books

I loved this book. I've been looking for a book that was fun to read and had myths and legends from Ireland. I have other books by W. B. Yeats and Lady Wilde that are just too dry to really just enjoy reading. I'll read them anyways, but I don't like it nearly as much as Myths and Folk Tales of Ireland. The only complaint I have is that I wish the book was longer!!! I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Ireland, or just myths and folk tales in general.

I can't recommend this wonderful book highly enough. Myths and Folk Tales of Ireland contains stories collected in the West of Ireland by Jeremiah Curtin during the end of the nineteenth century. Jeremiah Curtin was an Irish American ethnographer, working for the Smithsonian Institution. He did not speak Gaelic himself, but he hired Gaelic-speaking interpreters to record traditional stories from the oral tradition, and then translate them into English. Because of Mr. Curtin's faithfulness to the original sources, the stories are written in a wonderful prose, full of poetic, traditional phrases. We can hear the voices of nineteenth century Gaelic-speaking storytellers speaking from the page.

The stories in this book fall into two groups: Irish versions of widespread folktales such as "Cinderella", "The magician and his pupil," or "The giant with no heart in his body", and native Irish Fenian tales, about Finn MacCool and his companions. Reading them leads you into another world, where people would gather in the evening, by the light of a peat fire, and listen to a storyteller speak about heroes and lucky younger sons, giants, magicians and monsters. As an amateur storyteller, I have found this book to be a great resource, specially for Saint Patrick's Day, but suitable for all occasions. The stories practically tell themselves. I have found "The fisherman's son and the gruagach of tricks" to be specially popular, maybe because of the thrilling chase at the end.

I can also highly recommend another book by Jeremiah Curtin: Irish Tales of the Fairies and the Ghost World. This a collection of more homely folk-tales, full of great Halloween storytelling material.

Napoleon's Irish Legion is an excellent source of information for anyone who maybe researching the Irish Legion. In fact it is the only guide in English on the Legion next to the memoirs of Miles Byrne, an officer of the Legion. Byrne's memoirs are hard to come by, but Gallaher's book uses Byrne as a reference throughout the book. In my case I discovered my ancestor was a member of the Irish Legion, in fact Jacques Perry appears in this book as he was awarded the Legion of Honour for his efforts at the Siege of Astorga. Not only the book is an excellent reference, but it mentions the primary sources in France, so from this I was able to find close to 100 French documents on my ancestor, who as it happened was with Napoleon's Irish Legion since day 1 until the end. I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in Napoleonic history.

John Gallaher is THE expert on the Irish troops in the Grande Armee. For that reason only, this book belongs on the shelf of every Napoleonic enthusiast. This volume is well-researched, well-written, and thoroughly accurate. It is also one of the best unit histories of the period. It traces the Irish Legion, later the 3d Foreign Regiment, 3eme Etranger, from its beginnings during the Revolution, through its existence to the aftermath of Waterloo. Highly recommended, an excellent read, and a tale of adventure, honor, and the comradery of soldiers fighting for a cause, or causes, they believe in.

The great strength of Jacques Bainville is its ability to highlight a concise and methodical psychology of the Emperor of the French.

Beyond that, "Napoleon" is a historical study fruitful whose scientific value is recognized by the University. The high quality of "Napoleon" is still vocations historians in France.

A necessary reading of pure delightment.

Napoléon by Bainville is the best book ever written because it shows a young boy, who hardly speaks the language when he comes to France military school in Brienne, how destiny evolves and how such a brain is always thinking, learning, doing, deciding, organizing and finding new ways in front of new challenges no matter how dark it looks.
Leading its army he knew how to address soldiers, make battle plans and direct battle. It is a miracle he was not killed on the battle front many times. It also shows the perfidious Albion trying hard to make alliances to out maneuver his plans of making Europe from France to Ural mountains. It shows the smallness of today's leaders that do not decide without an army of consultants, spinners and writers and do not have the wisdom to make something that could last 200 years like the civil code.

Napoleon's Wars paints the background against which this struggle occurred. One finds that nations in those days behaved pretty much like they behave today. England, Russia, Austria, Prussia, and Sweden each had many battles they were fighting with each other, with the Ottomans, and also with Napoleon. Napoleon often forced these nations to deal with France during this time, but war with France was not nearly the only conflict either simmering or boiling over in Europe during these years. These "sidebar" conflicts go far to explain the emergence and dissolution of the various Coalitions which eventually defeated France and led to the Treaty of Vienna. One comes away reassured that things were just as messy and unpredictable then as they are now. Which your reviewer finds reassuring.

There are history books and there are history books. Then there are the very great books that distinguish themselves for the centuries, like Gibbon's "Decline and Fall." This is one of those.

Nowhere else will you learn why Napoleon's management system failed so utterly, destroyed by flaws in his own personality, in a sharp lesson for every CEO who has ever lived, or will ever live.

Esdaile shows how Napoleon was completely unable to master elementary fiscal and monetary management. What the Bank of England did to Louis XIV a century earlier slipped right by him, unseen, destroying him in his turn. Never once did he understand the economic and political combinations that were arrayed against him, let alone attempt to counter them in any coherent way.

I will cite this book in all my future books on business and will recommend it to all my clients as they struggle with issues of size, profitable scale, and, of course, personality.

Esdaile's writing is tight, focused, and spare. A few Anglicisms unusual in England even today do not mar the pace and the very high level of intellect that sparkles in each paragraph.

As usual, Mr. Szporluk's lucid and informative style makes understanding Eastern Europe a pleasure, in an area where unbiased analysis is still not the norm. Too many of us are still forced to rely on unreliable or falsified Soviet or even Tsarist era materials. Congratulations!

Yet again, Szporluk's has delivered a lucid analysis of another aspect of Eastern Europe's history. He has made accesable to the average reader what could be an obscure subject. Russian identity, a topic which has both fascinated and frustrated scholars in recent decades, is made easy as Szporluk's describes its developement or lack thereof. This is an achievement which should be enjoyed by all.

While this book is ostensibly about Swedish art, it really delves, sometimes rather offhandedly, into an investigation of the intellectual underpinnings of modern Sweden. Particularly enlightening is the perspective it throws regarding why Sweden, as an ethnically homogeneous country undergoing a major shift from an agrarian to an urbanized society and with a lively interest, not to say an obsession, with its own cultural roots, never went down the same road that Germany went down after 1870.

As such the book is worthwhile for anybody interested in the development of modern Swedish culture, and in fact it is eminently more readable than most other books I've seen on the subject, while still being authoritative.

Many people have written about how art is used in a nationalist context, just as music and literature were used throughout the 19th and 20th centuries to create highly idealized images of ethnic groups and emergent nation-states seeking to gain cultural and political independence. In Scandinavia, two regional schools of art -- in Finland and Norway -- were in tune with the mainstream of European nationalist art, always fascinated by questions of ethnicity. (Neither Finland nor Norway become independent until after 1900, from Russia and Sweden respectively). In those countries, artists like Akseli Gallen-Kallela and Erik Werenskiold chose to focus on earthy folk themes in order to emphasize the cultural distinctiveness of Finns and Norwegians.

In Sweden, however, nationalist art took a different turn. Sweden had already been independent for several hundred years, and Swedish artists like Richard Bergh, Karl Nordström, Anders Zorn and Carl Larsson were thus less concerned about their country's ethnic uniqueness than about issues like social equality, women's rights and the environment. While "Swedishness" played a very important role in their art, the concept was a highly progressive and socially-conscious one, in no way narrowly chauvinistic. "Swedishness" embodied these artists' ideas about what kind of country Sweden must become and how to create an ideal Sweden.

As Michelle Facos argues in this book, the 1890s were the cradle of modern Sweden, a decade that gave birth to the social-utopian ideals that make this country today so distinct. The emphasis in turn-of-the-century art that was placed on concepts like human rootedness in the land, pride in the nation's social accomplishments, and the potentials of peace rather than war led to a vigorous national regeneration in Sweden after 1900. And as Facos points out, "the impact of these artists' endeavors on the taste and values of twentieth-century Sweden cannot be overstated." Even in the decorative arts, Swedes experienced a kind of regeneration. For as the contemporary writer William Morris wrote, "external beauty is a symbol of a decent and reasonable life."

In "Nationalism & the Nordic Imagination," Facos looks at some of the themes that Swedish "National Romantic" painters dealt with during the 1890s. Grounded in ideas like primitivism, rootedness, symbolism, and the value of historical painting, Swedish art was also part of a larger Scandinavian and European context, which Facos explores, relating Swedish art to the work of painters like Gauguin, Puvis de Chavannes, and Van Gogh.

The book is very well written and accessible, and recommended to anyone interested in art history or Scandinavia. Five stars.

Excellent book. Unfortunately it is brief, I wish it were 2 or 3 volumes. The information presented has been prepared by masters in their field. This book will have you researching more on the topics covered, because the topics are short yet powerful enough for you to want to know more.

The book also has short subjects on each of the British class of ship, but oddly one of the major classes is absent.

This may first appear to be nothing but one of those historical 'picture books' and it is profusely illustrated, but it is much more than that. Well-research, historically correct text, and well-organized, it is one of the best books on the topic on the market today.

Robert Gardiner continues his study of naval warfare in the age of sail with this excellent study, covering the war at sea, the war on the lakes, privateers, and the arsoniistic adventures of the British Admirals, Cockburn and Cochrane, up and down the Chesapeake and the eastern seaboard of the United States, although this last is somewhat played down.

The early American frigate victories, the frantic shipbuilding and fighting on the Great Lakes, the sloop duels in the open sea, Porter's adventures in the pacific aboard the USS Essex, Lawrence losing the USS Chesapeake to HMS Shannon, while uttering the famous, 'Don't give up the ship!' which Perry later uses as his battle cry at the victory on Lake Erie, the famous and profitable voyages of the American privateer Prince de Neuchatel (a superb model of which is in the Smithsonian, by the way), all are thoroughly and colorfully covered in this must have volume on a little studied war.

It is in larger than normal format, and looks something like a coffee table book, but don't be fooled. The narrative is exciting, facts not commonly in evidence are chronicled here, and the illustrations are superb. This is a must buy and a must have.

I had been wanting to read this book for two years, having seen Lynne Hymers reading it in "The 1940s House." It was definitely worth the wait--I devoured this book like a good meal. Nella Last was a very resourceful, imaginative woman. I very much enjoyed her candid honesty, and the way she kept her sense of humor, even while missing her boys and dealing with her husband. I'm very much looking forward to the second volume of her diary.

Nella Last was a participant in the Mass Observation project. Her diary of the life of an "ordinary" British housewife during the war was open, honest, and reflective. I loved watching her grow from a submissive housewife to an independent, confident woman who found she could remain loving and caring without being a doormat. I found many of the mundane details of dealing with rationing, running a canteen, preparing for bombing, etc. on the homefront to be fascinating. I would have like to have known her, but at least I had the opportunity through this book.

I grew up in Belfast, and always had a lot of respect for the SDLP - initially Gerry Fitt and then John Hume being my political heroes. The book sets out with clarity mapping the real world experiences of John Hume and the progress - or maybe that should be regress - of the troubles in Northern Ireland. This book should be compulsory reading for kids growing up in Israel and Palestine, and probably Darfur and other regions of unrest. And of course, in Washington DC as well. Acheiving peace is not easy and does not come from the barrel of a gun. I don't recall the exact quote, and a friend is reading the book now, but it is along the lines of "Victory does not bring about peace - it simply puts it off". Never a truer word was said.

John Hume is a virtually unknown figure in the United States, but he has been steadily gaining recognition due to his work in the Northern Irish peace agreement. This recognition is overdue and much deserved. This monumental book outlines Hume's political philosophy - a philosophy which seeks to brush aside the vengefulness and intransigence of Northern Ireland's past, searching instead for reconciliation through justice for all. Hume is heavily influenced by Matin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy, and quotes from these two figures flavor Hume's text. Hume's themes may seem repetitive, and his ideas seem to be based on the shakey foundation of human progress, but this work demonstrates that he is a champion for for a true peace in Northern Ireland - a peace that is just for all.

This monograph frames HIV/AIDS in the context of rapidly-changing local sexual-mores as well as the fast growing arena of international, non-governmental and governmental organisations, that for 20 years have rallied to arrest the spread of the HI Virus in Thailand. The author draws together a number of ethnographic accounts of the Thai HIV/AIDS epidemic offering critical insight into local understandings, experiences and responses to the disease. Concomitant to this the author traces out the development of the modelling of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the subsequent campaigns that were fashioned to control it. The resultant picture that emerges of Thailand's HIV/AIDS epidemic is impressively broad in its scope and striking in the author's attention to detaill. In the true spirit of a critical anthropology the author raises questions regarding the taken for granted assumptions that inform the majority of HIV/AIDS research projects and social and behavioural intervention campaigns while, simultaneously contextualising the multifarious aspects of the epidemic in its contemporary and historical settings. This monograph is one of the few works on HIV/AIDS that through trying to understand the disease in its local social and cultural contexts, rather than simply change the worlds of the people affected by it, offers real insight into how HIV/AIDS is experienced on the ground and therefore insight into what might be done better than has been over the last 20 odd years.

A New Look At Thai AIDS: perspectives from the margins, is the only work of itskind in the field of HIV/AIDS both, in terms of Thailand's epidemic and the global pandemic as a whole. It offers the most comprehensive and thorough analysis of the biomedical, epidemiological, demographic and socio-cultural dimensions of Thailand's HIV/AIDS epidemic of any work in this field to date. Drawing on 19 years of ethnographic research in Northern Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, and an exhaustive corpus of English, Thai, Khmer and Lao language materials, this monograph runs a sustained and compelling argument that's critical insights and forthright conclusions set a new bench mark for anthropology as a critical discipline and raises questions of serious import to the'development world' as a whole. This monograph constitutes a finegrained, subtly-nuanced geneaological analysis of Thailand's HIV/AIDS epidemic grounded in its social, cultural, political and historical context. Essential reading!