Irish Books

I'd rather read this book than have Irish bread w. freshly whipped butter, w. farm-fresh eggs, tomato, sausage and Irish breakfast tea! And that's a lot! This affectionate novel is a jewel. A very special woman wrote this book and shared with us her very special childhood. If you're Irish, of Irish descent, have been to Ireland, or enjoy a charming, well-written, enchanting true tale, you'll love this book and keep a copy and recommend it to loved ones. Did you enjoy the LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE books as a child? Or have you read, THE ROAD FROM COORAIN by Jill Ker Conway? Then you'll truly enjoy this book

I laughed, I cried, I remembered my own childhood in County Ireland as I ran barefoot through the daisies. I especially loved the bit about 'Old Dan'who loves to be near children. I knew a guy JUST like that when I was seven. Alice Taylor's book is a TRIUMPH. It is nothing less. We need more books about the poverty and ignorance of Ireland, written by an ordinary housewife like Alice, in her deceptively accessible style. In these weary times, her book is like three hundred milligrammes of morphine to a man with a headache. She deserves the pulitzer! Well done Alice!!

If you love the simple life (not to be confused with easy), nature, simple people and their idiosyncracies, then you will love this book. Alice Taylor takes us back to the communal farm life of Ireland. She "shows" us vividly how she grew up in County Cork Ireland in a rural farming community where the community came before the individual; unheard of in our current paradigm. Everything that nature had to offer was used in daily life, including the grease from cooked geese to oil leather boots. Life was about pulling your weight, helping your neighbor, integrity, and respecting God and His creations. This book sooths my soul and slows me down. If you live a busy "city" life, but long for nature and simplicity, I highly recommend this book. It will make you smile and comfort your spirit.

If Angela's Ashes and it's clones is your only taste of Ireland during the economic hard times, you're only getting half the story. This best seller speaks of the Ireland our grandparent's held dear to their hearts. It's short vignette structure makes it an excellant read for those using public transportation. Warning: people who feel good writing must be driven by inner turmoil will hate this book. To all others Taylor's work is breath of fresh air!

What a delight this little book is! Within the space of only 151 pages of standard typeface, Alice Taylor has told many a tale, charmed us with her warmhearted stories from her childhood.

TOO LONG A SACRIFICE is an admirable model of the editing of literary works of importance. The editors' knowledge of the subjects and their place in history (political, art and otherwise), the care with which they present the text, and the extensive and informative notes which clarify persons and events mentioned, are impressive. However important Quinn may be, my impression of him is not very positive. He seems to be, in spite of his status as a patron, protector and promoter, an opportunistic user of people. He appears to be communicating primarily as an effort to elicit responses that will have future literary value - he is writing with an eye to posterity's perception of him - he is less interested in the person than in the person's observations, statements and assessments. His words seem disassociated from a human, humane interest in his correspondent. While a degree of personal reserve may be expected, his reserve seems cold and calculated. I felt this strongly in the earlier ON POETRY, PAINTING AND POLITICS (The Letters of May Morris and John Quinn) {Janis Londraville's previous work on Quinn}. Mrs. Londraville's scholarly and graceful editing is wonderful. She does not intrude her assessment of the man into the book, making it possible for me to dislike him all on his own! I recommend both these books for all readers interested in the linked worlds of Irish history, literature and tragedy, seen through the filter of a careful, American, would-be Walpole.

These writers go to the essence of their subjects presenting them as human being not just icons of their time. Please check out the other books by these authors who capture others from the Irish connections

TOO LONG A SACRIFICE is an essential guide to Irish arts and letters as well as an intriguing glimpse into the daily lives of early twentieth century literati. Between the dark wit of Irish American lawyer and art patron John Quinn and the passionate observations of political activist and feminist Maud Gonne, these letters open a window onto a private world where such literary luminaries as Joyce, Pound and Yeats were also friends. Through this collection of correspondence, historian Janis Londraville and SUNY Potsdam Professor Richard Londraville, who both spoke at the W.B. Yeats Society of the Palm Beaches this May (99) in Florida, have offered modern readers a passport into the minds and times of these two influential figures. Whether these letters were written from a train station in Paris, a country house retreat in West Ireland, or a law office in bustling turn of the century New York, I felt as if I was there as Gonne and Quinn corresponded about the effects of war, the possibilities of art, and the hopes of an independent and united Ireland. Since these letters were not penned for personal gain or public perusal, their candor is refreshing, especially as they speak of people who worked only for the blessing of history, not celebrity. That understanding - of how art continues to exist, often at great personal cost, because of some inner dedication instead of adulation - is just one of the many lasting insights from this book. It's an epistolary treat

Because of my interest in early twentieth century art, I have read some of John Quinn's letters before, and I'm familiar with his biography by Benjamin L. Reid. What fascinates me about this new book of letters is that Quinn seems so interested in and concerned about Maud Gonne, her various interests, and her children. He is usually less sensitive. The notes at the end of the text are another book in themselves, and very helpful to me in my own research about several sculptors, including Gaudier-Brzeska and Brancusi. Although Irish history is not my area of expertise, I liked eavesdropping on Maud Gonne when she wrote to Quinn about the Irish political situation and, especially, about the starving Irish children. I never really understood before what England had done.

TOO LONG A SACRAFICE casts light on the world in which Maud Gonne, John Quinn, and W.B. Yeats lived and worked. There has been such a proliferation of material about Yeats and his circle that I didn't expect much that was new in these letters. But as I read Maud Gonne's correspondence with John Quinn, I felt for the first time that she was a special individual and not simply a function of Yeats's verse. She writes frequently about Yeats, his poetry, and their mutual friends; but she also writes of her own life, aand of her own ideas abut art, literature, and politics. I didn't always agree with her views, but I was delighted to know, at last, how SHE felt. The editors claim that "the seriousness of Gonne's views is both diminished and enhanced by [Yeats's] poetry" and that "it has become almost impossible for us to see her other than through the lens of his verse." But these letters allow me to hear Maude Gonnes' own voice. She speaks as a firebrand who hates everything English, and yet is also a healer and a humanitarian. (I learned that she nursed the wounded in France during WWI, and she, with Quinn's financial support, fed starving children in Dublin). Quinn was a powerful man, the patron and friend to many of the important writers and artists of the twentieth century. I'm given the impression that he was acerbic at times, temperamental, and perhaps obsessive compulsive. Still, his letters to Maud Gonne are charming and packed with information about famous people he knwe, from Theodore Roosevelt to james Joyce, from Woodrow Wilson to John Millington Synge, from the entire Yeats family to artist Gwen John and Pablo Picasso. The editors are to be commended for their efforts to keep a balance between meticulous scholarship and concern for the non-specialist. I particularly appreciated the useful introductions to eaach section.

_Toss the Feathers_ is the definitive book on Irish set dancing. I bought a copy in Galway City, and it has saved me innumerable times. I carry it with me to all classes and ceilis; it's well-worn and well-loved. Besides the most common sets, Pat gives us notes for beautiful and obscure local dances. His introduction also includes an illuminating history of set dancing. Beware: you will not teach yourself to dance from this book if you have no prior knowledge of set dancing. However, it is ideal for supplementing your knowledge from classes. When two set dancers disagree on the "correct" version of a set, one inevitably pulls out a copy of Pat's book, and his judgement is trusted. All of us set dancing addicts are awaiting the upcoming sequel. Buy it now! You'll never regret this useful reference on bad days when you can't even remember how the Ballyvourney Jig Set begins.

As a step dancer with limited exposure to set dancing, I found this book a wonderful introduction. Although I cannot personally vouch for the accuracy of his notation, I know/ have heard of several who do. In any case, it is well written and researched.... An excellent historical guide. Probably the best Irish dance (step or set) book sold on Amazon.

This is the best. If you want a reference for dancing, the one the teachers use, this is it. Buy it. There is none better.

This book is great for anyone who set dances but hasn't yet memorized all of the moves (-most of us?!). Not intended for people who have never set danced before. You need to be familiar with the jargon, such as "round the house", "ladies chain", etc.

Pat Murphy's _Toss the Feathers_ is the most useful guide to set dancing I have come across. During my nine months dancing in Northern Ireland, _Toss the Feathers_ was the book that my teachers used to check for technicalities, and the book I used to brush up on my steps on my way to ceilis. I heartily recommend this book to people who know about set dancing, and want to check their steps or sets. However, I do not recommend this book to newcomers, because Murphy's language is overly technical. For example, to turn someone under your arm, you have to rotate them in a counterclockwise manner until they reach 360 degrees, etc. :) I'm exaggerating. But this book is a definite must-have for those who love set dancing, especially when they're away from Ireland. Like me. Cheers go to Pat Murphy.

I was originally introduced to this book while living in the UK...the pipe band with which I played incorporated several of the tunes into its competition march medley. Being a long-time fan of the 'classic' trad Irish groups such as the Chieftains and the Bothy Band, I quickly realized these tunes to be ones played by them but set for the Highland pipes; yet still maintaining the framework to keep them instantly recognizable. If you're a Highland bagpiper and are looking for some great Irish tunes that you seldom hear in GHB piping circles, this is an excellent addition to your collection. If you're looking for some fresh material for building a pipe band competition medley (Gr III or higher) that no one else is playing, you'll find some gems in here. Note that this is NOT a beginner's tunebook...many of the tunes are quite challenging--not on the level of Saul or Duncan, but still enough to result in a disappointment (and discomfort) for the listener if attempted by a beginner or poor piper not up to the task.

This is a great little book of tunes. I've owned a copy for years and learned many tunes from it. It includes the classic "A Glass of Beer", a very Irish sounding "Johnny Cope" and several great slow airs and marches. But the person who compiled and arranged the tunes is Dave Rickard, not Susan MacQuaid.

This is a great collection of music and I highly recommend it to all of the pipers out there

This books is very well laid out with some great original compositions. I highly recommend it.

I was somewhat dissappointed when I first received this book because I was expecting many tunes that I had heard of, but after I had played several of them I quickly saw that this collection is a trove of wonderful celtic melodies that I will enjoy learning. Many of these tunes are written in the old style and are quite satisfying to play. Enjoy!

this is T S Eliot's poetry as he heard it in his own mind, without "interpretation" by an actor, an unmissable experience. The recordings are archive material, so not up to modern standards, but that is a small price to pay!

This was better than expected. I read a lot, esp TSE, have many cds of recorded poetry and already had recordings of his work by "specialist" or celebrity actors, most absolutely dissappointing: you get the feeling that they were going for an effect without having grasped the essences of TSE's poetry, especially wrt the Wasteland from a recorded version of which I expect a lot of specific nuances and hues. When I ordered this product, I didn't set my expectation too high, as poets, though they are the creators, are not always necessarily the best oral communicators. However, TSE was not only amazing in his delivery, pace and colour, his readings actually gave me fresh insights, in some cases revelatory. This is an absolute must for any lovers of poetry. I must add, I was quite surprised at the extent of his accent's anglification.

You can hear The Waste Land as it was meant to be heard. T. S. Eliot's reading made the poem come alive. Be warned. Not all of the CD is high quality recordings. Some have background noise. Some are low quality. I don't think the tracks are listed anywhere, so I'll list them for you.

1. La Figlia Che Piange
2. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
3. Gerontion
4. Sweeney Among the Nightingales
5. The Waste Land
6. The Hollow Men
7. The Journey of the Magi
8. Ash-Wednesday
9. East Coker

This is worth it for The Wate Land alone. The rest is just icing on the cake.

This audio CD is a must-have for all fans of T. S. Eliot. Poetry is supposed to be read out loud; it is a pleasure and privilege to hear one of the greatest poets of the 20th century read his poems out loud, allowing us to hear the lines the way they were meant to be heard--and read.

This collection contains a short book with an introduction by J. D. McClatchy and the text of all the poem found on the audio CD. The CD contains 9 tracks: La Figlia Che Piange, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Gerontion, Sweeney Among the Nightingales, The Waste Land, The Hollow Men, The Journey of the Magi, Ash-Wednesday, and East Coker. The poems are arranged in chronological order, offering insights into the development of both language and themes throughout Eliot's career.

The first track, "La Figlia Che Piange," is one of Eliot's earliest poems and explores, like much of his earlier poetry, the frustrations of a young man and thwarted love. It is a lovely short poem, full of the images that Eliot is well known for. Published at the same time (in the same volume in fact) was also "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." One of the most well known poems, "The Love Song" is a culmination of Eliot's early poetry.

The highlight of the CD is the reading of "The Waste Land." The epic poem is the longest found in this collection, going over 25 minutes. "The Waste Land" by far is one of my personal favorites and I have read it countless of time. However, reading the poem along with this CD has allowed me to shed new meaning to this enormously difficult and marvelous poem. Eliot dramatizes his reading, allowing the dozens of narratives and narrators to come through. Spinning a multifaceted account of the deterioration of society in the early 20th century, a collage of the decay of love and fidelity, a haunting vision of the death of man and his rebirth; all shifting through time and space, drawing upon different histories and languages and cultures, all coalesced through the eyes of Tiresias. Indeed, "a heap of broken images."

"The Hollow Men" is the worst quality recording found on this CD. However it is still evocative as ever. Eliot's hypnotizing monotone, which prevails much of his readings, is exetremely effective in this case, bringing to life the hopelessness and stagnation of the hollow men.

"The Journey of the Magi" is a particularly fitting poem for December and the holiday season. It marks a progression of Eliot's poetry to more theological themes yet still picks on Eliot's fascination with death and rebirth, ending and beginnings.

"East Coker" is the second highlight of the CD. It is the last track and also one of the last poems Eliot composed before his death in 1965. "East Coker" is the second volume in his masterpiece "The Four Quartets." The poem draws upon Eliot's study into Christianity, philosophy, and mysticism. It is a deep exploration of the meaning of time and change. The poem is almost 15 minutes on the CD. Eliot's reading highlights his supreme command of the English language, his sophistication in diction, rhythm and meter. The first and last of the "East Coker" is engraved on Eliot's grave site in England as his chosen epitaph: in my beginning is my end, in my end is my beginning.

This is a well chosen collection of poems which highlights the body of Eliot's work. Hearing the poems being read by their author is a valuable experience. I definitely recommend this to anyone who reads Eliot and would like to learn more about his poetry.

It is a great experience to hear the voice of this master poet.

Like his poems, this book is short, to the point, and well worth reading. Highly recommended

There's no question that Siegfried Sassoons's is the finest of the World War I poetry. How the poems are presented to the reader is A PROBLEM. Publishers employ "lick and a polish" guys who excell at slight touch-ups to a graphic design that enables the corporation to double the book price. THIS BOOK."THE WAR POEMS OF SIEGFRIED SASSOON",COSTS TOO MUCH. If Sassoons poems were the value for the money, hooray. But we're not paying the money to Sassoon. Sassoon has been dead for half a century. Sassoon does not, therefore, benefit from the high cost of the publication. Poems: GREAT. book: OVER-PRICED.

I admit I am not one much for poetry, but ever since I read Martin Gilbert's THE FIRST WORLD WAR, which was replete with poetry written in the heat of battle, I've learned that verse is one of the most effective ways for a combat veteran to communicate the experiences of war. Siegfried Sassoon's aptly-titled WAR POEMS, compiled by Rupert Hart-Davis, is less a book of poetry than a guided tour through the muck, duckboards and barbed wire of No Man's Land.

Sassoon was a paradox as a human being. A sensitive and cultivated man and a world-famous poet when still in his twenties, he was also a ferocious fighter on the battlefield, dubbed "Mad Jack" by his men and a holder of the prestigious Military Cross. Disenchanted by the wastage and slaughter he had experienced, in 1917 he wrote a denunciation of the war and was promptly shut up in an asylum in Craiglockhart, Britain, where he composed many of the poems that appear in this book. Later he returned to the front and was shot in the head, but survived and enjoyed a prolific and diverse writing career, somewhat annoyed (as Hart-Davis tells us) that he had gone down in history as a "war poet." Reading this book, however, it is easy to see why.

Hart-Davis has arranged the 111 poems in chronological order, so that the reader can follow Sassoon's emotional journey from a naive young subaltern filled with a quasi-religious sense of mission (in 1915) to an embittered, half-delirious veteran driven to the edge of his sanity by relentless horror. And truly his poems run the range of emotions, from the mundanities of trench life ("A Working Party"; "In An Underground Dressing Station") to the moments before the ball went up ("Before the Batlle") to fury of combat itself ("Counter Attack") and its aftermath ("Died of Wounds"). Every aspect of the war is discussed, from war-fever to cowardice, from the bungling and incompetence of generals to the bluster of civilians back in England. Sometimes he's filled with rage and grief; other times with admiration and pathos (as with "Remorse", his paen to German prisoners run through with bayonets after an attack). But always there's the keen intelligence, the gift for words, the startling ability to convey image in just a few syllables, that mark the true genius-writer. See "The General:"

"Good morning, good morning" the general said
When we met him last week on our way to the line
Now the soldiers he smiled at are most of 'em dead
And we're cursing his staff for incompetent swine
"He's a cheery old card," grunted Harry to Jack
As they slogged up to Arras with rifle and pack.

But he did for them both with his plan of attack.

Of course quoting from the best of the WAR POEMS would fill 30 pages, so I'll leave you with the words of "Base Details."

If I were fierce, and bald, and short of breath,
I'd live with scarlet Majors at the Base,
and speed young heroes up the line to death.

You'd see my puffy petulant face,
Guzzling and gulping in the best hotel,
Reading the Roll of Honor, "Poor young chap."
I'd say -- "I used to know his father well;
Yes, we lost heavily in this last scrap."
And when the war is done and youth stone dead,
I'd toddle safely home and die -- in bed.

Poetry is one of my literary loves: but in this slim volume it is put to the task of exposing the soul of a young man who fights his nation's war because his honor demands that he do so while he simultaneously deplores and decries both the necessity of doing so and the method forced on him of carrying out his honorable charge.

A good friend once asked me what to read to properly understand the history of World War I and while I recommended several critical histories (Churchill's, Keegan's and B.H. Liddell-Hart) I also emphasized the necessity of reading All Quiet on the Western Front, Goodbye to All That, and the combined war poetry of Graves, Owen and, of necessity, Sassoon.

The poetry of WWI brings to life the soul of the experience in a way no history, no matter how talented the historian, can do. It translates you into Sassoon's body and mind as he experiences the horror and shock of absolute and directionless (to his view-point, not necessarily in reality) war. These poems bring the sounds and smells of violent death and horrendous suffering - massive destruction and heroic effort - into your ears and nostrils. Indispensible.

Kelly Whiting

I do not read much poetry, but for various reasons I wanted to read some of the British WWI poets because I knew they didn't mince words about the horror of infantry combat. Sassoon does not disappoint. His poems drip with bite, sarcasm, and some bitterness, but at the same time they are elegantly rhymed and the images are powerful. War is nasty business, not glorious, and it is also stupid. WWI was the end of innocence and the poets who wrote of their war experiences brought home the irony of that innocence in the face of the devastation that was wrought. A sample will help.

Stand-to: Good Friday Morning

I'd been on duty from two till four. I went and stared at the dug-out door. Down in the frowst I heard them snore. "Stand to!" Somebody grunted and swore. Dawn was misty; the skies were still' Larks were singing, discordant, shrill; They seemed happy; but I felt ill. Deep in water I splashed my way Up the trench to our bogged front line. Rain had fallen the whole damned night. O Jesus, send me a wound to-day, And I'll believe in Your bread and wine, And get my bloody old sins washed white!

This collection includes the notes that Sassoon added as commentary on some of his poems. On the above poem Sassoon notes: "I haven't shown this to any clergyman. But soldiers say they feel like that sometimes."

This is poetry that grabs you and moves you, but it is a particular genre, not for everyone's taste. If one purpose of poetry is to allow us to see through some of life's darker experiences, then this collection is well worth your reading and reflection.

All the characters I came to love in Wimmer's earlier Irish Trilogy are back, more mature and with no less complicated and compeling lives. Yet this need not be regarded as a sequel; The Wildly Irish Sextet stands on its own with each fully realized character and story full of wit, humanity, foibles and fun. It's Wimmer's gift that he can take the reader from hilarity to tenderness to ribaldry to suspense without inducing whiplash. More than entertaining, the stories spark a reflection upon the dynamics of couples, family and friendship as the characters navigate their later years with warmth, occasional wisdom and always something to offer the reader about life lived genuinely.

He's back and we are the better for it! It is again typically Wimmer - wildly exciting, hilarious, extremely sexy, and dominating of the reader's attention. I have been reading his work for years and once again his fast-paced writing rushes me to the next page and the next and the next. Dick Wimmer's The Wildly Irish Sextet gives us the breadth of Boyne that continues a reader's excitement that we found in The Irish Wine Trilogy. I loved reading about the Irish antics of his buddy Hagar as well as his relationship with Tory, his daughter, and...Hagar is dynamic. Hollywood, pick any of his books, but get this one on film!!

Mr. Wimmer continues to take his characters to new heights and his readers to new levels of laughter with his new book. The mad, mad, mad world of Seamus Boyne lifts Dick Wimmer above and beyond anything on the bookshelves today. Truly, one of the great masters of the written word. Each story contains something unique and unforgettable. Wimmer holds nothing back in this brilliant collection featuring Boyne, Tory and Hagar. Each character as unique and special as Mr. Wimmer himself. Dick Wimmer is a treasure!

I am an old fan of Wimmer's previous novels dealing with the great Irish painter Seamus Boyne ("Irish Wine: The Trilogy")and am pleased to see that Boyne is not only back but hasn't lost a step. This is Wimmer's usual pungent Irish brew of steamy sex and madcap doings, but with a touching twilight tinge as Boyne rages mightily against going gently into the good night of his eighth decade. A superior creation! May Boyne live forever!

The Wildly Irish Sextet brings two very different worlds into illuminating conjunction. One's the boozy, seat-of-the-pants Ireland of Seamus Boyne, Dick Wimmer's gifted knockabout painter. The other's the suburban Long Island of Boyne's American pal Gene Hagar, a pest exterminator turned writer. Whether you're romping in Ireland with Hagar, or on Long Island playing softball with Boyne, you see the comforts and absurdities of both places depicted with unusual relish, insight, and wit. Add to that the tenderness and compassion Wimmer's heroes find anew in these marvelous six books, and you'll find The Wildly Irish Sextet irresistible, as I did.

This lush book should do more than grace your coffee table. It is a magnificent companion to the PBS "reality" tv show. In a departure from the self-consciousness of the genre, this project was undertaken very seriously and turned out to be dynamic and enriching to all involved. The book supplements the program with a detailed history of the house and of turn-of-the-century society. More detail is given about the Bowler family's experiment in "time-travel", including "behind-the-scenes" tales and commentary that is by turns hilarious, moving, and sometimes, downright horrifying. (If you haven't seen the series, by all means buy the tapes)

The Bowler family is charming and intelligent -- a real family with flaws, but a lovable group of six who gamely and thoroughly threw themselves in this experiment. The book delves much more deeply into the gritty conditions lived, and the joyous lessons learned. (we also find how the "the shampoo dilemma" was resolved!). More is told of Joyce Bowler's ambivalence in being a "lady of the house" and how the emotional experience enlightened and edified her -- and affected her for life.

She wants to go back, and so will you -- and you can, through this hefty, glossy, handsome book.

It's been months since I've seen the program on PBS but I found this book to be very interesting and filled with detail. My complaint, minor, is that with the inevitable editing of material required by compressing three months of material into a small book or a few hours of video something is often lost. Some details in the program aren't even mentioned in the book and vice versa. I'm still waiting on my copy of the video, apparently it's on a long backorder, but I'd say get both because they make a fascinating combination.

I revisted this book very recently, it chronicles the tale of a 20th century British Family trying to live live life as it was lived a the end of 19th century. A good proportion of Britains housing stock hails from the Victorian to pre WW2 periods, so it was not difficult to find a house suitable to be transported back in time. The family had a real struggle with all aspects of daily life, cooking, cleaning, entertainment, peronal hygiene and worst of all for the females, the clothes (moreover the loathed and dreaded corset!). A marvellous historical resource for children, particularly if you can get hold of the TV documentry as well. It was originaly shown on Channel 4 in Britian to mark the the millenium. I am pretty sure Amazon uk has it on DVD, for the intersted.

Do you remember seeing this series on PBS earlier this year? This book is a conjuction to this series, but this series was orginally from England and the book too. The book embody a 1999 family, time traveling to the spring of 1900 to live three months as victorians. It's takes place in the south-east part of London, near the millenium dome. The book starts out with the history of late victorian britain and a timeline of 1900 in England. Then, you will read about how they started this project and etc. This book was a great read for me because I learned more than I learned watching this series or in history. This is a great read for anyone, I mean anyone.

I've read all four books in this series and counting down the days for the next one. They are all so good, it's almost impossible to lay the books down until you finish. She has done an awesome job in her research of historical facts which make them that much more enjoyable. "1949" in particular is a good history refresher course for things we have forgotten since our high school world history classes. Hurry and get the next one ready to be purchased!!

Another success by Morgan Llywelyn. If you've become as addicted as I have to the other books in her Irish Century series, you won't want to miss this one!

I have just finished reading the Irish century series up to date within the past few months, and 1972 is just another link in a fine chain on novels by Llywelyn. From the first book (1916) with a young Ned Halloran all they way up to Ned's grandson Barry in her latest masterpiece 1972, Llywelyn tells the story of the Republican movement from the Easter rising to Bloody Sunday. It's amazing how in 1972, she is able to approach all angles of the Troubles in Ireland. From the facture of IRA and the emergence of Ian Paisley and the Provos Llywelyn takes the confusion out and shows the futility of Irish politics. These books have brought to light a heritage that I have never been aware of and that has escaped my family over the generations. I would recomend this book to everyone with an ounce of Irish blood or anyone interested in the troubled history of modern Ireland. I can't wait for her next installment in the Irish Century series.

An excellent book in many respects. I witheld the fifth star only because there is so much straight history that some readers might get restive. A good read and a interesting and informative look inside the IRA and a sad retelling of the British atrocities that are rarely made public. Looking forward to her next book which will complete her retelling of Eire's struggles for independence and reunification.

Any psychiatrist has treated patients who thought their minds and wills were being controlled from the outside, perhaps from mysterious rays or hidden machines. This cannot sound so strange now as it must have a couple of centuries ago. We may not be used to mind control of that type, but we live in a world powered by invisible rays and hidden machines. When James Tilly Matthews entered the famous hospital for the insane, London's Bedlam in 1797, his complaints must have sounded bizarre indeed. He told his doctor that he, and many of the powerful in England and France, were being manipulated by a mysterious gang who were using invisible gases and rays from an unimaginably complex machine called an air loom, and that his thoughts were being altered and controlled and his body was being painfully punished. Matthews's bizarre story is the subject of a surprising and novel-like history, _The Air Loom Gang: The Strange and True Story of James Tilly Matthews and his Visionary Madness_ (Four Walls Eight Windows) by Mike Jay. What is especially peculiar is that although Matthew's ideas were clearly delusional, his complaints stemmed from real persecutions he was made to undergo. As the old joke says, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you.

Matthews was a wholesale tea dealer who wound up shuttling between Britain and revolutionary France with a peace proposal. It is not surprising that Matthews had little effect; but it is surprising that at the time of the Terror, all he had to endure on the French side was a spell in a French Revolutionary prison. In 1796, after his return to England, he entered the public viewing area of the House of Commons, and yelled "Treason!" into the hall. This got him into Bedlam, and he was to be incarcerated for the rest of his life. His rooms were unheated, he would have straw to sleep on, and for some years he would be chained to his bed. It is quite possible that pummeled first by peculiarities of world events and then by the cruelties of incarceration as a lunatic that he began weaving contemporary ideas about pneumatics, electricity, and Mesmer's animal magnetism into a widespread delusional explanation of just how he got persecuted into such a position. We know about his delusions in detail because in charge of him was the apothecary John Haslam, and Matthews was Haslam's star patient. Jay shows that the delusions can possibly be seen as Matthews's response to persecution, with Haslam as co-creator.

This is a tangled tale, expertly told. There are parts of it that are deeply mysterious, and for which there is no documentation, only speculation; how Matthews came to be running secret diplomacy, and who was paying him to do so, and what he really was doing, can only be guessed at. The gripping story of Matthews coming to delusional terms with his predicament is actually moving, and his eventual (if posthumous) triumph over Haslam is convincing. Best of all Jay has gone a long way in successfully trying to explain the politics, science, and history of the time. His picture of treatment of the insane in the crumbling Bedlam, at the cusp of instituting sympathetic "moral" treatments of Philippe Pinel, is unforgettable. There may not have been a real air loom, but that doesn't keep it from meaning something; and Matthews may have been an incarcerated schizophrenic, but that doesn't keep him from being a bit of a hero.

Mind control goes back thousands of years actually, and was practiced by the early Chinese, Sumerians, Egyptians, and even Mayans by a variety of different methods. Even African / Caribbean "voodoo" is a type of negative mind control that has been shown to have dramatic effects from great distances. In more modern times (such as the late 1800s to the 1920s) a variety of physical "medical" devices were built and used on people, animals, and crops for tremendous BENEFIT. The science that grew from these experiments was called "Radionics", and the radionic devices were often called "black boxes" (in the UK at least). Modern day radionic devices are about the size of a laptop computer, but I firmly believe that the device explained in this book was a very early radionic device that used essoteric (occult) knowledge to broadcast certain frequencies or radiations that could target specific individuals and influence them physically and emotionally, assuming that you had a "witness" from them (such as hair, fingernail clipping, blood spot, or even a photograph). Obviously, such devices could be used for tremendous good or evil, but the government / military has a proven track record for the latter unfortunately.

Nowadays, we wouldn't use the term "radionic attack", but the term EMR / microwave bombardment and torture is certainly on the rise and evidence suggests that upto 2,000,000 Americans have been targeted in one form or another. This type of torture / harrassment is very high tech now, and beyond most people's conceptualization. A lot of "magic" can be created from satelites and underground installations and affect people's thoughts, emotions, and bodies. This phenomenon is well understood in Russia for example, and a popular form of torture for political dissidents or whistleblowers, and there is even a large group of victims in Moscow who are known as the "Moscow Zombies", which is appropriate because it is nothing more than electro-magnetic voodoo afterall. In fact, there was a recent march / demonstration by these Moscow Zombies and their family members (at least those who understand that it has nothing to do with "mental illness") who carried signs that read, "Stop the microwave / EMR / plasma torture", "End Mind Control". True story, but we never saw that on the news naturally.

James Tilly Matthews simply didn't have the vernacular or understand the occult science to better "name" his torture, but his detailed explanations of his symptoms and why he was being targetted are EXACTLY what modern peoples complain of and explain to those who will listen with an open mind. Matthews also discussed how many other people of influence were being targetted, which has HUGE IMPLICATIONS in today's political / economic realm. And Bedlam was also the precursor to Guantanamo in many ways as it was a place to keep people who knew some secrets. "Mental illness" was and largely still is a bogus misdirection. The more things change, the more they stay the same it would appear...

James Tilly Matthews lived in London in the late 1700s and was a respected Welsh tea merchant who intended to preserve the peace of an increasingly dangerous city out of control in its conflicts with Paris. Arrested and sent to a mental hospital for his accusation of a lord, Matthews became convinced his mind was being controlled by a secret machine called an 'air loom' hidden in a London basement and run by a gang of revolutionaries: Air Loom Gang sets out to pinpoint the political foundations of his 'madness' in an intriguing true 'whodunnit' mystery

The Air-Loom Gang by Mike Jay is a book about the most incredible events. It is about one James Tilly Matthews who was declared insane for his beliefs about treason at the highest levels of the British Government during the French Revolutionary/Napoleonic period. As it turns out, Matthews was actually right to some extent and as a former spy, was in a good position to be able to determine if there really was treasonous activities in the British government at the time. Matthews's case became a cause clebre and he was eventually released from the insane asylum and eventually started an architecture magazine and even submitted plans for an insane asylum.

This is an excellent book dealing with a most fascinating episode in British history.