Irish Books

I suggest this book because is just perfect.
It has all the informations for the british ship from ww2 to the present with very good details. drawings and very clear photos.
In the end is a had details and imformations about all the ships destroyers and frigates that have the british built from ww2 and after.
The shape is big and the quality is very good.
It si my best book that i have buy for the british ships.

This book appears to be an exhaustive history of Royal Navy design since 1935 for all destroyer and frigate type ships. It is good reading and very informative. The pictures are good and contain many photos that I have not seen before. Recommended for anyone interested in naval design or history.

Dryden -- The Conquest of Grenada
Villiers -- The Rehearsal
Dryden -- All for Love
Otway -- Venice Preserved
Etherege -- The Man of Mode
Wycherley -- The Plain Dealer
Vanbrugh -- The Relapse
Congreve -- The Way of the World
Farquhar -- The Beaux' Stratagem
Cibber -- The Careless Husband
Steele -- The Conscious Lovers
Addison -- Cato
Rowe -- The Tragedy of Jane Shore
Gay -- The Beggar's Opera
Fielding -- Tom Thumb
Lillo -- The London Merchant
Garrick -- The Lying Valet
Home -- Douglas
Colman -- The Jealous Wife
Cumberland -- The West Indian
Goldsmith -- She Stoops to Conquer
Sheridan -- The Rivals
Sheridan -- The School for Scandal
Sheridan -- The Critic

plus two essays:

Collier -- A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage
Goldsmith -- An Essay on the Theatre; or, A Comparison Between Laughing and Sentimental Comedy


This handsome volume is actually a more convenient and more economical way to collect these 24 plays and additional essays than piecing together single plays in the New Mermaids, Regents Renaissance, or Revels series. In fact, many of the plays in this volume are not otherwise available.

This book is an embarrasment of riches -- enjoy!

Desperation can be the source of wisdom. I've known for a year that this fall I'll be teaching restoration and 18th century drama. Worse, I volunteered to do so. Worse yet, as of yesterday I had only 7 weeks left in which to pick a text of plays. And absolutely worst of all, while trying to look up restoration and 18th century texts on the Web, I found my own course staring me in the face: "English 232, Smith College, Gillian Kendall". Yikes! It was definitely time to find a text.

Nettleton saved me. I had been about to order a completely new edition of the plays (sample copy graciously sent to me by the publisher), albeit the edition was in many ways, well, let's say "not quite right for the course". Then I went to the library. Despite the recommendation of a friend -- a renowned 18th century expert -- I had been suspicious of Nettleton. The copyright on the edition I looked at was 17 years before I was born (sorry about the ageism, Mr. Nettleton). But the volume has everything. Lovely grandiose heroic drama (but not too much of it); Dryden's adaptation of Shakespeare's *Antony and Cleopatra*; five classic comedies of manners (the backbone of restoration drama), and a pleasant smorgasbord of the best of the 18th century.

I have a text. My students have a text. Life is good.

...hearing Murrow's "This is London." The first time was while visiting my grandparents. My grandfather took me into the kitchen and closed the door before turning on the radio because my grandmother didn't want to hear it. I was only 10 years old, and I'm sure I didn't understand the full significance of what I heard until much later. Nevertheless, it has stuck with me. It was one of the nights when Murrow was outside and we could hear the air raid siren in the background. (If I stop to think about it for a moment, I can still hear the siren's distinctive wail in my "mind's ear.") Seib's book is a superb addition to the shelves of books about the beginning of World War II because it deals with an aspect of how U.S. involvement came about that I do not recall reading elsewhere. The focus is on Murrow because he was so influential in forming Americans' opinions about the importance of sustaining England as it fought the Nazi menace alone, but the work of other journalists is also cited. (I have a small nit to pick here: the name of The New Yorker writer is Mollie Panter-Downes, not Painter-Downes.) Seib writes well, and his narrative moves quickly and to the point. There are no wasted words. Anyone with an interest in the early days of the war should read this book.

The difference between reporting the news and leading the country has never been clear, and Edward R. Murrow was a master at both.

While reading this book on his broadcasting from London during the early days of the war, don't forget his broadcast that ended the career of Joseph McCarthy. Murrow understood that his reporting influenced American public opinion.

There are those who rail against his sense of ethics in combining reporting the news with what you might call propaganda. Perahps he should be judged instead by the result. He helped prepare the US for a war that we could probably not avoid.

This is the story of a strange time, and what one key player did.

BROADCASTS FROM THE BLITZ: HOW EDWARD R MURROW HELPED LEAD AMERICA INTO WAR is for any who would understand early broadcast journalism's effect on war and peace. Murrow's 'This is London' opening brought the blitz home to Americans who would've otherwise been distanced by war events: he told why Americans wouldn't be able to avoid involvement, and he prepared the country with his moment-by-moment broadcasts of events. His agenda was to bring America into the war - and more than any politician, he alone helped prepare the American public for such involvement. This far-reaching story will interest a wide audience, from students of broadcast journalism to those interested in military history and social issues alike. Highly recommended indeed.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This book is purse or pocket sized. It has the convenience of a paperback with the quality of a hardback. It is a dark green book with a matching built in silk bookmark. The paper is of good quality.

The sections of this book are as follows: FOLK-TALES FOR AN ENLIGHTENED AGE, RELIGIOUS SENTIMENT AND SATIRE, CONTEMPORARY POLITICS, LOVE AND SEX, SCOTTISH CULTURAL HISTORY, and OCCASIONAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL VERSE. The book also contains a select Scots glossary and an index to the first lines of the poems.

The glossary is helpful. I find this book difficult to read due to the old English that was used when this was written. I do enjoy the poems, but I have to work at it though. I can not just carelessly float through the text. I struggle, but it's the challenge and the struggle that makes the reward all the more satisfying when I do get there.

Robert Burns may not be well known outside of Scotland, but he certainly deserves to be. Sadly, Burns too often gets shoved aside to make room for the English Romantic heavywieghts like Bryon, Blake, Shelley, Keats and Wordsworth, and if he does get mentioned in an anthology or classroom, it's usually as some curious footnote about the "renewed appreciation for the common man" that many Romantics extolled. This is a great disservice, and not just to Burns, who, as any good Scot would tell you, was enough of an influence on those English Romantics that the movement would have looked very difference without him. It is a disservice also readers and students of poetry who are entitled to more honest history about the evolution of the poetic art form in English.

The irony here is that Burns was Scottish, and, to correct what another reviewer said, he did not write in English - especially "old English." For starters, Burns lived in the second half of the 18th century - that makes him a modern. Furthermore, he wrote very intentionally (and with great passion) in *Scots.* The Scots language is a bit of a linguistic conundrum concerning what makes a dialect a dialect versus a completely different language. Suffice to say, it's not English, or at least not any English most English speakers would recognize. It does possess Germanic qualities that are parallel to English, but it also has many holdovers from Norse and Gealic languages both in vocabulary and syntax which are unique to it. This distinction needs to be understood, for the reader's sake as well as for Burns, whose usage of Scots as opposed to English or a more Anglicized form Scots was a point of national and ethnic pride. Indeed, Burns was quite the Romantic.

The glossary of Scots words in this volume is rather limited, but even a more thorough Scots dictionary may not always help you. Burns, who is called sometimes "the Bard" in his native Scotland, is liken to that other Bard - he was never shy about using poetic license and would gladly bend the rules of his own tongue if it served his creative goals. Of course, that's part of Burns' genius, even if it can be infuriating for a novice reader, just as with Shakespeare. But with some patience and effort, you will find that Burns' poetry is not only readable but quite accessible and enchanting, even if you don't always know what every line's suppose to mean.

Despite the language issue, one thing is readily understood about Burns' poetry - it is some of the most spirited and passionate poetry you are likely to find anywhere. Some of his poetry may strike you, the post-modern reader, as a bit naive - especially some of his political poetry - but you cannot deny that Burns, who sadly died too young, was in life a hearty, virile lad eager to experience all the intellectual and sensual pursuits to their fullest. You know this because that's how he wrote. Poetry for Burns was an exaltation of life itself, from the grand idealism of revolutionaries to the most commonplace things such as field mice, to the loveliness of sex and the company of women (of which Burns was quite fond) and the sensual wonder of whisky and food (again, much fondness) to inspiring richness of all things Scottish.

It would seem that if Burns saw it, thought it or felt it, it was worthy to be immortalized in poetry. Moreover, he earnestly endeavored to do just that. Thankfully, he also had the poetic talents to pull it off in a stunningly graceful manner that will right your dry, academic impressions of all those overly lauded English Romantics that came after him as well as infuse you a fair bit of that Romantic wonder and awe.

Hopefully I have piqued your curiosity, and if so, get this book. As with all the volumes in the Pocket Poets series, it's inexpensive, well-bound, concise without being too narrow, and of a small, unimposing size that makes it ideal for either casual reading or for some quick yet stimulating diversion while traveling or communting. Or if you really want to be a Romantic about it, take with you to your local cafe or pub and read through some poems while you partake in the delights of food, drink and the world around you.

This is a nice collection of Robert Burns poems and songs. It is well done and very complete. There is an interesting chronology and a glossary of old Scottish words. Very well done and a reasonable price. I just received my copy and I am thrilled with it. It's amazing how much Burns wrote in his short lifetime. The rustic beauty of the poems and the sublime rhyme schemes are simply amazing and very moving. I recommend this book for someone who wants an inexpensive collection of Robert Burns.

One of the best and most trusted editions of the complete poems and songs of Robert Burns (1759-1796). Try to get one, if you can. (N.B.: The James Barke edition is also excellent.)

To quote Nicholson Baker in The History of Punctuation essay from The Size of Thoughts:

John Lennard's extraordinary recent monograph on the history of the parenthesis [is] gracefully written and full of intelligence, decked out with a complete scholarly apparatus of multiple indicies, bibliographies, and notes, whose author, to judge by the startling jacket photo (shaved head with up-sticking central proto-Mohawk tuft, erring on left ear, wilted corduroy jacket, and over-laundered T-shirt bearing some enigmatic insignia underneath), put himself through graduate school by working as a ticket scalper at Elvis Costello concerts. (A Discussion of Elvis Costello's use of the parenthesis in "Let Him Dangle" figures in a late chapter.)

Following the death of Diana, Princess of Walls, Elton John re-released 'Candle in the Wind'. John Lennard (spondee stressed) decided to release, in a knowning nod to Elton, a version of 'Bracket Man'. All editions of the book were sold with a detachable pair of ear mufflers. Lennard John looks set to follow up this coup-de-loon with the "Pottery Handbook" : a guide to getting lost in Stoke. John Lennard is 33.

Originally in the late 1890s, By Reef And Palm is Australian author Louis Becke's thoroughly amusing collection of short-story "yarns" about daily life in the Pacific Islands that has been brought out in a new addition by Dixon-Price Publishing and will aptly serve to introduce a whole new generation of readers to the work of a man reputed in his lifetime to be the "Kipling of the Pacific". Reflecting a lawless era in candid, nothing-is-sacred prose, By Reef And Palm is a unique, captivating, enthusiastically recommended compendium of short stories showcasing the trials and travails a century gone "Paradise".

Originally in the late 1890s, By Reef And Palm is Australian author Louis Becke's thoroughly amusing collection of short-story "yarns" about daily life in the Pacific Islands that has been brought out in a new addition by Dixon-Price Publishing and will aptly serve to introduce a whole new generation of readers to the work of a man reputed in his lifetime to be the "Kipling of the Pacific". Reflecting a lawless era in candid, nothing-is-sacred prose, By Reef And Palm is a unique, captivating, enthusiastically recommended compendium of short stories showcasing the trials and travails a century gone "Paradise".

Having come across this play nearly four years ago, i had found it very difficult to get hold of a copy, until i got internet access. Having Amazon now enables me to pass on my views to all those out there that have never heard of this play.

The basic plot of this play is based on the seven deadly sins, although it takes some time to work out which sin the mistress has. These 'birds' are trapped in a cage but are more than happy to be there. Until the Wild One joins them in the cage there is no real communication between the actors, and the play seems a little confusing. However the Wild One begins to bring the depth into the play that is not immediatly apparent in the first few scenes.

With lines such as, 'Remember out there, where the wind blows, and the sun shines, and heat and light and air have nothing to do with central heating or electric lamps or air conditioning.' It is possible to imagine this really happening within a birdcage and one bird desperatly trying to escape while the others are set against it. The one thing that this play will give you to take away, is that everyone is trapped in one way or another, Campton uses the idea of birds trapped in a cage, but it could be anything that traps us.

A great play to read, an incredible play to see. It gives total freedom for creative staging. Very powerful. Will get good audience response if done right. Otherwise, will flop.

Even though he died almost 2 decades ago, Graham Chapman's comic genious continues to awe and inspire in this wonderful volume of letters, essays and skits. Chapman was always the most Pythonic of the team, a wild man who was the re-incarnated spirit of Oscar Wilde. Both were touched with erratic brilliance and a lust for living and in this book we get to see the inner workings of Chapman's "wild(e)" side at work and at play. Not everyhting in here is hilarious, some things might raise only a smile, but taken as a whole this book is an amazing collection of items that fans of Python will want to treasure--and laugh at--for years to come. "Calcium" is a welcome addition to the Python legacy and a wonderful way to spend a few more minutes with
Chapman.

Of all the Pythons, Graham Chapman was the most anarchic in his comedy. He excelled at stream-of-consciousness humor and non sequitirs, and made a permanent mark on the comedy landscape with a stature rivaling anyone in the last fifty years. This book can be viewed as a companion to Graham's earlier work, "A Liar's Autobiography," as it contains a lot of material that didn't make it into that book, as well as many diverse pieces such as screenplays and correspondence, most of which appear here for the first time.

Graham was a complex person, and this book gives an outstanding view into the workings of his mind. His struggles are well detailed here, yet he always made the most of any situation, especially if wild parties with the likes of Keith Moon and Ringo Starr were involved. I was pleased that the bulk of this book dealt with Graham's life outside of Python, as that has been very well documented elsewhere.

The book itself has the feel of a mixed-media contemporary art piece as it is from so many diverse sources. I must admit that the title drew me in: it is taken from a piece on page 88 in the essays section. The essay does, in fact, make calcium much more interesting than in any chemistry class I have had, to wit: "Calcium...occurs naturally as the carbonate CaCO3 in limestone, chalk, marble, and in brothels...." Graham's medical training (he was a doctor, after all) comes through in other places as well, as on page 189 where he discusses disorders of the trachea and bronchial tree in a musical adaptation called "The Ciliary-Mucus-Escalator Dance." Of course, the weirdness doesn't stop with scientific and medical humor, but dwells in both the mundane (a pompous man who brags about his "fleet of atomic-powered Silko-Glyde lawn mowers - each with a sauna bath, a cocktail lounge with three adjoining cinemas, and a discotheque", page 235) and the surreal (an insurance salesman selling a man a "special Being Nibbled To Death by Okapia Policy," with correspondingly odd terms on page 245.)

My two favorite parts of the book are the monologues and the personal letters. My favorite monologue concerns riding down a black diamond ski slope in a "wretched wooden gondola" with the Dangerous Sports Club, a piece that opens and sets the tone for the book. (I recommend the DVD, "Looks Like a Brown Trouser Job" which recalls this among other strange occurrences.) The letters are all fairly deranged, but my favorites are the letter reproduced in the dedication, which is an apology to a pub owner ("Words alone will have to express my profoundly abject apology for my behavior in your pub last night. I will have the shelf repaired, and I have already bought a half pound fillet steak for Dennis's eye...") and the condensed letters of E.P. Snibbet, Esq., which conclude the book.

Graham was a genius and a loony, and I miss him. This is a brilliant book and is not to be missed by anyone fond of insane humor; I recommend it highly.

A great companion to reading the works of George Bernard Shaw. It helps to understand the literary techniques singular to the author, the socio-political background of his writings and the themetic structure prevalent throughout all his works. This is truly a necessary companion to reading his work.

A great companion to reading the works of George Bernarnd Shaw. It helps to understand the literary techniques singular to the author, the socio-political background of his writings and the themetic structure prevalent throughout all his works. This is truly a necessary companion to reading his work.