Ireland Books

Ever wanted to visit Ireland? Then read this series. Linda Windsor takes you back to old Ireland and her word painting is so amazing that you'll feel like you're there. The action and adventure along with the faith and a bit of romance makes these books fun to read. This 3rd book in The Fires of Gleannmara doesn't let you down. I have never been disappointed with any of Linda Windsor's books and highly recommend them all.

Linda Windsor outdoes herself again in this 3rd book in her series, The Fires of Gleannmara. Keeps you reading until the last page with plot twists, adventure, and romance. Excellent!

If you are looking for ADVENTURE,then this is the book for you. Deirdre is kidnapped by Saxon pirate Alric. They fuss and fight through out the story both wanting their own ways,but in the end realizing that God is in charge of their lives. Linda Windsor has a wonderful balance in writing the spiritual as well as the personal of the characters. Also,don't miss the first two books in this FIRES OF GLEANNMARA series-'Maire & Riona'.

Setting: Seventh Century Ireland and the Northumbrian kingdom of Galstead

Princess Deirdre of Gleannmara is ship bound with a king's ransom on board to rescue her brother Prince Cairell from bondage when a Saxon pirate, Alric of Galstead, captures her. Deirdre dons a priest's robe to conceal her royal identity and hides the legendary sword of her ancestor, King Kieran, under it for safety. The rest of the treasure, she and her companions stow in a wine cask, but things go awry and Deirdre is found out to be a princess.

When Alric discovers her royal cloak with the Glenmora brooch among the ransom meant for Cairell with the same symbols on the cloak that his late mother had made for Alric when she prophesized his earthly kingdom would be won by love, he is shaken. Alric's mother was a Scottish slave whom his father Lambert loved dearly, but his political marriage to the wicked queen Ethlinda made their son Ricbert, a conniving serpent if there ever was one, the rightful heir to Galstead.

Raised in a court of bitterness and deceit, it's no wonder that Alric is so distrustful of everyone but his faithful dog Tor, and his aged nursemaid Abina, and the men who seek their fortune with him at sea. Consumed with a burning ambition, the illegitimate prince feels Deirdre might be the key to the birthright his mother spoke of in the prophecy. With the calculated decision to make her his bride to be, his life is turned in a new direction.

Deirdre is a feisty woman who is used to being in control of those around her and has a very sharp tongue that she isn't afraid of using. She knows she will do whatever she has to do to get her brother safely back and she uses Alric's sudden interest in marriage to achieve this end, enlisting his help in the terms of the wedding contract. Of course Alric has a few terms of his own, but the Lord has a master plan in store for this special pair's destiny and his love is the firm foundation.

This is a beautiful and exciting story of how wonderfully the Lord uses the imperfect to bring about his perfect and everlasting love. DEIRDRE is filled with colorful characters, as well as the emotionally stirring story of Deirdre, a devout woman whose faith in word and deed under the direst of circumstances conquers her conqueror, winning his heart and his trust in her God. Heavenly days, DEIRDRE is not to be missed!

This is one series that I made the mistake of not reading in order. Now I'm not saying that this is a bad thing unless you are like me that should be doing homework and not reading fictional books that are not on your school reading list. The book just refers back to the stories of the Maire and Riona and it made me even more eager to read those two books! :) Seriously though, this story was a really beautiful story and a really cool way of seeing how God can make weird circumstances work to His way. So read this book and check my other reviews!

JP Donleavy may well be the most hilarious writer on the planet. Darcy Dancer is a Bildungsroman about the coming of age of a young, educated member of the landed gentry in Ireland. He learns about love first- and second-hand through the auspices of a broad range of tutors including the brilliant Mr. Arland, a stablehand named Foxy, the sublime Miss Von B, the artist Clarissa, school chums, butlers and Rashers Ronald. Kildare wanders from one total fiasco of his own making to the next from the hunt and the stables to the mansions of the gentry and private schools and Dublin high society. He always emerges through chance and pluck and the kindness of others none the worse for wear and perhaps slightly wiser. What are we to make of this dubious young "gentleman"? As Kildare correctly surmises: "Every madman thinks everyone else is mad." Donleavy writes with a unique pointillism, using words as brush strokes, that is engaging, endearing and even breathtaking as each chapter ends on a brief poetic note, a pithy line of stacked type. The dialogue is outrageously real and human and uproarious. The character development is precise and each character lives and breathes with a separate unique identity that only a supremely talented writer can render so credibly. Having read nearly all his novels, Darcy Dancer is his best: it's truly a well-written, literary comedy. Discover JP Donleavy -- possibly one of the most under-rated and gifted writers of our era. You'll laugh your head off.

Darcy Dancer live's among the Irish aristocracy. This seems to be something of an oxymoron, like jumbo shrimp as the aristocracy is disorderd, drunk and badly behaved. That said, J.P. Donleavy manages to take havoc and add order, excellent writing and a good plot to a fairly slender novel that had me weeping with laughter throughout. His father chasing him through the house, only to crash through a rotted floor to the waist was perfect and only to be outdone by the fox hunt.

This is one of Donleavy's best. It contains everything you could ask for in a book. A tragic love story, meaningless sex, drunken riots, and plain Irish fun. Darcy Dancer is tragic and hilariously funny at the same time. You never know if you will be laughing or crying at the turn of each page.
Read it.

This was the second Donleavy novel I read back in 1980. Since then I have read all of his novels and biographies. This book is also the reason that i stayed at the Shelbourne Hotel.

Full of gratuitous sex, violence drunken ribaldry, indeed it is almost a training manual for students.

It opens the door to positive thinking and instils in one that when things are really bad, they are not as bad as they are going to get, but never give up.

Learn negotiating skills, if a fist in the gob doesn't work, buy your man a drink.

Sex education, from aristocrats, whores, artists, teachers, plebean masses.

In all an excellent life changing book in which Donleavy displays true comic genius and has caused me hours of laughter.

You know - I've always found it odd that the few, the proud, the wierd, who share my literary tastes have never even heard of J.P. Donleavy. While the Ginger Man will always be hard to beat, Destinies isn't far behind. It takes about ten seconds to become hopelessly addicted to Donleavy's style and about five seconds to fall in love with Darcy Dancer and his adventures. Just a wonderful, wonderful novel from one of the most under-appreciated writers of our time.

I really found the book useful, but I wish it had a method to highlight "must see" things better. I was in Dublin for a very short trip and had difficulty combing through the book to figure out what I should prioritize for my limited time. In retrospect, I wish I had purchased the Ireland guide, rather than Dublin, so it would have been easier for me to pick out the key things to see. On second thought, I might not have had the great, detailed maps if I had done that, so maybe I went the right route!

I've had great experiences with Lonely Planet guides in general, though I also love Let's Go. They don't have as many out there, but I buy the Let's Go version if it's available - better info for people on a budget, and lots of great "off the beaten path" suggestions.

I bought this guide and the Rick Steves book to plan my trip to Dublin. Both were very helpful, but I left Rick's book at home because Lonely Planet has GLBT info in it and has better maps. I used the maps a lot, both to find my way and also to get back on track when I got lost. A lot of the prices for things quoted in the book had gone up, but that's to be expected. I highly recommend both Dublin and this guidebook.

As the other reviewers have said, this is a great guidebook. I used it to plan a three-day visit recently. The hotel I chose was exactly as described, and a good choice. Unlike some guidebooks, it has great maps. There are six detailed colored maps in the back of the book, a map of the Dublin Area Regional Transit trains, and numerous smaller maps inside (e.g., maps of walking tours, of Trinity College, of cathedrals). The book is chock-full of interesting and useful info on all the sights of Dublin. In addition, if you want to do day trips out of Dublin, don't assume you need a different all-Ireland guide - there is a section on "excursions" you can do in a day, and instructions on how to get there (public transport, car, organized tour). I will say that one of the tours I took wasn't quite how it was described, but I should probably take that up with the tour company. A few tips: a) for a breathtaking coastal walk, go to Howth. Malahide, another coastal town, wasn't worth the time for me. b) Glendalough is a beautiful park with two big lakes, and to me was worth more time than the organized tour I chose allotted for it.

My wife and I just got back from Ireland and had a great time, in part because of this book. The guesthouse we stayed in, several of the restaurants we visited, and more than a couple of the sites we saw were drawn from its pages. I'm happy to report that its guidance was uniformly spot on. We tend to enjoy simply being in a place, doing things in a low key way and deciding what to do next as we take our time wandering around. This guide was perfect for that, easy to whip out of a bag over lunch or on a street corner, though I suspect that it would be useful for those who prefer to set down itineraries, too.

For what it's worth, this has been our experience with other Lonely Planet guides as well (including those for Ireland and Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks).

This sweet, compact guide measures only 7" x 3", but packs a wallop in the info department! Went to Dublin last year, and out of 8 city guides I looked at, this was the ONLY one who had info on Bram Stoker (Dracula's author); his house in an historic landmark, and the author also leads you to his beautiful birth residence!

`Elegant Irish Cooking' by culinary scholar, teacher and professional chef, Noel C. Cullen Ed.D, CMC, AAC is a great foodie book; however it may not be the first Irish cookbook you want to get if all you want is a good cookbook with traditional Irish recipes. If that is what you need, go for `Irish Traditional Cooking' by leading Irish cooking school owner, Darina Allen or the much more ethnographic `Celtic Folklore Cooking' by culinary writer and folklorist, JoAnne Asala.

If Irish culinary traditions and cooking are major interests for you, this is an excellent second or third Irish cookbook, depending on whether you are more interested in cooking technique, fine dining and entertaining, or culinary lore. If your primary interest is in technique, get `ballymaloe cooking school cookbook' by school co-owner and Irish TV cooking show host, Darina Allen. Otherwise, go with this one.

Due to the author's dual life as both a chef and an academic, the book offers rewards for both interests. While Cullen is currently a professor in culinary and hospitality skills at Boston College, he trained and worked as a serious high end chef in many Irish and French restaurant kitchens and learned first hand the lessons of cooking to local products, at the same time unlearning his French cooking doctrines while he reached the upper levels of Irish `haute cuisine'.

The book begins with an excellent essay on the history of Irish food, including its high point during the Middle Ages monasteries and its low points during the potato famine. My only disappointment with this chapter is that it does not explain the mystery of why agronomists did not import one or more of the hundreds of other New World potatoes into Ireland when the potato blight affected only that one strain on which Irish livelyhood depended. On the other hand, this essay is very revealing about the curious fact that while Ireland is an Island, like the Greek Islands, there is a lot less seafood eaten than one may expect. Most fishing yields are sold to foreign markets or the Irish simply do not have a great taste for the fruits of the ocean, other than salmon and trout.

The title of the book and the author's background are excellent indicators of what we are given with the recipes in this book. We do not get standard recipes for traditional Irish dishes, although all the most traditional Irish produce such as milk, cream, cheese, apples, pears, potatoes, berries, lamb, pork, and game are well represented. Also represented is the one type of ingredient Ireland shares with another major Island nation Japan. This ingredient is seaweed. In fact, seaweed is historically important in that those who lived near the sea escaped the worst of the potato famine, not because they had fish, but because they had seaweed to eat.

While the book is primarily dedicated to Irish `haute cuisine', there is much here for the average cook. Opening the book at random shows me an excellent opening section in the chapter on `Salads, Dressings, & Cold Sauces' which details many variations on the classic French Vinaigrette. This may not be earthshaking for someone with 20 French cookbooks on their shelves, but for someone who only has room for a few good Irish cookbooks, this is great stuff.

I also find Cullen's plan for presenting a recipe very appealing, where each step is numbered, making it very easy to keep one's place in the procedure. It also means that each step is clearly identified, instead of being buried in a dense paragraph of text. This is especially rewarding in that the same gool schema is applied to all recipes, even those many which were contributed by `guest chefs', major chefs at restaurants and schools in Ireland. This also means that the many recipes which do not have a `guest chef' author are the creations of the book's author.

If by some chance, you have only room for a single Irish cookbook and this one appeals to you, I must say that many traditional dishes do find their way into the book; however, I cannot guarantee that the procedure is the same you would find at home in a private house in Dublin.

I especially recommend this book over `The New Irish Table' by Irish-American culinary journalist, Margaret M. Johnson, which also deals with recipes from Irish cooks, but more from the local pub than from the larger restaurants.

Last but not least, I find this an exceptionally well designed book for the average list price of $35. An excellent addition to any cookbook collection, and most especially to an Irish cookbook collection.

Elegant Irish Cooking is an impressive compendium of 166 classic and progressive recipes in celebration of Irish cuisine and culinary traditions. Relying heavily on indigenous ingredients, these fabulous recipes showcase the techniques, excellence, and variety of Irish dining. From Pan Roasted Quail with Kildare Boxty; Cream of Watercress Soup with Warm Herbal Drop Scones; and Poached Sole Fillets in a Clonmel Cider Sauce; to Warm Salad of Emyvale Duck with Orange and Balsamic Dressing; Roasted Rack of Wicklow Lamb with an Herb Crust and Mint-Butter Sauce; and Moore Street Vegetable Tart, (and enhanced throughout with color photography by Ron Manville), Elegant Irish Cooking will grace any cookbook collection and enhance any family meal or celebratory occasion.

I saw a demonstration he gave using recipes from this book a few weeks ago. The samples provided were outstanding. I went home and made the smoked salmon stuffed chicken breast, and it was a hit with everyone

The recipes in this book are terrific! Anyone looking for an escape from "traditional" Irish cookery books will love these unique and tasty recipes. Well worth the price! Clear, consise directions. Even the beginner cook will be able to make these dishes tonight! (All that being said, some related books I'd like to recommend on generations-old Irish recipes are Irish Heritage Cooking, Irish Traditional Cooking, and Celtic Folklore Cooking.)

The book is beautiful and full of history and depth. The recipes are authentic and delicious. Highly recommended for a beautiful St. Patrick's Day dinner or night of Irish food.

In "Emerald Gems", Larry Lambrecht has been able to capture the feel and distinct nuances of the Irish links. The stunning photographs and accompanying stories provide the reader with an incredible sense of how golf was and is meant to be played and enjoyed. David Owen said, "The thing I like best about golf is the sense of infinite possibility..." Emerald Gems presents a real glimpse at that possibility and is a must read for those fortunate to have visited and played, and those who dream of doing so.

Albert B. Antonez

I have seen Larry Lambrecht's work before in the annual "Emerald Gems" calendar and notecard series. Lambrecht is a world class photographer with a particular specialty in shooting Irish Golf Courses (as well as many others across the globe). Not only does Lambrecht capture a view of a spectacular golf hole through his camera lens, he also has an incredible eye for catching a moment in nature using golf landscape as a backdrop. (see page 18, 98, 114, etc.)

Ireland's "Links" courses are built along the coast, and as such in Emerald Gems, the connection between land and sea is apparent in many of the images.

Emerald Gems sits on a table in our home and is admired by guests and friends for the simple beauty of the Irish Countryside. Be warned though, If you have an affection for the game of golf and have never been to Ireland, the images of Waterville, Old Head and Lahinch alone will have you calling a travel agent. If you don't play golf, and have never seen the coast of Ireland, you may suffer the same impulse.

This book has incredible beautiful photographs of ALL of the great courses in Ireland and a wonderful written talk about each course. The book is big. It will have to go on the coffee table and not in the bookcase, but it is truly beautiful. Very highly recommended.

Emerald Gems is a terrific compilation of golf landscape photographs in a large coffee table type of format (11x12?). Many if not all of the very best courses of Ireland are reviewed.

One key element I'd like to point out up front is this book is very strong about landscape photograhy, but not so about the golf and how to play the game in Ireland. Thus I would say you need to be prepared to just enjoy the pictures for what they are: fantastic and breathtaking landscapes. The golfing is secondary.

Some may think my last comment is crazy, but I think if you take a closer look you will realize the photographs do nothing to prepare the golfer for what to expect golfing wise. Laurence's vantage point for 90% of the photographs consists in seeking the highest dune (usually behind or beside the green) and then frame for the landscape and make sure to include the green. Given this, you simply will not be able to figure out if the hole is a par 3, 4, or even 5. You will also have no idea how it's played. You simply do not get the golfer vantage point from the fairways and bunkers. The only exception to this is on par 3's where you guess the vantage point is from the tee. Unfortunately, the captions to the photos do nothing either to tell you if it's a par 3, 4, or 5. But then again, maybe this is by design because it wouldn't matter. Case in point: page/slide 200 illustrates a wonderful rock outcroping from some cliffs with a tiny green on a shelf. The caption reads "4th at Kilkee". Great landscape picture, but what does it tell you about the hole? Does it matter or help the photograph to even know this?

Instead, it's best to just admire the quality of the photographs. You start to appreciate the framing of the photos, the colors, the foreground and background and how it all works together seemlessly, the elements of wind/sun/clouds/shadows and how they contribute. It makes the golf part of a whole. One thing you will notice is the tremendous ruggedness of the regions and their dunes. This book is broken down into regions like the Scottish Golf Links book, and again here you'll grow to appreciate the differences from region to region. I still keep coming back to the print on page 182 of Royal County Down with a surreal set of colors and an almost mystical background. Just an unbelievable print. Simply beautiful in conveying what the landscape has to offer. I find myself gravating over and over again towards that region of northern Ireland.

The text is fairly simplistic with nice historical notes about the course being reviewed and is at times amusing, but don't look for grand explanations about a given course and it's holes. Granted there are a few highlighted holes here and there, but it's usually to express how difficult they are. Little is imparted on how to approach them. There's also very little if any correlation between the text and the holes being photographed. That aside, I think the best thing the text does is reinforce your desire to go over and visit Ireland for yourself. Some of the charming Irish culture comes through in areas of the text and it makes you want to appreciate the whole package in person.

In the end, I think this is a wonderful effort from Laurence. Beautiful rugged dune landscapes with intriguing surroundings in a perfect format convey the grandeur of Ireland. Tremendous colours and textures breath life into the prints. The regional variety expresses the richness the links have to offer. As for the golf, I think it acts more as a complement to the tremendous scenery being displayed.

This large pictorial covers every major links course in Ireland with beautiful pictures and course commentary by Irish writers and architects.This is by far the best book to help plan an Irish golf trip or to relive a past trip.It is well worth the cost and will be your reference for Ireland's links for years to come

Bartlett acts as a wonderful guide through the many layers of Medieval life. As he says in the Preface this is an "entry-point of the understanding of processes only slowly unfolding, sometimes across centuries". The book has a very narrow focus in both place and time, yet goes very deep in detail covering all aspects of medieval life. It is a long book that could easily be read in chapters in no particular order, but I read it straight through cover to cover hopeing it would not end for want of Bartletts engaging prose and wealth of fascinating source material. Perhaps the best compliment of all is my desire to want to learn more.

It is an academic book and not always easy with some sections that are fairly boring (economic production figures, calculations of the number of sheep in the country), but overall the balance of interesting material outweighs these sections and makes the effort well worth the veins of gold. Most of all, it is highly trustworthy and authoritative; Bartlett is one in a long line of English historians who endeavored to be readable, arming themselves, as Roger of Wendover (13th C) says, against both "the listless hearer and the fastidious reader" by "presenting something which each may relish," and so providing for the joint "profit and entertainment of all."

Bartlett tries to cover practically every aspect of life during his period, from court politics to village religious life to sexual mores. He does a nice jobe of balancing the general and the specific, reinforcing his general conclusions with interesting anecdotes. Some parts are more tedious than others, depending on your tastes - since he deals with so many issues, some are bound to interest the reader more than others.

Every now and then you come across a technical or academic book that is clear, concise and just beautifully written. This is such a book. One hundred and fifty years are covered at a cracking pace and I savoured each and every page. It's a large book at 750+ pages, but it left me wishing it had been twice as long.

Most books relating to this period cover who did what, to whom and when. Bartlett doesn't: he assumes if you're reading this book you already know, at least in outline, the events of the period. It does cover how people lived, worked, worshipped, swore, laughed and cried. It makes you feel that you understand what it would have been liked to have lived during the period.

The book is well structured and you can happily dip in here and there as your interest takes you.

One minor criticism is that there are many words and phrases which, it is plain from context, have a particular technical meaning that Bartlett doesn't explain. But with Google to hand that's just a minor irritation.

I just hope the rest of the series is as good.

Anyone familiar with the Cambridge History collection will be familiar with the format of this book. Essentially Bartlett's work is an expansion of an epoch of English history from, roughly, 1066 to 1200 and covers the reigns of William the Conqueror and the generations of Norman and Angevin kings succeeding him on the throne. Like the Cambridge History series, England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings dissects the period, examining life from nearly every aspect: military events of each reign, relations between king and nobility, king and commoner and king and heirs, social strata, cost of armaments, land holding and land use, cost of living and inflationary trends, law courts, rise of a merchant middle class, growth of cities, etc. The volume is incredibly thorough in its coverage of the period, and its bibliography is impressive. Original documents are described and cited throughout the book, providing the dedicated reader with primary sources with which to follow up his/her interests. It would be an excellent secondary source book for someone doing research on the period. It is however very deep and detailed and takes considerable time to read. Light reading it isn't, even for the history buff, but it is worth doing for anyone interested in this very active, very complex period.

This book is one that I reach for constantly when I need to check something; in addition Bartlett writes in an effortless style that makes him a pleasure to read. He's a master of the primary sources; the only think missing from this book is a good bibliography of secondary, specialized material.

I am a law student in the university of Plymouth and i would like you to send me some information that this book contains, concerning the subject of the separation of powers. Your advice will be of great help. Thank you.

First, to the reviewer looking for the doctrine of separation of powers: you'll find it in Montequieu's "Spirit of the Laws". Also check out "The Federalist", number 51.

Now then, Bagehot, like Madison, describes the operation of a modern liberal regime. The trick for founders of liberal government is to produce a government that permits the people civil liberties, but does not permit the people to abuse those liberties, or in the words of Madison, to create a government that is "democratic yet decent". Madison and the American Founders accomplish this end by so constructing the institutions of government that mens' selfish natures will be turned against each other ("ambition is made to check ambition"), rather than united in tyrannical concert.

Bagehot too describes the operation of a system of government that rules by the consent of the governed, yet which does so by restraining the vices of those who ought not to rule. Bagehot argues that the English government is moderate and decent because of a division of government into the "dignified" and the "efficient" parts, and a "noble lie" about the relationship between the two. It is this noble lie that permits the government to operate without the interference of those who would turn it away from the public good. But to discover the noble lie, you'll have to read Bagehot.

Warner Winborne

Professor of Political Science

Hampden-Sydney College

Hampden-Sydney, VA

This book stimulates the little gray cells. Every time I watch Prime Minister's Questions, the superiority of the Cabinet system over the Presidential system is painfully obvious. If Bush were subjected to the kind of scrutiny, in Congress, that Blair is subjected to every week in Parliament, he would have been exposed as an impostor long before supreme executive authority was placed in his hands. Refering to our Civil War, Bagehot wrote: "The notion of employing a man of unknown smallness at a crisis of unknown greatness is to our minds simply ludicrous. Mr. Lincoln, it is true, happened to be a man of... eminent justness... But success in a lottery is no argument for lotteries."

Well, we used up all of our good fortune in the 1860s. We've come up craps in this millenium.

If this is the unaltered version of the book of the same name and same author that I read about 30 years ago, it is a classic. It describes how the classic English Constitution worked, before Britain joined the European Union. Especially it explained how it worked without being written down, largely by constitutional convention which was morally binding but (quite often) not legally binding.

Walter Bagehot was a journalist and a social and political thinker of the middle Victorian period (1850s and 1860s). His classical work "The English Constitution" comes as a collection of polemical assays upon the structure of the British political system. Cabinet, monarchy, Houses of Commons and Lords, execution of political power, and the foundation of the systems of checks and balances are explored in the book.

Throughout the book a comparison and contrast of Cabinet system and the Presidential system (a.k.a USA) is a constant theme. Bagehot does not hide it preference for the Cabinet system, which in his view is a both more dynamic and more effective. One of his main points is that direct popular election is a myth, since most of the electorate are ignorant of the nature of the political power (and moreover are forced to this ignorance by the effective uselessness of the legislative debate in the USA as opposed to the UK). Moreover, a result of the direct election is a static Presidential term of 4 years, which allows the executive branch to execute almost unchecked control of the political process. According to Bagehot, the indirect electoral system of the Commons, where people vote for the MPs and they then select the PM amongst themselves produces a more effective government, which is more responsive to the popular will since it can fall at any time due to policy disputes. A hidden secret of British success according to Bagehot is a fusion of legislative and executive powers in the Cabinet system. In the latter chapters, Bagehot exposures two forms of power - the dignified power (in the person of the monarch and the lords) and the effective power as exemplified by the Cabinet. Dignified power serves as a façade of legitimacy under which the dynamic and opportunist real effective power can subsist. He follows through to explain how each of the minister of the government exercises its power for the common goal, what are the legal powers of the monarchy and how it is exercised indirectly via control of the composition of the peerage and the power to dissolve the Commons.

Bagehot's style is clear, flavorful, his knowledge of political process is profound (with a qualification of more so of British then American), his research is well done, and he is a master of dramatic tricks to keep the reader interested. I would recommend the book as both a scholarly reference, and a well presented popular case.

I recommend the book Escape to Murray River to any one wholikes adventure.The book Escape to Murray River is foll ofsurprise.The only character I did not like was mr.Burke.I did not like mr. Burke because he framed Patricks father and said that he would help him in court.

This book starts getting exciting in the FIRST chapter! Patrick's father, John McWaid, is convicted of somthing he didn't do and is getting sent on a prison ship to Australia. The rest of the McWaids follow only to get in deep trouble when they find out that the man that wants John McWaid dead, Conrad Burke, followed them TOO!!

This series, Adventures Down Under, is full of adventure.

I Really liked the Escape to Murray River book. I liked it because I love to read.It was fun to read because it is mysterious.

We think Escape to Murray River is a great book for almost all kids. It makes you want to read more and more,you never want to stop reading once you start. It really makes you think that this is really happening to you. We think you will really like this/these books.

Jessica 4/10/00 This book is really awesome. If you like adventure,you should read this book. It`s filled with excitment, suspence,and a little romance. Robert Elmer puts very good details in his stories. Patrick, the main charecter is seperated from his family. Along with his new friend Jefferson. Patrick struggles to find his sister Becky ,his brother Micheal,his mother Sarah McWiad,and his father John McWaid, who was sent from Dublin to Australia. John McWaid was framed for being a Fenian in a bribe scandle, by Mr. Burke and head of chief police. Now Patrick tries to find his parents. So hold on to your seats and enjoy the ride with Patrick and everyone else.

I am not surprised that this book has unanimous 5 star reviews. John Treadway is a legendary figure in Balkan studies, and is quite rightly regarded as the world authority on the Montenegrin history of this period. He is uniquely able to make the study of Montenegro in the run up to World War One both scholarly and accessible, an all too rare feat in historical writing these days. Buy 10 copies of this book and give them to any historians you know to teach them how to write history properly. Christopher Catherwood, author of THE BALKANS IN WORLD WAR TWO (Palgrave, 2003)

John Treadway has been the most authoratative, brilliant and generally outstanding scholar of Balkan history in recent years, and this is the wonderful book that made his well deserved reputation. You simply cannot understand the Balkans without reading this magnificent book.

Brilliant study about Montenegro and its relationship with Austria-Hungary but also with Russia and Balkan countries, especially Serbia. This excelent book is based on critically confirmed facts and scientific knowledge. Professor Treadway stresses eternal wish of Montenegrins and their king Nicholas I Petrovic Njegos to restore medieval Serb Empire of Dusan Nemanjic: "Ambitious for his dynasty as well as his country and incited by the nationalism of his people, Nicholas dreamed of uniting all Serbs under his aegis and sitting upon Dusan's throne in Prizren" [page 201] I recommend this book to everybody who cares for knowledge.

Treadway has been extremely succesful in writing the dramatic history of Montenegro, its smart king and its brave people. After reading this fine historybook on the "black mountains" the reader will better understand the current trouble on the Balkans. Treadway describes in a detailed way why the two Balkan wars have taken place and what has been the political and geographical outcome of it. The Austrian-Hungarian influence on the European continent at that time as well as the Russian influence makes one see how history repeats itself today. For the current student on Balkan history, for the student on politics in the Balkan and for people who are interested in Montenegrin history this book is an absolute must! Highly recommended

I was lucky enough to have been a student of Dr. Treadway at the University of Richmond. This book was on the reading list for his class European Diplomacy from Bismarck to Hitler. Treadway's intense teaching style as well as his insightful sense of humor are seen in this work. The events leading up to World War I were both complicated, and filled with lots of "what if's..." Treadway concerns himself with the "Powder Keg" of Europe, the Balkans, and presents a unique and facinating overview of the events surrounding the Annexation Crisis, the Scutari Crisis, the two Balkan Wars, as well as the history of Montenegrin relations with Austria-Hungary, Russia, Turkey, and other Great Powers. How did this small country with virtually no resources come to play such a large role in European diplomacy and politics? Treadway answers this question, making his way to June 28th, 1914 and the assassination of Francis Ferdinand in Sarajevo at the hand of Mlada Bosnia. Anyone interested in the causes of World War I would be interested in this book, moreso because it is written from the perspective of "the mouse that roared," the small country of Montenegro.

In one sense, the events in the book, although well written, are remote from us. The so-called communist menace is destroyed, so Russia is not formost in our minds. But the process by which a society can so fall into ruin as to make Lenin viable is revealing. The fatal combination of scapegoating and failed despotism is something the reader find in today's world news as well.

What shines through undimmed from Fuller's account is the sheer incompetence and paranoia of the Imperial Russian government. The mobilisation of the Russian army for way against Germany and Austria-Hungary was massive in the numbers that turned out. But the logistics were primitive and wholly inadequate, both for the numbers of men that had to be supplied, and the distances across eastern Europe for which this was done. Plus of course the inept battlefield decisions made by the Russian generals.

As a desperate search for scapegoats for the resultant defeats, the Russian government then shot hundreds of purported spies. Based on the flimsiest of hearsay. To an American reader, who perhaps is familiar with the US military system, or who has been following the Guantanomo controversy, whatever your views on that, the book's descriptions of Imperial Russian military justice can be shocking.

Fuller's book is thoroughly documented, with extensive footnotes that suggest considerable, lengthy research was performed.

William Fuller, in his new evaluation of potential causes of the February Revolution, has opened a chapter that many people have not previously considered - that espionage and internal sabotage led to the abdication of the Tsar.

At first blush, it seems to be a far-fetched theory, but as the reader continues through the tale, it becomes more & more believable. Fuller offers the reader dossiers on both Miasoedov and Sukhomlinov, who he claims are the two people that really led to this wave of "spy mania" that was pivotal in the downfall of the Romanov Dynasty.

Suffice it to say that it is critical to know that the February Revolution started as a soldier's mutiny - without this piece of information, the book makes a little less sense, though it certainly is easily understandable. Once the reader connects the soldiers to Miasoedov, who was a gendarme and a soldier, and Sukhomlinov, who was the minister of war in WWI era Russia, the concept of internal subversion and the concern that spies were "everywhere" easily leads the reader to conclude that yes, indeed, spy mania was a contributing factor to Tsar Nicholas becoming the ex-Tsar and a political prisoner.

The book is easy to read, despite the fact that it is an academic text. The author lays out his premise well, and supports it nicely with evidence, primarily from contemporary sources such as trial transcripts, interviews with accomplices or eyewitnesses, and newspapers. I heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in the causes of the Russian Revolution - it is an interesting revision to the standard concept that the Bolsheviks came into power strictly because of economic difficulties in Russia at this time.

When something bad happens, be it in the military, the government, or business, the first thought is to look for people to blame. In the cast of Pearl Harbor the top leaders of the Army and Navy (Short and Kimmel) were immediately fired and an investigation began into how this could have happened.

In 1915 Russia made a very poor showing in their battles with Germany. Obviously it couldn't have been the Russians fault, so they had to find fault. Lt. Col. Miasoedov was tried (in a two hour trial) and executed. The crime, of which he was not guilty, was of spying for Germany. A year later the Minister of War, General Sukhomlinov was arrested for the same crime.

These trials are used by Fuller as a starting point to examine the Russian government from 1915 until the revolution in 1917. It brings a great deal of understanding to how the Tsar government was corrupt and ready to be overthrown.

I really enjoyed this book, since I have always considered the period immediately preceding and following the Russian revolution very interesting. The author's theory is that the widely held belief that Russia was riddled with spies during World War I undermined the validity of the imperial government in the eyes of most Russians and eventually brought down the Russian government. The feeling among the Russian people was that only corruption at all levels of government could have caused them to be losing the war so badly since they had a strong sense of pride that made them believe that if only the war were run competently that they should prevail. A secondary cause, according to the author, was the belief among Russians that entire groups of fellow Russians - the Germans, the Jews, and the Muslims, for example - were working with the enemy powers, thus turning the people against each other as well.

The abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, made for the sake of military victory, brought down the whole structure of Russian statehood along with it. For all its immense territory, the Russian empire was a fragile artificial structure that was held together by the man-made links of the bureaucracy, police, and army - links whose unquestioned authority vanished along with the tsar. Russia's 150 million inhabitants were bound neither by strong economic interests nor by a sense of national identity due to its great ethnic diversity.

Although the author accurately pinpoints the causitive factors of the overthrow of tsarist Russia, I think that he makes the mistake of conveying the traits of modern-day well-fed literate Westerners upon the poor largely illiterate Russian peasants, only a generation removed from serfdom, who were just trying not to starve in those times. With the authority of the tsar gone, the promise of bread and an end to the war is what ultimately caused the soldiers to abandon the army and the citizens to take up arms against their government.

If you are interested in this period of time, the author certainly puts forth some interesting theories and also talks about lesser known characters, events, and attitudes leading up to the revolution. For those reasons alone it is worth reading.