Ireland Books

Throughout time the Holy Spirit has worked through individuals to bring humanity closer to the divine. Sometimes this work manifests itself in an individual who is capable of doing great things with the blessings that were given them. Rev. O'Donohue is such a man, and yes he is still a priest. Once a priest always a priest. This like all others works John has done provide simple advice on how to build ones understanding of life, self, and the divine. John's approach to teaching is a `Celtic' approach as old as the stones that make up the many walled fields of Ireland. Many listeners will not be used to the rhythms of Celtic life, and thus they will find John's respectful approach to a subject boring. We saw this fact manifest in the previous reviewers comments. The Celtic approach to life is never direct, and always mindful. It is this first lesson that John teaches the listener without ever addressing it directly that is the most important lesson to learn. This is the lesson of mindful patience. Without this basic life skill we can never progress in our relationship with the divine. Once we have learned this lesson, and listen again to John's lecture we will then be able to understand what he is addressing in his lectures. The real blessing is that each book, or more especially taped lecture has layered teachings. These teachings are revealed only through rereading, or listening to his lecture. This type of teaching, and systematic unveiling of teachings is the heart and Soul of the Celtic approach to teaching anything. So in conclusion, if you are looking to hear, and learn the subject material from a true modern day Christian Bard then John's works are for you. If you are looking for a quick secret to life answers in a book in the form of a milk carton advertisement then perhaps a quick read of one of the many Celtic Spiritual web pages is the ticket for you. As for me, I hope you take the time to sit (metaphorically speaking) at the feet of one of the last Cludee's left in the world.

I could listen to John O'Donohue's voice all day and in fact, take these tapes in the car and so sometimes do. He is not only an incredible scholar, but has a way of expressing and condensing this clear wisdom through simple stories and ancedotes. His ideas and thoughts are delivered with tenderness and compassion. He is one of the most natural and warm speakers I've ever had the privilege to listen to.

O'Donohue is wonderful! The subject matter is not only relevant on a day-to-day basis, but also helps one understand their past and the "inner workings" of other people. His explanation and treatment of death is both informative and helpful for those of us who have lost someone we love dearly.

Spoken audio tapes need to be evaluated not only on the merits of the content, but also the quality of the production -- including the "listenability" of the speaker's voice. Fortunately, this collection of meditative reflections on Celtic spirituality by Irish priest John O'Donohue boasts not only sublimie content, but an aurally pleasing experience as well. O'Donohue's voice is easy for Americans to understand, but filled with enough of an Irish accent to evoke the windswept shores of the Emerald Isle in every word he speaks. He speaks slowly, carefully enunciating each word, which contributes to the meditative aura this recording evokes. And of course, what he is saying is as important as how he says it: and what he talks about is the distinctive and vital living tradition of Celtic wisdom, from seeing the human being as "sculpted of clay" to celebrating the inner landscape of the imagination, to seamlessly weaving Christian and Pagan stories and principles together in a way that ultimately breaks down the barriers of religion to leave only the breathtaking unity of deep mysticism. Finally, O'Donohue's insistence on the role of friendship and relationship in the spiritual life -- as embodied in the Gaelic tradition of the anam cara, or soul friend -- makes this truly a relevant treasury of spiritual insight.

Excellent material on the early Irish history

The Annals of Ireland by the Four Masters is a treasured find for any researcher. O'Donovans translation was excellent for the day. He was actually the second to publish the annals for the 12th to the 17th centuries. A few years before O'Donovan, in 1846, Owen Connellan published the first ever translation of the annals into English, plus the family name location map. There had been quite a competition between the two to come out with the first edition of the annals. I have both translations in hardbound editions. They sit side by side on our shelves. It is quite interesting to compare the two.

This text is a crucial element in the genealogical history of many old Irish and Scotish families (who can trace their roots to Ireland). This text includes the Latin, Gaelic and English translations of the original books. Although the beginning volumes were written about 500 to 1000 years after the events occurred, the stories that one finds included there are fascinating, and add to any family history (provided you can trace back that far!) a depth that is difficult to find elsewhere. I post a web site that traces the roots of the Buchanan clan, and have used a copy of the text available from the NY Public Library as one of my sources. Numerous individuals have e-mailed me asking for sources to purchase this text, and it would be helpful if it would be reprinted. For now, ask your local library to get the book for you on interlibrary loan from the NY Public Library (or others). Needless to say, I highly recommend this text and would be the first to purchase it if it were reprinted.

'The Annals of the Four Masters' is one of the most important documents for students of Irish, British, European and ancient history. You will not find much of this history in your high school or even college text books. John O'Donovan, a 19th century antiquarian undertook the enormous task of interpreting this account of Irish history as written in gaelic by the Four Masters, legendary scribes from a Donegal monastery. On the left hand page you get the original gaelic text, on the right the english translation, some anecdotes are in Latin. The anecdotes are as rich in reading as the text and include some by the late 19th century historian Charles O'Conor of Belengare, Ireland. REPRINT THESE VOLUMES....for here lie the dormant pages of Irish, British, Norman, Saxon, Scotish, Iberian, Hiberian, Milesian, Pictish and Gaelic history and perhaps the key to unraveling are current problems. Stephen Vincent O`Rourke

Usamah calls his book "Kitab al-Itibar" or "The Book of Instructive Example." True to its title, there is much to learn from this book, but what I found very interesting were perhaps things other than what Usamah wanted us to learn. For example, it was interesting to note the Arab perception of Franks, the relationship between Arabs and Franks during the first of two centuries of crusades on the Eastern Mediterranean, and aspects of the life of a prince and some commoners as well. The stories about hunts are numerous and tend to get boring, but they tell us of a rich fauna that is now largely extinct (lions, leopards, etc.). Usamah's talk of old age provides a sobering philosophical view of life.

What an excellent job by Philip Hitti who translated the manuscript from Arabic! Considering that the manuscript was lacking in things such diacritical marks (dots on Arabic letters), punctuation, etc. it is truly an amazing that he was able to pull this book together in the manner its stands. Thanks to Philip Hitti we can enjoy Usamah's book: it is truly a delightful read!

Unlike any other history book, this is a first hand account, day to day life of an Arab Syrian prince in the time of the crusades; He talks about his advantures, feelings and thoughts, it's just like going back in time almost 1000 years. If you like history and especially the crusades, this book is a must. I go back and read this book every once in a while, it's entertaining and informative.

We in the Western world all too rarely take the time to perceive and understand our modern society through anything other than Western eyes. So it is as well with that wondrously tragic period of our history known as the Crusades. While there are many contemperary histories of this era incorporating Western eye-witness accounts, there are but few with the perspectives of the invaded Orientals (i.e. Arabs, etc.). So the uniqueness of an account written by a period-contemporary 'Arab-Syrian Gentleman' will not be lost on the reader. "The Memoirs" are essentially just that: an autobiography of a twelfth-century Arab Muslim and the experiences of his long and eventful life. From his earliest memories in Syria before the First Crusade to his twilight days in Egypt and Damascus, Munqidh shares his vast knowledge with the reader, imparting as well his personal, ingrained biases. It is this latter which assists the reader in understanding the mind of the Crusading-era Muslim, even now oft-considered the enemy of Western "Christendom". Indeed, some scholars argue that the key to understanding the Middle Easterner's distrustful eye to the West lies in the very heart of the Crusades. Munqidh writes in the learned style one might expect of the educated nobility of his period, and though exquisitely detailed, he is neither long-winded nor boring. So whether the avid scholar or simply the interested amateur, "The Memoirs of Usamah Ibn-Munqidh" is truly a worthy read

A great read as well as a solid historical source for the period.

What i really enjoyed about this source where the unsual, little storie's scattered throughout it's pages. Beautifuly described little detail's that help the reader get a more colourful picture of the Usamah's times.

For instance there is a description of a dual between a Mounted Frankish Knight and a Mounted Muslim Cavalier. The story recite's how Usamah saw them both kill each other on their first charge, but how their warhorse's continued to fight for a long time after.

Unlike many other Chronicler's of the time, Usamah is relativley unbiased. He recognise's the Franks valour in battle, the Christian's piety (saying that he has never seen a Frankish Christian genuinely convert to Islam).

It is also a Medevial travel diary, documenting Usamas extensive travels.

It is full of the usual curse's and insults everytime the Christians or Jews name's are mentioned, like all the Medieval Islamic Chronicles. However, if you can see beyond the propogandist protocol of the day, you will be entertained by Usamahs amusing antidotes and tales.

A must for anyone intrested in either Islamic or Crusader history.

My only reservation from giving this book five stars was that i became slightly bored torwards the end, when the book is describing Usamah's many hunting exploits. I sometimes felt that had Usamah killed as many human foes as he had Lions, the Franks would of been expelled from Jerusalem far earlier than they actually where!!!!!

This book is an excellent summary of the holocaust and the controversies which have arisen around it in the past years. Everybody who has ever had any doubts about the holocaust should read this book to realize how dangerous is to deny a historical event for the collective memory of the people. Vidal-Naquet is brilliant in his sociological-discoursive method. A first-class historical treatise.

Great insights on the truth about the Holocaust

This book is an excellent summary of the holocaust and the controversies which have arisen around it in the past years. Everybody who has ever had any doubts about the holocaust should read this book to realize how dangerous is to deny a historical event for the collective memory of the people. Vidal-Naquet is brilliant in his sociological-discoursive method. A first-class historical treatise.

This is a commentary on our age as much as it is a series of essays about the people Vidal-Naquet calls assassins of memory. And a sad commentary it is. For it features some of our greatest minds and some of our most revered institutions.

Here is Chomsky, proudly proclaiming that "It is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth and expose lies"... shortly before penning a preface to Robert Faurisson's book--a book that denied the Holocaust. (Chomsky later realized what he had done and frantically called the publisher to omit his preface).

Here is an institute that finances revisionis activities offering $50,000 to anyone who could prove the existence of a gas chamber. A gentleman who had seen his entire family murdered accepted only to find that the conditions of "proof" were set so high that only a person who HAD been gassed could, in fact, prove the existence of a gas chamber.

Here is Jean-Paul Sartre's report on genocide--a report which omits the Armenian genocide so as not to offend the Pakistani and Turkish authorities.

Here is the origin of the book's title for those who would deny the Holocaust, "chose their target well: they are intent at striking a community in the thousand painful fibers that continue to link itself to its own past."

Here is the French Court struggling with the concept of "crimes against humanity" on December 20, 1985.

And here is the state of the French libraries. "Neither at the Sorbonne nor at the Bibliotheque Nationale can one find fundamental documentation concerning Auschwitz, which has to be consulted, for the most part, at the Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaire, which itself is far from possessing all that it should."

It seems Vidal-Naquet is amply justified in concluding "Will the truth have the last word? How one would like to be sure of it....."

This is a must have for any fan of Irish Literature

The Ballad of Reading Gaol and Other Poems (Dover Thrift Editions)

Oscar Wilde was not a person who was likely to take being put into prison lightly. Those who know the full extent of Wilde's wit ought to see how bitterly it was able to express itself, when getting locked up for enjoying inappropriate pleasures of the mind results in this, the reflection that "every prison that men build is built with bricks of shame." (p. 40) Although it is included in a small book, the poem in the title might seem to go on forever, as it hardly ends when Wilde gets to the last line, "The brave man with a sword !"

If you are looking for slapstick humor or short "sound-bite" quotations, then perhaps you should look to some of Oscar Wilde's other works--but if you are looking for subtle wit and excellence in exposition, then you have found just the book. These Dover Thrift editions allow one to inexpensively read, annotate and travel with Oscar, when you might be leaving the big collected works at home. Real value for the dollar, and "The Ballad of Reading Goal" is some of the best writing in the English Language.

This book is fantastic! I loved reading about my favorite show. I was able to get the book the last time I was in Ireland and I was so excited when I saw it. The book gives you all the information you ever wanted to know about Ballkissangel. The book has amazing pictures of everyone in the cast. It has pictures of the cast from different episodes and showing them when they are not in front of the camara. I recommend this book for anyone who is a big fan of BallyK.

This is a great book! It gives you a wonderful variety of behind the scenes photos and information, as well as, giving a photo and brief synopsis of each episode of the first two seasons. There is also a similar section on each character. The cover art is beautiful! It is definately worth the price and I feel you'll enjoy it as much as I have or more.

With plenty of participation and anecdotes from all involved in the production (the producer, writers, directors and actors), this lovely little book provides a delightful behind-the-scenes look at this warm-hearted comedy-drama.

The book deals with how the idea for the series came about, how a town was chosen to represent Ballykissangel (whose name, incidentally, is Gaelic for "The Town of the Banished Angel"), the impact that the series has had on that town (Avoca, in County Wicklow) and its inhabitants. The book also touches on how a few of the effects were achieved, like the burning of Kathleen's house and the statue crashing through the roof of Ambrose's car. Included are brief 2-3 page bios of the actors and the characters they portray. Finally, there is an episode guide covering the first two series (the last episode of which is "Chinese Whispers").

Written by Geoff Tibballs, this beautiful little book is a 7 1/2" x 10" 128-page hardcover printed on thick, high-quality paper, and it is loaded with colour pictures (mostly scenes from the series).

In conclusion, this is a thoroughly enjoyable and informative little behind-the-scenes look at one of the most charming and gently amusing comedy-drama series around. Highly recommended.

If you are a fan of the show, this book is a MUST. It has bios of each member of the cast and the creator, information on the location, filming and creation of the show, and synopsis' of the first three series(seasons).

Very imformative of history in an entertaining way. The love story is a continuation from another book - The Fields of Bannockburn. Loved it and would highly recommend it for high school and up.

Mary flies to Scotland to marry her fiance, Gareth, only to find he has signed on with a group trying to bring about some kind of healing in Northern Ireland.

So off they go to work in that battle-torn country,where nobody wants to comprimise because each side thinks they, alone, are in the right, have been for hundreds of years, and cannot forgive the wrongs done to them over that time. As Mary and Gareth's own personal adventure moves forward, Mary learns the history of Northern Ireland during the last 350 years as they visit various historical sites. The Scottish Presbyterians were being persecuted and emigrated to Ireland where they started presecuting the Irish Catholics. Then the English Episcopalians started persecuting them both. Every once in a while, they would realign themselves, but never for a moment forgive anyone not of their stripe. The results were massive bloodlettings leading to more massive bloodlettings.

Although both stories are fictional, Mrs. Crow has done a masterful job of intertwining the stories against an historical background. And she has done her homework. She even has a bibliography in the back of the book. She traces one family who came from Scotland in 1649 to the Easter Rising of 1911. This is all juxtaposed against Mary and Gareth's modern day story, both having related experiences.

For fans of historical fiction, this is a winner! The author knows how to involve her readers in the story. It also helped me see a little more clearly the background of the harsh feelings in that beautiful country.

"How the Irish Saved Civilization" by Thomas Cahill gives the more ancient background of Ireland.

Mrs. Crow also wrote "The Fields of Bannockburn," which tells the very early history of Scotland.

This book tore at my heart as I read through the bitter history of Ireland. A must read for all who have even the smallest bit of Irish blood. The passion of the Irish people is absolutely amazing.

This novel is an incredible tribute to those who work to do the Lord's will no matter what the circumstances. How hard is it to hope, love, and give mercy to those who hate you? Ireland has a sad history, and this novel points to the only way humans can overcome their hatred and fear- by giving their lives to Jesus. I reccomend this book to anyone who desires to understand forgiveness and/or the history of Ireland.

I was remarkably pleased by Patricia Lysaght's "The Banshee: the Irish Death Messenger". It's a very well documented study of the popularity of various elements of the banshee folklore, complete with annotations and maps showing where and how often these themes show up in various geographic areas. Using earlier manuscripts as well as a folklore study she conducted in 1976, Lysaght does a really good job of showing how one does good folklore research. While the source matter was of significant interest to me, I had just as much enjoyment from reading about how she felt that the phrasing of her survey questions might have affected the responses, or how other elements in folklore, language migration, or history may have resulted in the data she gathered. (For example, the absence of banshee-combing-her-hair legends along the western coast is fairly well tied to the presence of mermaid-combing-her-hair legends in the same region -- the maps of the occurrence of each of those legends complement each other but don't overlap almost anywhere.) It is an academic text, but is also readable to the more casually interested Celtic geek -- just skip the 200 pages of footnotes and appendices.

I became interested in the banshee because of some research I was doing and was delighted to find a scholarly work on the subject. While it is obvious that a remarkable amount of research went into writing the book, it is still readable for the layman.

Every aspect of the banshee from different names, connections with certain families, aural manifestations, visual manifestations, to legends of the banshee are included.

If you are interested in Irish folklore and the banshee in particular, I highly recommend this book.

This is Patricia Lysaght's doctoral dissertation, made over very slightly and published for a general audience. Therefore, it is not about entertainment. The reason to get this book is that you are interested in finding out more about the figure of Irish folklore known as the banshee. There are references to, and frequent quotes from, written and recorded stories concerning banshees, and these are interesting and amusing, but they are not the heart of the book.

Lysaght analyzes each story, breaks down its elements, and shows the geographic and temporal distribution of those elements throughout Ireland. Then she tries to draw conclusions from these distributions. This analysis yields such data as that there are, for no apparent reason, no known banshee sightings in Counties Cork or Waterford, but many stories of them being heard; while just north of Waterford banshees are often seen as attractive women; further north and west, they tend to be reported as gnomish crones.

If this is the sort of thing that interests you, this is the book for you. It is heavily annotated, indexed, and sourced; it has extensive appendices and a large bibliography (as befits a scholarly work, these sections form the bulk of the book). Lysaght also spends some time theorizing about the origins of the banshee legend (not easy, as she has only a few ancient sources to work with -- a difficulty she does not acknowledge, and she seems perhaps too certain of her conclusions) and spends the final chapter considering the eventual fate of the banshee in these days when folklore is being replaced by urban legends.

The Banshee is not the sort of thing you should read for enteratinment, or the kind of thing you will read your kids before they go to bed; it's not about banshee stories. It's the story behind the story, and it is exhaustive enough to satisfy anyone's curiosity in that regard.

I used a friend's copy of this book for a specific recipe (whole wheat banana bread). I've tried many of the other recipes and I've not found one I don't like. I HAD to buy my own copy. The food is tasty, appealing and chock full of healthy ingredients. It's nice to find a cookbook with so much variety and great alternatives to grocrey store premade baked item. This is a keeper!!!

This is NO ripoff. It's the real deal. Straight from the Irish presses and shipped to America. The breads and baked goods are authentic and unbelieveably delicious. I can't praise it enough for its authenticity.

This book is an excellent choice for the person who is interested in authentic Irish baking. There are many variations on the traditional brown bread and all I have tried taste really good. The recipes are easy to follow and a lot come from top guest houses. The "Irish Apple Cake" is wonderful and freezes beautifully. It also has a few Irish American recipes along side the traditional versions. The scones, sweet breads - in fact everything I have baked from this book has been wonderful.

`The Best of Irish Breads & Baking' by Georgina Campbell, sponsored by the Irish company, Shamrock Foods, is the third book of Irish baking I have reviewed, and it nicely fits between the areas covered by Tim Allen's `The Ballymaloe Bread Book' and Margaret M. Johnson's `Irish Puddings, Tarts, Crumbles, and Fools'. Before comparing the three books in detail, I'll survey Ms. Campbell's contents.

This is a very nicely sized, relatively inexpensive book, listing at $15 or 15 euros which concentrates, like Ms. Johnson, on recipes from local Irish baking and hospitality establishments.

The chapters, with virtually no surprises, are:

Soda Breads and Scones, confirming once again that THE classic Irish bread is a brown soda bread and not the familiar Irish-American all white flour soda bread. I was pleased to find, however, a recipe for that familiar Irish-American soda bread with many flavorings added. One of the more unusual sections in this chapter is a method for making buttermilk from skimmed milk and yeast. I find immense irony in this method, as yeast is being used to make an ingredient for a yeastless quick bread. It also gives the yogurt method for making buttermilk, but makes no mention of the quick sour milk method or of powdered `instant buttermilk' products.

Hot Off the Griddle covers things which many people may not consider `baking' as they are recipes to be made from batters on top of the stove, including cakes made from batters with oats, potatoes (for boxty), apples, and flour. If you happen to be a big breakfast fan, this chapter may alone be worth the price of admission.

Tea Breads, Bracks, & Buns cover what in the United States would tend to be lumped together as muffins and their allies such as gingerbread and fruit breads.

Yeast Breads explores baking with packaged yeasts, either fresh brewer's yeast or dried yeast packets. One interesting fact in this chapter is that Irish wheat is soft, much like that from the southern United States such as White Lily flour. The explanation for the Irish love of soda bread is not this, but the fact that few Irish households had the kinds of ovens needed for baking yeasted breads. This may not be complete, as the same could probably be said of Italy, one of the capitals of yeasted bread traditions. While this chapter focuses on native Irish recipes, there are a fair number of imports from the Mediterranean using things like onion and garlic in the breads.

Cakes and Biscuits is the chapter which contains the recipes for the kind of seed cakes and biscuits which Bilbo Baggins probably served to Thorin Oakenshield, his band of dwarfs, and Gandalf the wizard in that magical moment at the beginning of the novel, `The Hobbit'. If you are a Tolkien fan, this chapter alone may be worth the book. Note that biscuits, here, is the English sense of biscuits as `cookies' and not what we recognize as, for example, southern buttermilk biscuits, which are much more similar to Irish scones.

Pastry and Puddings involves another English / Irish usage which may be unfamiliar to Americans, as `puddings' here refers primarily to desserts, primarily those made with custards. Oddly, the lion's share of recipes in this chapter are for cakes, pies, and tarts, rather than custard based desserts. There is another fair share of European influence in recipes for strudel (Austrian) and frangipane (French).

Festive Fare is one of my favorite kinds of chapters, as it gives recipes for occasions where you get an excuse to bake something delicious and fattening. I'm especially fond of these Irish dishes, as they contain the mother lode of inspirations for mincemeat pies and fruitcakes. The emphasis here is on Christmas, Easter, and Halloween, our favorite culinary holidays other than Thanksgiving.

If you have room for only one book on Irish baking, especially if you don't have a lot of books on general baking techniques, this is the best of the three books I cite here. Tim Allen's Ballymaloe book ranges far beyond Ireland, because his focus is what is made at the Ballymaloe restaurants for their guests, not what is traditional in Ireland. Thus, he includes a chapter on sourdough plus chapters on major Italian specialties such as pizza. Ms. Campbell does not touch sourdough (using natural yeasts) at all. Since Campbell covers both desserts and bread baking, it is also more general than Johnson's book on desserts. And, Campbell goes into a bit more detail on general baking technique, although not as much as the great bread baking specialists such as Peter Reinhart.

I am especially happy to say all measurements are in both metric and English systems and for things like flour, both weight (lb or grams) and volumetric (cups) units are given. This is another reason to pick this book if you can only have one. Otherwise, all three books have much to offer.

Highly recommended.

Excellent service, as usual. I am thrilled with the service provided by Amazon and it's vendors and will buy books only from these sources.

This book is an absolutely brilliant, lucid, beautifully written, engrossing exploration of the relationships between women in Victorian England. Marcus' arguments are fresh and deeply surprising -- revolutionary, really -- yet somehow manage to feel utterly inevitable after the fact. I love the breadth of sources -- novels, diaries, fashion magazines, pedagogical manuals, pornography -- Marcus draws upon, and the stunningly diverse modes of relatedness she portrays as available to Victorian women. I rarely find myself reading academic books, yet for me "Between Women" was a real page turner. I recommend it very highly.

--according to the London Review of Books, the London Times, the BBC, and me! Marcus is smart, engaging, thorough-- and makes dazzling use of a vast array of primary sources. She asks (basically), "What if we re-read the Victorians as if women's relationships were important to one another?" Looking through this lens at diaries, letters, conduct manuals, law cases, anthropological writings, fashion plates, doll stories, and pornograpy, Marcus reveals a world that leaps off the page with life and immediacy. Go read it.

Sharon Marcus's "Between Women" is that rare academic book - utterly readable and absorbing and juicy. It not only re-casts Victorian literature in a new light, by examining the roles that women characters have in securing the marriage plot, but ushers the reader into a new way of understanding women's surprising power in Victorian society. The book argues that women and female friendship wielded considerable influence in Victorain society- in novel plots and in the work of marriage reform thinkers and leaders. Her work on "the plot of female amity" has been called ground-breaking and I can see why. Sharon Marcus's pages on "Great Expectations," for example, are just amazing, bringing the reader along, at every step, as this brilliant, clear mind details the charged interactions of Miss Havisham, Estella, and Pip. "Between Women" uses a fascinating array of source materials - not just novels, but pornographic magazines, fashion magazines, and treatises of social reform movements. She points out that sometimes female friendship meant friendship and sometimes it meant lesbian relationships. John Stuart Mill, for example, modeled his marriage reform ideas on the equitable dynamics at play in contemporary lesbian couples. The book's exploration of how mothers and daughters, and daughters with their dolls, were depicted in illustrations, often with sado-masochistic overtones, is pretty unforgettable and quite persuasive. It was fascinating to read how the language of fashion magazines and the language of pornographic journals were often the same. The writing in "Between Women" is wonderful and the research well-organized, diverse, and accessible. It is true that Sharon is a great friend of mine, but please know that it is also true that I would not write these sentences if I did not believe them. I read and adored this book and I hugely recommend it, to academics and non-academics (which I am), alike.