Ireland Books

I loved this book!

I expected an interesting memoir of WWII as seen through the eyes of a
German farmer schoolboy living near the Eastern front in 1940-45, who fought
as a soldier during the final months of the war. I expected I would hear a
different-than-usual perspective because of his youth and German Army
affiliation. I expected to learn a bit about the life led by Germans of
that time in that place. But this account is so much more than an
interesting war memoir.

Punctuated with actual pages, drawings and photographs from his childhood
diary, Thamm's book draws you in to the heart, soul and mind of this
intelligent, hard-working, mischievous and perceptive child. I felt right
there with young Gerhardt in his classes or driving his family's team of
horses, soaking up the history of his town, studying with friends,
discovering girls, listening to Nazi propaganda on the radio and to his
grandparents' and townsfolk's comments on the war. Rich with details,

insights, and historical fact, populated with memorable and varied
personalities, this book is a fascinating read. And that's even before the
account of life on the front lines of war.

My recommendation: Don't miss it!

"Boy Soldier" is written is a simple yet stunningly powerful style. It captures all of the essential elements of a great story: a sylvan existence which is violated by the ravages of war; a love story even in the midst of conflict; and the triumph of the human spirit. It is a seductive journey for the reader who knows in the beginning chapters that a dark period lies ahead. The book begins by offering a privileged window on the idyllic country life of a young country lad in Silesia. Gradually the author brings one to an appreciation of the culture, the people and the way of life in the small village of Jauer southwest of Breslau. One senses that there is a timeless beauty to this place, almost crystal in its simplicity and fragility.

Having seen the senseless waste of war I knew what was to come as the book progressed, although this was little suspected by the victims of the story, including the author. There was a undeniable tension as the sound of the approaching Russian army grew in intensity. Despite this specter and the destruction of his home and way of life, the writer brought the tragedy and victory of this personal account to pass in a very human way.

One of the things that leaps from the pages of this very readable writing is how compatible it would be with a screen version. It is literally in the correct format. This needs to be explored, for among other things it would bring war to the general public in a very personal way quite different from that traditionally seen.

I read this book in two sittings. It is a compelling personal account that is a valuable addition to my library.

German-Americans are the largest ethnic group in the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 43 million people claim German as their primary cultural heritage. One of these is Gerhardt Thamm, author of "Boy Soldier." Another is my friend Carl.

Carl lives in Wisconsin where German-Americans comprise half the population. My wife and I spend part of the year at her family home in northern Wisconsin. Like many Americans, Carl is interested in genealogy, wants to learn more about his heritage, and is developing a family tree. When he visited us recently in Florida, he said he had traced his roots back to Wurzen. On an atlas, Carl and I pinpointed Wurzen, just northeast of Leipzig.

"One of these days I'd like to go to Wurzen and look up some distant relatives," Carl said. "You know German and traveled a lot over there. Any tips?"

"The closest I got to the Leipzig area was this town," I said, pointing to Tirschenreuth on the map. "My German's very rusty. I haven't been to Germany since reunification. But I've got some things I think will help you."

I gave Carl one of my audiotapes of everyday German words and phrases and an autographed copy of "Boy Soldier: A German Teenager at the Nazi Twilight."

"The tape's yours. If you go to Wurzen, you may meet people who don't speak English. Even if they do, they're likely to appreciate your effort to speak their language and learn more about their culture. I'm lending you this book. It's autographed."

"Many thanks! Tape may even come in handy in Milwaukee." He glanced at the book, opened the cover, shut it. "Frankly, I don't see how a Nazi soldier's book'll do me much good."

"Well, do me a favor. Read the first sixteen pages when you get a break at Disney World. When you get back Sunday, tell me what you think. I met Gerhardt Thamm, the author, at a writing workshop. We had an interesting conversation. I learned that he and I were in the same U. S. Army branch, though our paths never crossed in service. I bought his memoir and have exchanged several e-mails with him." I opened the book and took out a note. "Here's some background." Carl read the following:

"Gerhardt Thamm was born in Detroit, grew up in Germany 1932-1948, and served as a scout with the German 100th Jaeger Division on the Eastern Front, February-May, 1945. During the 1950s he was an agent handler/clandestine case officer in the U.S. Army's clandestine effort directed against the German Democratic Republic and the Soviet Union. Thamm retired from the Army Security Agency in 1968 and joined Naval Intelligence in 1970. He produced an analysis that saved 320 million dollars in torpedo redesigns, managed human intelligence collection requirements for Navy Task Force 168, lectured and taught at the Defense Intelligence College, and served two years as DIA Intelligence Operations Officer. After his retirement from the government in 1987, he lectured extensively on counterespionage and security measures. His writings include articles in the Armed Forces Journal International; Periscope; Golden Sphinx, The Voice of Intelligence; and the Naval Intelligence Professional Quarterly. In 1994 he received the CIA's award for 'Outstanding Contribution to the Literature of Intelligence.'"

"His credentials are impressive," Carl said, his serious tone quickly turning jocular. "You and Thamm were `spooks', huh!"

"One legend is an Army Security guy coined the term," I said chuckling. "Seriously, intel people like Gerhardt Thamm did much to stop Communism in Europe. And without a shooting war! I was a tiny part of that huge effort. I'm proud of the bit I contributed."

"Well, I'll give the book a shot, at least sixteen pages." Then Carl was off to Disney World.

A few days later he returned, waving Boy Soldier. "Couldn't put it down. Lost sleep but the read was worth it. Fine book! Expected to see Thamm fighting Russians right off the bat. Almost half the book's about growing up away from the war. Jauer, what a picture-book town! Wonder if Wurzen's like that. Map Quest says Jauer's 86 miles from Wurzen."

"You're talking about the Jauer in Saxony. Thamm's Jauer is now Jawor in Poland. His Jauer before it was hit by the Soviets reminds me of the Germany and Austria I enjoyed the most: the villages and small towns; lovely landscapes; honest, hard-working people; friendly-especially if you try to speak their language-fun; festivals; singing; great beer!"

"What's that beehive-shaped cake he talked about?"

"Bienenkorbe, delicious!"

"Yeah, reminded me of my grandmother...years ago in Wausau. She used to make something like it. When he talked about the sausage and the Christmas celebrations and the pfefferkuchen [ginger bread], thought I was back at grandma's."

"What do you think of his handling of Nazism?"

"Seemed pretty honest about how he and the people fell in line with it. I didn't know there was more than one German attempt to zap Hitler."

"As Thamm relates, a number of Prussian aristocrats and German intellectuals plotted against Hitler as early as 1939. The much publicized attempt on Hitler's life on July 20, 1944 was just another failed attempt to kill him.

"Boy Soldier is consistent with all I've studied about Nazism. Thamm is extraordinary the way he captures Nazi lies, their betrayal of the people, and many Germans' changing attitudes toward the Nazi regime."

"The terrible ordeal he went through fighting the Soviets, just a boy, he and his folks ending up slaves on their own farm!"

"Yes, and he gives keen insight into how awful the Eastern Front was. As bad as the Western Front was, it was mild compared to the horrors in the Eastern conflict. Soviet atrocities were some of the worst of the war. They took the lives of many German civilians, including old men, women, and children. I don't think I ever could have survived what Thamm experienced."

"Reading a book like this causes you to see how naive and sheltered you were as an American teenager. At 15 I ate and slept football. One thing in the book reminded me of my teen self: Thamm's relationship with girls."

"I had a similar feeling reading the book. Incidentally, at 15 I ate and slept basketball."

"Why're you taking so many notes?"

"You're helping me write my review of Boy Soldier. Check our web site when you get back."

"Okay, I will. Better be shoving off."

Journalist Jim Corrigan presents The 48th Pennsylvania In The Battle Of The Crater: A Regiment Of Coal Miners Who Tunneled Under The Enemy, the true story of a battle of the American Civil War. When Grant attempted to claim the Confederate railway nexus of Petersburg, Virginia, the resulting stalemate should have been broken by Union commander General Ambrose Burnside's plan to allow the 48th Pennsylvania, a regiment from the mining town of Pottsville, to tunnel under Confederate entrenchments and apply explosives. Yet bickering among the Union leadership, and superb cooperation among the Confederate leadership, led to the Union's downfall at Petersburg and cost an opportunity to bring an early end to the war. The 48th Pennsylvania In The Battle Of The Crater examines the details of this historic conflict with black-and-white photographs, a list of forces in the Battle of the Crater, a table of casualties, a list of soldiers decorated for gallantry, and a wealth of research and detailed notes supporting the meticulous accounting of details. An index rounds out this scholarly and welcome addition to Civil War and military history shelves.

The 48th Pennsylvania in the Battle of the Crater is an interesting, engaging and well-written book. Author Jim Corrigan tells the story in a clear and easy to understand manner. I didn't know much about the Battle of the Crater when I started the book, but my interest never waned. Corrigan keeps you turning the pages with a well-paced style. I enjoyed the background he provided about the major characters, his "big picture" view of the battle, and his presentation of the controversies related to the battle. Additionally, his maps are well done and a valuable aid to readers, particularly those who may not be familiar with the Battle of the Crater. I believe this book will appeal to Civil War aficionados as well as those with a casual interest in this time period. I highly recommend it.

Students of the American Civil War are well aware that General Ulysses Grant called the battle of the Crater the "saddest affair" he had witnessed during the war. On that July day in 1864, Union hopes for a breakthrough at Petersburg dissipated with a bungled and tragic attack on the Confederate lines that had been torn apart with the explosion of some 8,000 pounds of explosives. The battle was the culmination of one of, if not the, most daring and remarkable exploits of the war's eastern theatre: the tunneling under the Confederate lines by a regiment of Pennsylvania troops recruited from Schuylkill County and composed largely of coal miners.
With the 48th Pennsylvania in the Battle of Crater, author Jim Corrigan paints a thoroughly engaging and very fair portrait of the events that led up to the battle and the battle itself. The work is well-balanced in portraying both the Union and Confederate side. Corrigan has done a great job in telling of the remarkable feat performed by the 48th PA in the face of great disadvantage and has made sense of all the complicated military, social, and political factors that occured both before and during the battle.
I highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to learn more about the war in the East and about the 48th Pennsylvania Regiment. This book is an excellent work of history told in a clear and easily understandable manner, despite the many complexities involved in the tunneling and in the battle. Very well-done.

This powerful account of a boy's journey through hell, is in spite of all a life affirming hopeful story, which filled me not only with compassion but also with admiration and awe. Engaging and moving, this text also offers the reader a valuable observation of existential, philosophical and psychological nature. One of the best Holocaust memoirs I read.

Dear Martin:
I read your book during the first days of Pesach. I would like to
congratulate you on an important piece of work that will help the world
know the horrors of the Holocaust and the unspeakable acts of the Nazi
barbarians. Your book was very well written and organized and gave me a
very clear picture of your unbelievable experience. You definitely have
kept your promise to Jacob the learned. The experience of reading your
book helped make my Pesach experience with all our freedom and richness
more meaningful than usual. It also helped put things in perspective.
By the way, my father's (may he rest in peace) polish name was Motek. I
had never seen the name written before your book.
Also the way you saved your mother and brother's life was probably the
bravest thing a 10 year old has ever done.
I wish you long life, happiness, peace, and continued nachas from your
children and grandchildren. You deserve only goodness in your life.

This is an outstanding book, particularly for high school students. Teachers: I recommend it as a companion to "The Diary of Anne Frank." Mr. Schiller's book tells two critical stories. It describes a child's experience in concentration camps and it tells the touching story of reunification with remaining family at the end of the war. You can feel the child's fear. You see each scene through the child's eyes. Yet, the book omits just enough of the horrific detail so it's perfect reading for young adults.

It also is a story of a boy quickly becomming a man, despite his age. The book lingers in your mind, long after it's been finished.

My niece Beti read the enchanted well. She wondered what was the tune playing within, not knowing what it was, she composed her own tune so taken was she by the story. Her description of the piece she composed to go with the story tells all anyone will ever need to know about this book.

She called her tune "Longing for union"... obeying the metaphor which states that every union we long to establish on the 'human' love plane..in the horizontal dimension, is really a desire for divine love...in the vertical dimension it is the only love which one can fade into when enfolded in its mutual embrace. And disappear refers to one's entire mind vanishing into an experience wherein, at last, all suffering ends and complete contentment nests in your heart.....to love humanly is an exercise in learning to love the divine...reality in fact...and to cease from all suffering!

Seanachie or storyteller in Gaelic is the one person who would captivate from the youngest of listeners all the way to the oldest person before them. The author has his Seanachie set before you gathered the grandest of stories and prose sure to delight you whether you're a girly-girl or the rough and tumble. Their journeys, their quests for love and fulfillment, their views of the world, are woven together to create an irresistible web. From the Welcome to my Valley you are hooked and you will find it difficult to set down!

A perfect day, a lovely pint, a comfortable chair, and "The Breagagh Saga". Let the author transport you through his life, his mind, his country, throw in a few leprechauns, a few legends and you will never have a better day.
Mesmerizing, enchanting, one of a kind book.

After reading many books from Osbert Sitwell and buying first editions where I found them only now I have a perfect idea about who and what the man was. A splendid book which it was oimpossible to close after beginning. Everybody interested in this family and man should begin with this work. It is well written, humorous in a convincing way and perfectly thrustworthy and gives you by the way for the most important books "the critical heritage".I am sure every reader will after finishing this books start buying those which he has not been reading. Splendid.

Francis Frith was a professional photographer in Great Britain (having already made a substantial fortune with a printing company) from about 1860, and the picture postcard company he founded and which was carried on by his sons and grandsons lasted until 1970. But its heyday was the twenty years either side of 1900 -- the high Victorian and Edwardian eras and on through the Great War -- in which every post office and village shop in the country, it seemed, carried his images of local sights for sale to tourists. Frith's photos are still very popular among collectors and local historians, for he and his assistants set out to record every single view of interest in the whole of England. The huge collection of images the company left behind were well on the way to uncaring destruction when a group of collectors were able to get hold of the surviving items -- "merely" 60,000 original glass plates and a quarter-million prints, now the basis of an unparalleled visual museum of the lives, work, and social mores of the English people over several generations. Ziegler has contributed the text for this collection of some 650 historical photos, which are accompanied by several hundred recent photos of the same views by John Cleare. For the student of modern social history, the result is fascinating, especially when a series of photos of, say, a seaside resort captures visitors from the 1890s, 1920s, 1950s, and late 1990s; in some cases, the clothing styles are the only significant change. Ziegler is generally quite able at providing context and historical discussion -- where the hedgerows went, the difference in status between the topper and the bowler. My only real complaint in that regard is that the captions of the photos much too frequently simply repeat a sentence or two from the text on the same page; under proper editorial guidance, this would have been an opportunity to slip in an additional remark or observation without adding to the book's length.

I was delighted by 'Britain Then & Now,' Philip Ziegler's book on the amazing Francis Frith landscape photos of Victorian Britain, most of which have been updated by superb contemporary color landscape photos by John Cleare, or by landscape views taken in the same position several decades apart, say in 1900, 1920 & 1950. I have almost never seen this 'then & now' format used for sites in Britain, though it has been very frequently used for sites here in the United States. The changes to the landscape over so many decades are stunning, often shocking. Discover, for example, what is hidden behind the garish neon signage of Piccadilly Circus !! Not a book which is likely to please defenders of advertising, modernism, or "the ubiquitous motor vehicle," but which will not only please, but delight the rest of us. Architecture is supposed to be "the most public of the Fine Arts," yet one has to wonder how respectfully Britain's marvelous legacy of this artwork has been treated, after reading this volume.

This book was invaluable in helping me to come up with just the right uniform for my character Edward Ware to don when he shipped out to Gallipoli in 1915. He stands on the docks at Liverpool wearing a Khaki Drill Service Dress uniform made from sand colored twilled cotton cloth. This uniform is pictured on plate B between p 24 and p. 33. This is the sort of book that makes World War I come alive for the reader.Those Who Dream By Day

Well written and worth the price.The one down side is Mr.Chappell still pushes the line that the Germans suffered more losses on the Somme, then the British and French combined. A bitter pill for the British to swallow. German losses were less then 1/3 the total losses of the British and French. This was the estimate of the Britsh War Office after the battle and kept quiet for obvious reasons. The first day alone the loss rate was 18 to 1 in the Germans favor.

It is hard to undersrand why this has yet to be reviewed as it has been out for a while. So here goes.
There is no need to rehash the contents of the publisher's blurb above. Chappel's name is enough to recommend serious consideration of acquiring it.
For those of us who see Mike Chappell's name on a publication know there is not much more to say. He is one of the finest and most respected illustrators working in modern times. His precision of detail is superb, yet there is no stiffness in his figures.
So when I see that Mike Chappell is both writer and illustrator of a work in my fields of interest, I do not hesitate to order it, for I know that I am in for an even more pleasurable hour of good reading of a most reliable work in prose and picture. His prose is just as vigorous as is his art work.
Just as I have with most other works to which he has contributed as either writer (too seldom) or as illustrator, I will put it on the reference shelf and consult it again.
So if you want a book worth reading repeatedly get those he wrote and seriously consider those others to which he has contributed.
At one time, Chappell published a self produced magaxine format series concerning the British Army in the Twentieth Century. Unfortunately they are no longer in print.

I really enjoyed this book and I hope it will help me on my Project.

This is an excellent book by a Professor of Political Science at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada. 'International History Review' said of the first edition that it was "far superior in its factual coverage and balance to its various competitors in the field. .. He has told the story as completely and as impartially as we are liable to get." Cohen gives a brief history of Yugoslavia in the first chapter. The rest of the book gives a detailed account of Yugoslavia's breakup and the war.

Yugoslavia existed as a state from 1918 to 1991. Under Tito it had a devolved and federal constitution. This gave parity representation to each of the six republics in the Yugoslav federation, even though Serbia was by far the biggest. Tito selected people for jobs by 'ethnic arithmetic' and rotated top officials annually. But these policies signally failed to unify Yugoslavia. The constitution encouraged those who wanted to split the country. They had a two-track strategy. They aimed to move from federation to confederation as a step towards independence; at the same time they formed separate institutions designed for complete independence.

Outside forces seized on these internal failings. In January 1991 the US and German Ambassadors pressed the Yugoslav National Army not to intervene to keep Croatia in Yugoslavia. In early 1991 Germany and other countries sold arms to Croatia and Slovenia. On 25 June 1991 Croatia and Slovenia unilaterally declared their independence. The Croats were desperate for foreign intervention: "The Tudjman government believed that immediate internationalization of the Yugoslav crisis was absolutely crucial."

When the Yugoslav Government deployed the National Army to hold the country together, the EC secretly threatened to cut off all aid to Yugoslavia. On 4 October 1991, the opening day of the EC Conference, its chairman Lord Carrington presented an agenda "premised on the assumption that Yugoslavia no longer existed." The EC announced that all the Yugoslav republics "are sovereign and independent with international identity". As Cohen wrote, "the EC had apparently made a political decision to dismember the Yugoslav federation." Hurd warned in December 1991 that recognising Croatia and Slovenia would escalate the war. Carrington warned that recognition would weaken diplomatic efforts to achieve a ceasefire and a settlement, and would also spread the war to Bosnia. Despite, or because of, all these good reasons, the EC, including Britain, recognised Croatia and Slovenia in January. The UN did too, despite its "internal divisions about the propriety of intervention in a sovereign state's domestic disputes."

The war did spread to Bosnia. In July 1991 the Moslem Bosnian Organization tried to negotiate a Moslem-Serb accord to prevent war in Bosnia and to preserve Bosnia's territorial integrity. Karadzic accepted this for the Bosnian Serbs, but Izetbegovic, the leader of the Bosnian Muslims, rejected it. Izetbegovic is a member of the fundamentalist 'Fida'iyane Islam', which wants to turn Bosnia into an Islamic Republic, although Muslims are only a third of the population. Bosnia's Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic tried to justify the composition of his government by saying "It is a fact that Moslems make up 99% of the Bosnian defense forces so it is natural that they form the government." In so doing he gave the lie to the nonsense that Bosnia is some form of multicultural democracy. These armed forces have been "strengthened with thousands of volunteers from various Islamic countries" and by illegal arms shipments, often through Slovenia, especially from Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

In his 1970 Islamic Declaration, which he reprinted in 1990, Izetbegovic wrote, "The Islamic movement must and can take power not only to destroy the non-Islamic power but to build up a new Islamic one." Cohen noted "the more militant and religiously nationalistic majority in the party led by Alija Izetbegovic (who had spent eight years in jail under the communists for his Islamic fundamentalist beliefs)." Cohen analysed "the role of traditional religions in generating ethnic conflicts" in Yugoslavia.

Again, in February 1992 Izetbegovic sabotaged the Lisbon Agreement for Moslem-Serb-Croat power-sharing. He "later conceded that Bosnia might have avoided a violent war if it had stayed together with Serbia and Montenegro in a reconfigured Yugoslavia." In early 1992 his dash for Bosnian independence was "prompted by the opportunity for quick recognition by the EC." Even the US Ambassador to Yugoslavia called his decision 'disastrous'. Cohen pointed out that "the lack of a political settlement among the major ethnic groups within Bosnia-Herzegovina actually justified postponing recognition of that republic as another new state in April 1992." But the EC and the UN went ahead with recognition. In the autumn of 1993 Bosnian Moslem government forces killed "thousands of civilian Croats in central Bosnia".

The United States has throughout the war campaigned for US intervention. As Cohen pointed out, it used hyperbolic calls of genocide to try to justify intervention. It has vilified the Serbs and whitewashed the Bosnian Moslems and the Croats. To defeat the Serbs, "the United States, though not ostensibly taking sides in the war, had effectively engineered the Moslem-Croat agreement." Cohen showed how "behind the scenes, Washington was gradually expanding its military support for the Moslems and Croats". Clinton approved the initiative of a group of former US military officers to assist Croatia's armed forces.

Cohen finished by writing hopefully, "The imperatives of economic survival and reconstruction, as well as geographic proximity and other earlier interdependencies, suggested that such cooperation would eventually resume despite the recent episodes of terrible, ethnic, religious, and political violence." But there is no chance of this vital peaceful reconstruction happening with 60,000 foreign troops in the country. Their presence will prolong the war in Yugoslavia, and also runs a high risk of spreading it to other countries. It will certainly worsen the tension between the NATO powers and Russia. Bulgaria and Greece will not appreciate the presence of so many NATO troops so near to them.

i had to write a paper for a geography class and figured why not do it on yugoslavia. while researching, i came across this book, and thought it was a marvelous read. it is a fascinating look at the decline of yugoslavia from Tito, who ran the country remarkably well and who had a miraculously peaceful tenure as "Emperor." then Milosevic showed up and [messed] it all up. the thing i find very excellent about this book is that it describes very well how milosevic got that power. he used nationalism to his advantage to get the serbs behind him. this nationalism lead to the bloody split-up of croatia, slovenia, bosnia-herzegovina, macedonia, and finally kosovo. this book shows one of the best (or worst, depending on how you look at it) examples of nationalism and the effects of nationalism. it is especially good to observe what happened to Milosevic in light of recent events throughout europe, with the hard-right gaining popularity, in such places as Romania, Hungary, and even in more tolerant France and the Netherlands. it is a worthwhile read to observe similarities between what milosevic said and did and what these new right-wing leaders are saying and doing.

I thoughly enjoyed this book & would highly recomend it.Its amusing & informative about life in a Sicilian family where the days seem to revolve around food.
Susan Ribeiro dos Santos

This beautiful book brings Sicily to life, with its evocations of three generations of an Italian family, combined with fascinating descriptions of its history and culture, from the Greeks to the mafia and everything in between. I would recommend this book to anyone planning to visit Sicily, or simply looking to escape into its pages and experience the warmth of this family and their villa in the sun. I loved it!

As a fellow Brit married to a Sicilian, I can attest that Ms. Seller Manzo's insights and observations of life in Sicily are as authentic as the family's homemade tomato sauce. The flavours of Sicily are all there, seasoned with hilarious and touching anecdotes about the Manzo household and the author's daunting task of fitting into such a splendidly eccentric family.

This book describes the faith journeys and struggles of 14 women who were lead by the Lord to the fullness of the Catholic Church. Reading the stories further enhanced my own appreciation for my Catholic faith. When reading this book I learned about the struggles of the authors and even more about my Catholic faith and the former faith traditions of the authors.

This is a great book containing the personal stories of fourteen women, many of whom were ministers or priests in other Christian Church's but left that behind in order to become Catholic. This meant the loss of their position!

What would lead fourteen highly educated women to leave their careers behind? This is what makes up The Catholic Mystique and makes it a page turner. I read through the whole book in one sitting!

I love to read conversion stories of all types. These are some of the best. At 10-15 pages each, they are short enough to read at one sitting, yet long enough for the author to really tell her story.

Let me assure my fellow males, you will enjoy this book. It's not just for ladies.

Aidan Meehan has a great ability to combine solid art history with the never-ending fascination of Celtic artwork without putting the reader off with excess pedantry. In this book in particular, his historic discussions surprised me on several occasions. My initial belief that Celtic art as an isolated form is that of a rank amateur, and Meehan does a fine job of disabusing me and showing how Celtic decoration and illumination started with oriental influences which then mixed with Teutonic and Viking to create a beautiful synthesis.

Of course , the history is framed with Meehan's own renditions of the artwork, each with appropriate discussion of both their unique features and the interlinked development as Irish and Viking met first in conflict and then in trade. Since Meehan's primary audience is artists, he spends the best part of the book showing not just the patterns, but how they are formed and woven into a whole.

Aidan and Oisin Meehan's illustration and calligraphy are strong and clear, with some 220 illustrations. There is a great romance to these images, that has carried forward even into far more modern art. Aidan Meehan is one of those who have dedicated his life's work to keeping these traditions alive.

I was thrilled to find this book, being of both Irish-Scots and Viking descent. Much of the art of the Gaels and the Norse is similar, due to both a common origin, proximity, raiding, and trading. I've had books on Viking art, harder to find than Celtic, and many on Celtic. But although there was great similarity in the designs, (and also resembles much of the Scythian art which brings us to anthropological discussions) I found nothing to discuss the differences until I found this book. As I discussed in 'Spiral Patterns' by Meehan, his books are delightful sources for the serious interest. He has a way of combining a historical study with the construction of the art that is simply delightful. My favorite in this book is the whimsical 'gripping beast' discussion. Otherwise, though it is hard to describe exactly how, by the end of the book I was not only exposed to a number of Viking designs that I had never seen before, but now able to tell the difference at a glance between the two art forms. The Viking form is less restrained than the Celtic art that reached its height in dreary volumes, the designs such as 'the early viking style' shown have a energetic and powerful energy then the overly tame knotwork. In addition there ARE some examples worth using as clip art, but the main point of the book is serious information as to the history and the meaning of the designs, which other books simply show.

This is an excellent book for those who are interested in Celtic art. As with all of the books by Aidan Meehan that I have read so far, this book is historically informative and provides easy to understand techniques for artists wishing to master celtic art or manuscript illumination.