Ireland Books

This is one of the few books I've had trouble putting down. It's the story of an amazing man that I truly admire. I would recommend this book to everyone. Also his CD's and those of the three tenors are beautiful music to say the least.

Dr. Ronan Tynan has to be one of the most friendly, inspirational, and heart-warming people on the face of the planet. I'm convinced of it. For a man who has had to persevere as much as he has, his outlook on life, his accomplishments, and his stories are awe-inspiring.

I first learned of Tynan when I heard him sing "God Bless America" on TV. I was enthralled. I had never heard a voice so pure, so powerful, so emotional. His voice touched me, it caused goose-bumps. I immediately began to research, trying to find out about the man who had just amazed me so.

After reading "Halfway Home", I am even more impressed with the man. In every aspect of life, he has triumphed over odds and circumstances that would have buckled the average person. To be accomplished in so many ways, to have lived such a rich, full life, is a dream for which we all should strive. The blueprint for such a goal is in Ronan Tynan's approach to life, which is guided by kindness, decency, hard work, love, passion, and faith.

At times the book is a bit boring, as is nearly all biographical material, but the inspiration overcomes, just like Tynan. Add him to my short list of personal heroes.

Firstly this review is not intended in any way to be objective. I love the man who is Ronan Tynan, I love his voice and all that he has contributed to the world. Halfway Home is the story of a man who is passionate, driven, inspired and someone who refuses to beaten down in any way. He is a Maverick, who in this side-splittingly funny book, outlines just some of the things that he has done in his life. What makes this book special is that his accomplishments that are detailed in this are done so with such humility that it seems as if he is with you in your living room having a friendly chat. I met him a few weeks ago and he is just as funny and outgoing in person as this book suggests. One of life's true heroes.

Dennis Charles

In the book "Halfway Home-My Life til Now" Ronan talks about family and those whom he has met so far in his life. He also talks about the women he has slept with so far. Which I find appalling, and just plain bad taste. He should apoligize to the women he talks about in the book. I wouldn't let anyone under the age of 21 to read this book. Keep it away from children.

This is an inspiring book. I cannot overstate that. Ronan could have folded his cards and done nothing in the face of adversity. He could have just stayed inside and watched tv or something of that nature. Instead he did not even let it bother him at all. In fact he hurdled right over the adversities.

John Conroy performed a courageous feat of journalism with this book. As an American writer he put himself in the midst of the conflict and in incredible danger at times to capture the true picture of Belfast in the 80's. The stories of the people he encountered and the tough environment he experienced and witnessed is indispensible reading for anyone who wants to understand what the conflict was all about at the street level.
While Belfast seems to be enjoying more peaceful times at the moment this book is a reminder of just how volatile a political climate there is and provides the reader with a much fuller understanding of the how , the why and major developments in the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Not only do I admire John Conroy's writing, but I admire his courage to put himself right in the middle of 'the troubles' just to get the story right. It would one thing if Conroy was a Belfast resident and was just reporting on his day to day life, but he is not. He is an American who more or less stumbled upon this assignment and saw it through.

It struck me a few times in the book just how close Conroy was coming to being killed in a place where death is a way of life. He is to be commended for this and we owe a debt of gratitude for making this sacrifice just so we could get a look right from the belly of the beast.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought that Conroy did a great job putting the 'Troubles' in Belfast into perspective from an American living in the midst of it all. Having visted the area that he writes of brought back memories. I referred to his map at least 50 times during my reading of the book to recall the streets that I walked in relation to where he wrote the book and spent his time in Belfast. I highly recommend this book.

of what it is like to live, work and experience the turmoil of "The Troubles." Conroy covered the Troubles the right way...he went in and lived among the people in Belfast instead of swooping in for drive-by interviews like too many journalists have done in the past. He also manages to convey what he experienced while maintaining objectivity...this skill when dealing with terrorist and paramilitary violence is something writers covering the "War on Terror" these days could learn from. Required reading for anybody interested in Northern Ireland, its history and how to possibly make a better future in that wartorn nation...

This book was recommended to me as excellent reading about the Troubles, particularly for Americans. I whole-heartedly agree; it is all that and more. Conroy does describe the daily workings of life in Northern Ireland but he also tackles the prejudices and ignorance of Americans (and the U.S. government) when it comes to the political climate in Northern Ireland. He pulls no punches and sugar-coats no issues. He explicates the situation as he sees it and is not afraid to indict those who turn blind eyes. The version I read was older so I have not yet seen the updated book that includes information on semi-recent IRA ceasefires. But I do think many of Conroy's observations are still applicable, changes in administration notwithstanding. He describes the intolerant view towards Sinn Fein taken by the American government in the 80s and the biased, oversimplified treatment of the Troubles by the American media. Indeed as Conroy notes it has not been hard to sell the British point-of-view to American audiences but what of the counterpoint? When do proponents of the other side get a chance? Conroy also concludes that for as long as Northern Ireland remains a British enclave, continued violence is guaranteed. For that reason alone, Americans owe it to themselves to read _Belfast Diary_.

This is a great book, all of Kapuscinski`s books are great. It takes you for a journey you don`t expect. Great style and I always regret it`s over, after I finish to read his book.

I purchased this book after reading about the author in the Wall Street Journal. He died earlier this year. The author, a journalist, kept two notebooks while on assignments throughout the world, one for his assignment and one for himself. In this book he combined his observations from several trips he took within Russia and its states over a span of many decades. At times his writing style can be quite poetic, and the book is not unlike a travel book, although Soviet Russia was not a friendly place at the times of his visits. I intend to read his other books, and highly recommend this one.

As stated in most of the reviews of this book, Kapuscinski is a great writer. If you have not read him allready, read this book and understand why. If you allready have read him, you are going to read this book based on what you allready have learned to know.

Having given Kapuscinski the credit he obviously deserves for his writing, I believe there is some points that should be done.

-First Kapuscinski stands on the shoulders of giants. His writing is to a great extent the result of the local people that he meets on his journeys and agrees to open their region and their lifes to him.

-Kapuscinski is a very gifted writer endeed, that have read a lot about the places and peoples that he visits. On one hand this is what always makes his writing so alive, something to go back to and read agian, so informative. On the other hand gret litterature sometimes can serve as a way of getting away with having little or nothing to really report from the battleground when his plan fails or when he does not get what he intended out of a trip. Striking examples of this is his journey at the Trans-siberian railway where he only observes the Soviet Union through the train window or to Nagarno Karabakh where he is stuck inside an airport, a car and a flat. That his stories is as intriguing, even when he hardly experience "what the war looks like on the ground" is a clear sign that his capabilities as dramaturg and writer can make up for a rather thin story. Even when he gets the chance to write the story he intended from a place he visits, the timeframe and the difficulties he worked under limits his insights compared to the writers that have covered the area afer him.

-Some paragraphs in the book makes me a bit uncertain about how good the translation is (my review is based upon the Norwegian translation). In the first chapter - Pinsk '39 the comment of a NKVD officer visiting their house "Muzh kuda?" is traslated "where is your husband" instead of the correct "Where have your husband gone", meaning that the NKVD officer allready knows that he has recently been in the house, meaning someone has infomed the NKVD that Kapuscinski's father (a hunted partisan) has recently been in the house. Things like this is not a big deal, but it makes you start thinking about the quality of the translation in general and if it can be the case that the author underplays the role of ordinary people as informers in the terror.

-In his story about the war in Pinsk 1939, his memory of the events as a child probably is an important expalianation behind the qualities of the stories. In the memory of a child events that would probably be described as horrorful and sad by a grown up, in the eyes of a smal shild gets exciting, intriguing, colorful and down to earth.

All in all, Kapuscinski is good reading and Imperium is a great intruduciton to the former Soviet Republics. To get true insight in the contemporary former Soviet Republics, you will need further reading though.

Perhaps history will never be told better than through the eye of this travelling writer (or is it a writing traveller?). Read and be awed by the staggering proportions of recent history in the vast empire that is no more, the Sovjet Union. And be chilled to the bones by the unimaginable amounts of suffering inflicted by the sovjet leaders on their own people. And be astonished that in the midst of the most utter despair, poverty, and enslavement, Kapuscinski can find optimism, humor, and love of life.

A lyrical masterpiece by this superlative writer! Nowhere have I found a dissection of the Evil Empire done with such fluid verse. He goes from the periphery into the heart of the beast and everywhere he discovers that appearances deceive and what seems to signal change is really a re-hash of old. Kapuczinski's sharp analysis and trenchant comments will be sorely missed!

In our household, we were "bread and buttered" listening to the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. The 33-1/3 rpm Columbia records were scratched and worn from overuse. We would play the records on family occasions and holidays. We would play favorite songs in the mornings during breakfast and as we made ready for school. In hindsight, I am surprised that the neighbors never complained or called the police.

Tommy Makem died last summer. The two eldest members of the quartet, Tom and Pat Clancy predeceased him. Liam Clancy is the sole surviving member of the recording group. This book is a sketchy and incomplete attempt at an autobiography, but it is as good as we are likely to get from this Clancy. Its strengths far outweigh its deficiencies. Readers should count themselves fortunate that Liam remembered anything at all after so many long nights and sexual misadventures. Perhaps, Tommy Makem, who abstained from drinking for most of his life, should have been taking notes for him (Makem wrote some wonderful essays, but I do not know if he ever published a full length book).

Liam Clancy was the youngest of eleven children. One of his problems when the recording group was formed in the USA was that his two much older brothers scarcely knew their youngest sibling at all. They had to introduce themselves to him when he arrived in New York. The Irish ballads and rebel songs (the Irish rebellions always seemed more successful in song than in reality) that the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem performed proved to be immensely popular. In addition the Irish diaspora, the authentic songs gained wide acceptance among fans of the Greenwich Village Folk Music scene. Liam Clancy became a fast friend of Bob Dylan.

There is a lovely story of how Clancy dropped his given Christian name while working as an actor in an Irish theatre company. A fellow actor chided him for answering to Willie, telling him that it was an "English" sounding name. He adopted the Gaelicized form and has been "Liam" ever since.

Pour yourself a drink and enjoy this book. Be thankful that the next generation of Clancy and Makem family members have taken up the songs that their fathers helped popularize internationally. Imagine how quiet our homes would have been if Clancy had kept up his father's plans and became an insurance agent!

Liam Clancy's has great literary talent. His bio is a tribute to his family and to his native land. Catholic schools greatly contributed to his native talent for the stage----I am not sure why he makes a critical remark of the Church.

The Clancy Brothers albums opened by ears to traditional celtic music in the 60s, so it was a treat for me to read Liam Clancy's account of how the group evolved. The family background and his personal development as an student, actor and musician were very enjoyable reading.
If you liked Angela's Ashes, this will certainly appeal.

First of all,there are 17 other reviews;most of them excellent and all deserve to be read.I read a fair bit of modern Irish Writing.The McCourts,Roddy Doyle,Brendan Behan,Morgan Llywelyn,Brendan O'Carroll,just to name a few.What I really like about these writers is their magical use of language.Although I have been a fan of Tommy Makem and the Clancy Brothers for at least 30 years,I have never read anything about them.I had no idea of how much they were involved in acting;let alone that any of them had such gifted writing skills.What a surprise;Liam's skills are as good as his musical talents.
Though not a Clancy,I heard Tommy Makem perform here in Toronto at an intimate club a few months ago.He did "Oh, me name is Dick Darby,I'm a cobbler.";mentioned on page 102.That had to be the best recitation I ever witnessed.
I would like to quote something Liam wrote about his experience in North Carolina in 1956 and he was writing about it nearly 50 years after the fact.
From page 170....
"South Carolina in the spring was seductive with scents of growing things,of magnolias and hibiscus,the air heavy with noontime heat and the swampy buzz of katydids and flying critters.The nights there belonged to the frogs and bats and flying beetles and the countless mingled smells of a land at rest after a burgeoning day's work fermenting life." Imagine the thoughts of a 21 year old,written 50 years later.
I also had no idea of Clancy's involvment with the people like Oscar Brand,Bob Dylan,Woody Guthrie,Pete Seeger,Odetta,Barbara Streisand,Lenny Bruce,Jean Ritchie,Ramblin' Jack Elliot,Brendan Behan,Diane (Guggenheim),Josh White,Alan Lomax,Mary O'Hara and on and on.
Liam gives a great insight into the world of acting and folk music of the 50's and the 60's. Now that I have read the book,I am looking forward to listening to the tape.
I also have no idea if Liam has a second book planned to cover the last 40 years.I am sure it would be a great follow up.How about it Liam,you're only 70 ,and you must still have lots to tell us.
Thanks.

I never heard Liam Clancy sing until a couple of months ago, when I found a copy of an album called "The Lark in the Morning" that looked interesting, given its cover and its date of the mid-50s. Growing up, The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem were heard of but not heard by me--I associated them with Aran knit sweaters, hearty shour-an'-begorra singalongs,novelty tunes, and the kind of kitsch that the previous generation had listened to complacently before the revival in the 70s of a tougher trad scene out of Ireland shook it all up again.

Well, I heard the tracks on "Lark" in the car without knowing who was who since I could not see the CD case listings. But when I finished it, I noticed that the songs that had stood out from the rest were all by Liam C. Impressed, I read the liner notes about one Diane Hamilton, who I had never heard of, and Tradition Records, the label for which "Lark" was the debut issue. But the whole story was not clear, given the brief notes, until I read "Women of the Mountain."

From the title, I expected a tale of lusty drunken couplings and riotuous escapades from the "Folksmen"/"Kingston Trio" era. Instead, an evocative tale of growing up eating mortar and chalk for nutrition during WWII, poverty, clerical abuse, and hardscrabble small-town life in Waterford's Carrick-on-Suir unfolded smoothly and eloquently. Sure, the blarney sometimes is laid on a bit too thick for less glib me, but the stage Irishman tendencies are kept mercifully in check by realism: the death of a sibling, the estrangement from mother and Church, the entanglement with Diane H. (who turns out to be a Guggenheim nearly as neurotic as her relative Peggy G. did for Beckett!), and the adventures on the road, in theatre, and on stage.

One surprise and a reason for four stars is the lopsided nature of the book: the singing takes decididly second fiddle to the stage in the dramatic sense. This was fascinating for me, but it misleads the reader perhaps who by the back photo of the group harmonizing might expect far more about Clancy's musical experience. He mentions, for example, as if offhandedly that he learned the tin whistle. Yes, but how? As a musician, did he find it easy after the guitar? How did it help his reportoire? Did he learn it so the group could expand its range? How does it sound to him? How does he play it? Here, music as enacted comes rather late in the book, in not a lot of detail, and seems rather superficially treated as opposed to other incidents and events.

I do commend Clancy on his delicacy with relating his own romantic and emotional engagements with women and men--he reminds us of the fragility we all possess and the need to recognize humanity in each other. And he makes his point after having earned the right to say so after his own checkered past. He comes off wise without sounding pious, intelligent without acting snobbish, and flawed without playing it up as maudlin. He handles people and places with stamina and wit, and his own coming-of-age here, while cut off while he's not even thirty yet, needs however fuller exposition than is given here. The New York Greenwich Village years deserve more depth than they're given here; the book's unbalanced in favoring much more from his pre-NYC years (nothing wrong with that) and again this may mislead misinformed readers as to its actual coverage of many more early situations predating the group's rise to fame. I also got little sense of how he got along with his fellow group members--granted that two are his brothers--but how the three Clancys got along with Makem who was from Keady in the north and from a different region, musical tradition, and political regime seemed like the sort of detail that could have enriched the book.

I guess a sequel is in the works. Like recent Irish memoirs by Frank McCourt and Hugo Hamilton, the autobiographical account stops suddently, at the height of a self-realization by the author in his formative years. I do not know if this book would have been published if McCourt had not led the way, but resilient Clancy's tale too deserves a wide readership for dispelling (as do McC and HH in their accounts--also see John McGahern's memoir) the myths of recent Irish life, while advocating a return to the more durable and more feminine myths that inspired Yeats, Behan, Synge, Joyce, and the Slieve-na-mBan/Sleivenamon that gives its rounded breasted mountain shape to the landscape that rose above Clancy's hometown.

Friendship comes in many forms, and that relationship between Bernie and Fritz, from different sides, Jewish and Christian, of the deep divide of WW2, is a marvelous testimony to "friendship". The only bitter-sweet moment was when I realized that Bernie had given up his religious beliefs in his "americanization". His children were not raised as Jews; another generation lost to the Holocaust, as much as the six million were.

I first saw this book when a seat mate on a flight was reading it. He praised it, so I ordered it. The book was well worth the praise.

The two authors of the book just visited my school today, and told me and the other students their stories. Bernat Rosner went to my school, Thomas Jefferson School, and he even mentions and has pictures of it in the book. I've yet to read it, but I'm eagerly anticipating it. Their stories are so touching, and I feel so honored to have met these two men. Also to have had a man as interesting as Bernie Rosner go to my school in 1950, it's just so amazing. They are very interesting people, and there's just so much more I could say, but this review would unfortunately become boring. I strongly suggest that everyone should read this book, the authors have two great stories to tell.

Each memoir is important in adding to the historical record of this terrible period, and this book adds a considerable dimension with the authors shared as well as separate memories and their astute and insightful analyses of every aspect of their experiences. By the time I finished reading this book, I felt I knew both authors well and also many of the people who surrounded them over the years. I hope the book is widely read and given a place of honor in Holocaust literature. It deserves deep attention by scholars and general readers and seems eerily prescient, too, in light of September 11th, and its concern for the horrors our species can inflict on its victims. If I were still writing book reviews, this book would be a prime choice for me. It deserves all the notice in print it can get.

In a world with a lot of open wounds in need of healing, "An Uncommon Friendship" helps bridge former sins and ongoing roots of bitterness to establish a world pregnant with new beginnings--every day. This book shows that other options are possible beyond the labels of cultural bigotry. When properly understood and appropriated, understanding and forgiveness are seldom far apart in life-giving relationships.

Recently we came in contact with a person who has such a high disregard for Germans. If only they knew and understood the rich heritage German culture has also given as a gift to the New World of new beginnings.

I was very impressed with this book; for such a difficult subject it was beautifully written. I have been to the Holocaust Museum in Israel, and though the documentation there is quite graphic and disturbing, the voice of the child in Bernie, and the voice of the child on the other side in Fritz, completes a picture that is enlightening, but reveals a picture that no one wants to believe. It seems to me that is often the way people have dealt with this very terrible time, and the authors are very brave to tell this story. I think this book should be required reading for all college students.

Excellent in every way!! The crown jewel of aran knitting books!!

This is a beautiful book. It's "COFFEE TABLE" beautiful. The history of Aran knitting, and the photographt are gorgeous.

The sweaters that Alice Starmore designed are wonderful. The mens sweaters are timeless, but the women's sweaters are a bit dated. This could be easily remidied by adjusting the fit of the sweater while using the stitches that are part of the original design.

Alice Starmore has a number of nice stitch patterns in the book that are also listed in numerous other knitting stitch books (The Big Book of Knitting, The Harmony Guide to Knitting Stitches Vol. 1 and 2, Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Knitting, Charted Knitting Designs by Barbara G. Walker, The Complete Book of Knitting by Barbara Abbey, to name a few). There are a couple of Celtic cable patterns that are more intriguing, but is it worth buying the book for $100+ just to have access to those few stitches?

So, to sum it up. I would definitely give this book 5 stars on overall first impression, even on the sweater patterns and charts, but as far as the stitches within the book - about 4 stars, there are many other books out there with more comprehensive patterns. Buy the book if you want the history, the sweater patterns, but if you're looking for a good book on Aran Knit Stitches, try a stitch encyclopedia book and come up with your own designs.

Not only are the photographs and the settings breathtaking, but Alice Starmore designs are classics. Each pattern gives you detailed directions and includes a rating guide for easy, intermediate and expert knitters.
Yes, some of the yarns are no longer available - but using the gauge given, you should have no trouble finding a yarn to substitute.
It's the details that count - the pleasing arrangement of the stitch sections and the saddles on some of the sweaters.
If you ever get an opportunity to grab this book at a reasonable price, do not hesitate.

Wow, I would like to order the Hebridean yarn from Alice Starmore for the following project, but she says that one needs a copy of Aran Knitting for the instructions. I don't really feel like paying hundreds of dollars for the book (no knitting book is worth that much, no matter how much I hold Alice Starmore in esteem!) Can anyone who has this book help me with the instructions to this shawl (below) - my email is [...]:

ST CIARAN

St Ciaran is worked in Hebridean 3 Ply on 4.5mm needles with a tension of 21 sts and 28 rows to 10cm measured over St.St. Revised width and length measurements are shown in the detail.
Available in any colour of Hebridean 3 Ply.

I just picked up a copy of this book at my library for free!

This was a tough one to rate. I would have given a 3 1/2 star rating if it were available because it's really a very good little book. There's NO WAY, however it deserves five stars, but if anyone wants to give it four, I have no particular problem with it.

Belloc's premise is that European civilization is synonymous with Roman Catholic civilization. Therefore the Reformation was one of the greatest disasters to strike Western, or European, civilization. What makes this a good book is that Belloc, writing from a historical and social perspective, rather than a religious one focuses in on the underlying causes and drives of the Reformation, rather than the sometimes minor theological disputes that are the focus of most works on the subject. He astutely points out that the Reformation was more about redistribution of wealth and power than about trying to form new denominations. It maintains that it was not until Calvin published The Institutes of the Christian Religion that Protestantism really formally and systematically broke away from its Catholic roots. He also maintains that the chief religious debate was not about grace of faith, but about predestination versus free-will.

The thing that keeps Mr. Belloc's book from being great is that it's full of minor gaffs in history and logic that should be below someone of Belloc's stature and reputation. For example Belloc seems to confuse Luther's 1518 meeting with Papal Legate Cajetan with his 1519 debate with Johann Eck. In other places he encourages the reader to forget everything they read in those other histories and instead accept what he's telling them. He makes these statements without giving any support for his alternative history. In fairness to the author, however, these mistakes are minor and don't really effect the impact of his arguments. The book is also not intended as a detailed history, but is a little work (180 pages) intended to shore up the Faith, rather than seriously debate the subject, so his glossing over disputes in history is not major. In other places he makes huge leaps in logic for his arguments without filling in the gaps and is occasionally self contradictory. Again, however, these errors are minor to his main point about the Reformation being more political and social rather than religious and given the intended scope and audience of the work they do not ruin what is a very good little book. The book remains however, because of them, good rather than great.

The defiance of Martin Luther and Henry VIII were not, as Hilaire Belloc points out, all that uncommon in the history of Christendom. Luther posting his treatises on the church door was basically how things were done. Today Luther would have blog and a book tour.Similarly Henry VIII wasn't the first English King to cock a snook towards Rome, and most of his subjects at the time, seemed remarkably unconcerned. Belloc says mainly as they imagined this feud, like others before, would eventually be reconciled. But these revolts ultimately split a Christendom that had operated with various degrees of unity for just over a thousand years. So what was going on?

Belloc in this 1928 book provides what in academic-speak we would today call a multi-disciplinary macro and micro analysis of a great historical question. He combines both a thematic understanding of the period covering centuries as well as detailed micro level knowledge contributing to his non-deterministic analysis that in may ways illustrates a contingent view of history. And there is no way Belloc would use words like those in my last two sentences to describe his work. His account is readable, although to modern eyes his writing style can seem a little stuffy, at least, at first. But you do get used to it. Belloc's histories are part of his broader intellectual agenda explicitly aimed at both defending his vision of Christendom and his view of how modern societies can achieve, for their people, the good life whilst avoiding the excesses of industrial capitalism and state socialism. Having nailed his colours to the mast, Belloc is both scrupulously fair, and indeed mildly sympathetic, to his Protestant subjects. That is not what many would first imagine from one of England's leading catholic apologists. And this is not a theological or religious book, it is history. Almost 100% so. If there is old time religion in it, it amounts to no more than two paragraphs in his concluding chapter.

I will try to summarise Belloc's position in a few paragraphs of my own. Christendom always had dissident priests and princes, so the very different revolts of Martin and Henry were not new. There had never been 'a golden age' when Christendom was without challenge. What was new was the simultaneous weakness of two key institutions to counteract and contain them. Indeed the revolt that emerged was probably much larger, and more radical than anything Martin or Henry could have imagined. Anti-clericalism, not doctrinal dissent, drove the break-up. And economics played a role in the split and, more importantly, in keeping the splinters apart. The Church controlled large swathes of agrarian land. In earlier centuries it was the monastic orders that had actually "opened up" this land to use a frontier analogy. This success was severely damaged by the Black Death. Population decline was not accompanied by significant land reform. As a result, what had once been Europe's economic foundation now seemed an onerous burden.

The papacy lacked the will, and worse yet, sufficient power and moral authority to effect reforms, even if it had the will. The Great Schism weakened the moral and popular authority of the papacy, saw the blance of power shift towards the princes. A string of corrupt popes (Belloc is at pains to point out that these popes were not as bad as is often imagined) was one of two pieces of bad timing. The other was the simultaneous weakness of the Emperor (i.e. 'Holy Roman Emperor'). That great German "federal" overlord was decisively weakened by on going wars with the muslims. He was thus unable to assert sufficient control at home.

Weaknesses at the top meant the revolt from below went unchecked, but were the common people in revolt? No. Some peasant revolts broke out, and like similar revolts before, the princes, both catholic and protestant suppressed them. The real revolutionaries were from the aristocracy and merchant squires. These groups came to control the land and corporate formerly managed by the clergy. In some cases they fostered protestant iconoclasm whilst controlling the market for the now abandoned treasures of the churches. Formerly clerical wealth financed both the growing demands of their "modern" states, and their armies, and to reward allies. Royal favourites, the 'new millionaires' , became the great fortunes and powerful families of England, with influence running for centuries. In England real power was concentrated in the Cecils, the real power behing Elizabeth I, who used secret police tactics to suppress popular catholicism, including letting the Gunpowder plotters conspire for over a year, all under the watchful eye of spy chief Walsingham . These groups were a powerful vested interest in seeing to it that these new rifts, unlike the old squables, were never healed. The 'new millionaires', of course, would soon be knocking down the crown that gave them their start, in a century or so, as their descendants would lead the parliamentary revolt against the old monarchy. Belloc makes an aside that the new parliamentarians were an "elect" in the Calvinist rather than the democratic sense.

Belloc ties this history to modern times and his other works by arguing that the industrial revolutions the millionaires would launch would be based on unven foundations dating back to the Reformation. Belloc's "distributism" advocated for a radical resdistribution of land and wealth to thus extend economic independence and dignity to the lower classes. This he saw as third way between the twin evils of plutocratic capitalism and state socialism, and the likely fusion of both outlined in his most famous political tract, 'The Servile State'.

The institutional weaknesses that allowed the reformation to spread were eventually answered but the "too little, too late" responses help illustrate Belloc's case. It took over forty years before the Council of Trent could be convened and organized a counter-reformation spearheaded by the newly formed order, the Jesuits. Trent;s delay was mainly due to politicking by local princes. When it was commenced the total number of delegates was small compared to earlier and later councils. When Trent started in 1545 only 24 bishops and archbishops were in attendance. During the enormously destructive "Thirty Years War", the Empire too 'struck back', or at least, attempted to. However now the French, directed by their own Bismark, Cardinal Richelieu aided the Protestant princes from a geopolitical desire to prevent German unification to their east.

Belloc provides a readable introduction to the whole period and helps the reader thread the pieces they may have picked up into a more comprehensive canvass. His introduction includes a critique of the treatment of the Reformation by fellow historians, and I'd recommend re-reading his introduction after completing the book. An interesting read.

This is an outstanding short book on the history of the Reformation. This is the first book by Belloc I have read, but if this book is any indication, he was a master of thematic history. This is not just a list of dates and events, blandly shared. Rather, Belloc gives us a riveting book that is concerned with the historical forces and personalities at the heart of the great religious revolt that has so shaped Western Civilization for the last 500 years.

One could successfully devour this book in the span of two days. But even with its brevity, it is a quite thorough look at the themes and personalities that make up the reformation.

A must read.

Belloc's view of the Reformation is both original and penetrating as he challenges the conventional views of that religious revolt from the perspective of a committed Roman Catholic. The overview of history is not necessarily exhaustive for a 300 page book, but it tends to be a bit repetitive, although when one considers the points that Belloc is trying to emphasize, the repetition is understandable. Basically, he assumes the stance that the Reformation was not originally a religious contest but a political and financial one, and that the nobles and rulers of Europe took advantage of the reformers fever to dissemble the universal Catholic church and distribute their wealth amongst themselves.
Although I agree with Belloc's theory and feel that the breakup of Catholic Christendom was essentially a disaster, I felt that his bias against the Reformation dismissed much of the spiritual sincerity of the Reformers, which is unfortunate. Overall though, it is a great read and one that will challenge those with an open mind. For a companion piece, one should read Novalis' Christendom or Europe, which is found in Novalis: Philosophical Writings published by SUNY Press (1997).Novalis: Philosophical Writings

Mr. Belloc does not give us a detailed history with references to primary sources. Instead, he notes the major currents of thought that shaped history and the missed opportunities that might have deflected those currents from creating the reformation. His history is a macro-history covering the currents created by such factors as the Black Death, rising nationalism, corruption of morals, and more. He asserts, convincingly I believe, that the Protestant reformation was based on the lie that each individual was his own judge of what was right thinking (see more on this in Great Heresies). Further, he asserts, this heresy of man as his own arbiter of truth likely would have failed had it not been for the focus provided in John Calvin's systematic theology.

Whether Protestant or Catholic or Orthodox, it is important to understand the historical currents and the waves that brought about the world as we know it today. America, in particular, with all that is good or bad in it, is a creation of those currents. The cold reasoning that rejects all that is mystical and intangible in modern thinking is also a creation of those currents. It is the fall of man all over again which rejects any authority outside one's self. Protestant and Catholic alike decry this disunity. It is in our interest to understand the causes and effects. Mr. Belloc gives us the broad thinking approach to see the root cause which so many other historians have missed getting lost in the details.

I read this about 6 years ago when it was assigned in one of my undergrad classes. There are enough online reviews for you to read about the plot and like. Rather I want to tell you how her voice has stuck with me. I think of her ability to see the slivering when everything is just gray, and her amazing capacity to keep going. Whenever I think I can't go on, this death/or lost/ or series of unfortunate events as shattered the very last of my will I remember her words. I highly recommend it. I regally give this as a gift, I know I'm not just giving someone a powerful story, but really I'm giving someone a packet of extra strength for when they need it most in life.

This is a well-written, quick read. Heda's 27 years of suffering - first at the hands of the Nazis & then under the communist regime in Czechoslovakia - is heart rending. It's a book that should be part of high school curriculums to raise awareness of what too many people had to endure in the middle of the last century. It would be much more effective than relying on a history textbook that deals only with the 'facts.'

I would recommend this book to anyone. Even if you think you don't like reading about history, you'll like this book. In fact, it is books like these that are the reason I love history so much, and why I'm majoring in it. It isn't about the politics or the wars or whatever else (although those are certainly important), it is the story of a woman trying to survive through a hell most of us cannot even imagine has existed on this earth, especially not in the last 50 years. Peoples' lives are what connect us to the past, and what make it relevant to the future. It gives a little meaning and heart behind all the dates and events that you have to memorize in class...make them more personal. And furthermore, you will be inspired by this woman. Her strength and character is admirable, to say the very least. Actually, I don't think even a fictional writer could invent a heroine more honorable than this one.

So please, read it. stories like these deserve to be shared.

it is a great book use in my world civ class, and highly recommmand by my professor and TAs.

Clive James, in "Cultural Amnsia' - his magesterial review of literature and totalitarianism - said: "Given thirty seconds to recommend a single book that might start a serious young student on the hard road to understanding of the political tragedies of the twentieth century, I would choose this one". It tells a remarkable personal tale of a Jewish girl in Prague caught up by the Nazis and going to Auschwitz, then her escape and return to her beloved Prague, and subsequent worse sufferings under the communist government in the 1950s and 1960s. Her husband was a high ranking government official but later was put on a show trial and killed.

"Under a Cruel Star" (also called "Prague Farewell" in some editions) is not as bleak as the story sounds. It is a slim volume of hope and understanding, written elegantly by a woman who later in life worked as a translator from English and finished her working life in the Harvard Law School library.

First of all set aside a long time to read this. The author devotes a great deal of detail into establishing his theories and then proves them one by one. First of all he destroys the myth that either the German people or anyone in the occupied countries did not know what was going on. In fact he clearly demonstrates that many played active roles in if not betraying Jews, they chose to be blind to their plight.

We also get an in depth view of how the German killing machine turned killing and murder into an efficient, factory like process. This is what is so scary about this process. Lastly, he makes it clear that this was a German process with great assistance from the occupied countries, thus dispelling the myth of this being the SS or some "bad eggs." This book is finally brave enough to tell the truth about the Holocaust.

A truly monumental work that simply outpaces many other related literary endeavors appearing over the past 30 years. Reads easily and without the stodgy encumbrances of many history books. A must read for anyone interested in the Holocaust.

This is truly a magisterial study of the Holocaust (Shoah), well deserving of its award of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction, and follows the author's earlier volume covering the 1933-1939 period. It runs some 663 pages of text, includes 128 pages of meticulous notes, and 51 pages of bibliographic references. It places heavy reliance not only on contemporary documents, but also on published and unpublished memoirs and diaries (such as that of Victor Klemperer, also reviewed on Amazon). The author has a unique perspective, since he was born in Prague in but grew up in France between 1940 and 1944 during the Nazi occupation. He spent part of this period in a Catholic boarding school and considered converting. His parents were both lost.

There are many fine books on the Holocaust. But Friedlander's work is unique and distinctive in contribution. He does not just recount in graphic detail how the extermination program progressed (although there is plenty of this horror discussed), he explains how it developed. It is not until page 339 that he even gets to the Wannsee conference. Rather, he focuses upon how the Nazi Jewish policy evolved from harasment to racial extermination. The author makes the somewhat surprising argument (to me at least) that the Nazis did not start out at the beginning of the war or earlier to exterminate the Jews of Europe. Rather, the policy evolved as the war developed and various demands encouraged this program to be developed. In fact, it is not until late 1942 or early 1943 that the extermination policy was implemented by the Nazi leadership. Truly an interesting argument to say the least.

Given the author's previous biography of Pius XII, there is much discussion of the Catholic Church's reaction to all this. The author also discusses the Jewish Councils set up by the Nazis and whether they sacrificed the "less valuable" Jews in an effort to spare the more elite groups--another interesting topic. The book proceeds chronologically from 1939 through to 1945. Friedlander is able to balance a large number of topics skillfully as he develops his narrative. Many individual countries and their involvement in Holocaust implementation are discussed. The competing goals of extermination versus the use of Jews as slave laborers in defense industries is also covered. The author also wants to make it explicitly clear that ordinary Germans well knew that extermination was underway. Finally, one of the most surprising aspects to me was the author's explanation of how the determination to complete extermination only increased as it became obvious the war had been lost.

Friedlander could have written an emotional account, given his background. Instead, we see the work of a master historian true to his craft and unwilling to sacrifice professional standards in his analysis of a topic that surely was of the greatest pain to himself. We can all benefit from his professional dedication.

Nazi Germany and the Jews is a two volume set on Nazi Germany's satanic persecution and murder of six million Jews. Volume I deals with the years of persecution suffered by the Reich's Jews from Hitler's takeover of the state in 1933 until the outbreak of World War II in September 1939.
Saul Friedlander is a survivor of the Holocaust growing up as a Jew in occupied France.Friedlander teaches the Holocaust at UCLA. His second volume "The Years of Extermination:1939-1945" is destined for classic status as one of the essential books on this most lamentably horrible time in European and human history. The book is over 700 pages in length and reads quickly due to the author's abilities to tell the tragic story with clarity and dispassionate reportage.
With the conquest of Poland the Nazis established countless concentration camps in conquered territory. By 1941 with the Nazi's invasion of the Soviet Union and the entry of the United States the final solution decision was made to kill all of the Jews in Europe. Himmler and Heydrich of the SS with their underlings such as Eichmann began to put this murderous and ungodly plan into execution. Millions of Jews, Gypsies, POW's, political dissidents, Communists and others died in the gas chambers of hellholes such as Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Treblenka and Sobibor. I learned from this book that at the end of the war the Nazi marched almost one million Jewish prisoners Westward causing more untold murders and savageries. This book will boggle your mind with horror and make you aware of the heart of darkness which beat in the heart of the merciless mechanical beast known as Nazi Germany.
Friedlander teaches us that Europe was an Anti-Semitic atmosphere but in Germany Hitler used this prejudice to seize power. Hitler believed the Jews were behind Communism and was a rabid amoral leader who would brook no mercy for Jewish men, women or children. We see the cruel Nazi night seize the light of life in every occupied nation from France to Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, the Scandinavian Countries, Greece & the Balkans and any place Jews could be found.
Rather than a dry recounting of facts the author also includes poignant diary entries from Jews who suffered the persecutions and in most cases death at the hands of the Nazis. The most insightful diaries, in my opinion, were those of Anne Frank in Holland and Victor Klemperer who was married to an Aryan German woman. Friedlander also includes first person reports of atrocities by German soldiers, civilians and top Nazi figures such as the Mephisto Joseph Goebbels the master of Nazi Propoganda.
Friedlander's book is not perfect. Maps and illustrations would add greatly to future editions. One prays that such an event will never take place again. This book is a testament and witness to the shoah victims whose six million voices speak through the words of an excellent historian of a black chapter in our race's time on this earth.

This is a magisterial book, as one of the critics defined it. Not only does it contain an exhaustive research, poignant diarists' quotations, and a vast collection of amazing facts (such as the refusal of the Hungerians to surrender their Jews to Hitler, or the indifference of starving and desperate parents to the deportation of their children), it also, and most importantly, "nails" the Nazi crimes and criminals as no other book has ever done. In the presence of this book, Holocaust deniers will be forever silenced. Furthermore, I can hardly imagine the pain Prof. Friedlander, a Holocaust survivor whose parents were murdered by the Nazis, had subjected himself to in writing this tome of a book. It is a brave, sacrificial work.
I agree, though, with some of the critics' complaints that the book, although riveting, is at times a difficult slog. Maps and pictures would have helped. Also chapters' titles would have helped. In the notes section, printing the chapter #s and the pages #s at the top of the page would have helped a great deal. But isn't it the function of the editors to notice such things? My most important criticism, though, concerns Friedlander's omissions. The Nazi evil sears the pages, as it did the Jews, and the victims' cries for help plow like an ax, as Kafka would put it, in the frozen sea within us. One cannot forget those screams, cannot take the ax out and toss it to oblivion. The bystanders, too, are revealed in their shame and cowardice, like thousands and thousands of shadows crowding the gladiatorial arena. But one group of people is noticeably missing: the heroes who risked their lives to save Jews. Wallenberg is given a brief mention in half a sentence; the Danish rescuers are mentioned in a mere short paragraph; and Schindler and Hannah Senesh are not even mentioned. Thousands of heroic gentiles are listed in the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C., but Friedlander has found no room for even some of them in his book. If an act of courage is mentioned, it is disposed of quickly, as if it did not matter. But it did, and it does. Granted, Friedlander's subject moves in a different direction, but his omitting of the heroes does them--and all humanity perhaps--a grave injustice.

Lottie's real name is Charlotte, but noone calls her that..... until this 'horrible' new teacher Mrs Beckworth arrives, and doesn't let her sit next to Lisa (who Lottie has saved the best place for), but makes poor Lottie sit next to that swot Jamie. Lottie hates Mrs Beckworth, and sends around humorous poems about trains and teases about Jamie. Lottie's teenage mum, Jo, is having problems with work but suddenly Mrs Beckworth gives the class a project. it is about the victorians and Lottie writes a diary about it. she buys Jamie, who comes her friend in the end, some postcards and everything but then Jo gets a nerdy man called Mark as a boyfriend because she babysits his son, Robin, who is small and shy and has a little stuffed robin toy that his mum made for him before she died. lottie lets him use her felt pens but he just draws a house and his mum and dad and himself. when Jo and Mark go on a love ride on a picnic where Robin is sick, Lottie sees them kissing and bullies poor robin until he runs away from home and then there is a search party because everyone is worried and he gets found and put in hospital and lottie makes him a cake and draws him pictures of birds. lottie suddenly feels bad and crys in her bathroom because she doesn't feel old and hates herself. she even needs the comfort of her old barbies, which are packed away in her drawer and she and jo used to dress them and drive them to posh parties to make them dance, and jo enjoyed this more than lottie! you should read these other books too:
Best Friends, Diamond girls, the bed and breakfast kid, sleepovers, the suitcase kid, the lottie project, clean break, the worry website, girls in love, girls out late, the dare game, the story of tracy beaker, vicky angel, cliffhanger, the illustrated mum and girls in tears, the cat mummy.
I have 56 jaqcueline wilson books because i am a major bookworm and book collector. i have read over 8 billion books in my 10 years of living, and so has my best friend.
so girls, get readin'!

This is such a fantastic book! It's about Charlie who lives with her mum Jo in a flat. Her mean teacher, Miss Beckworth wants the class to do a school project on the Victorians.
"Boring!" she thinks at first, but gradually she likes it more
and more. She writes a project and wants to keep it private.
Her project is about Lottie and how she copes with her frustrating life. First she's an ordinary eleven year old girl
living with her family in a cottage but then she has to leave school and get a job as a nursery maid. The children she looks after are such naughty little monkeys and she doesn't lke this job.
Stupid snooty swotty boy Jamie Edwards is so annoying to Charlie. YOU'VE GOT TO READ IT IT'S SUCH A BRILL BOOK!!!!
Don't call this book stupid. Honestly, don't. If you think it's
stupid, read "Best Friends" or "Vicky Angel" or "Girls in tears". THEY'RE the stupid books. OK, so that's all I want to say.

charlies life is really changing. Her teacher is mean, makes her sit next to Jamie Edwards,and assigns a "dreary" projecton the "dreary" victorian period. So charlie decides to create a diary for her project, and creates Lottie, a Victorian nurserymaid, and history comes to life.

charlies mom is also causing trouble in her life. Charlie thinks she has a boyfriend, and that can't happen!!!!!

i loved this book and how Charlie brought Lottie to life.
i would recamend this book to anyone.

~tara~

I have read many books from Jacqueline Wilson, and have admired her ability to express how kids feel, what they want. This is all true. Being a kid, i have lots of friends that match those in the story. This book, Lottie Project, is one of my favourite books she wrote. I know how it feels to be forced to write a project, but i have never wrote a project, that like Charlotte's, matches my own daily life.
In school, i have just learnt about the Victorians, and told my teacher, Miss Battram, about the book. She too admitts that it is a good book and should be added into the Victorian learning program for year 5 next year.
Everyone can see that Jacqueline Wilson has shown us how an 11year old girl's life can be similar to a maid in the Victorian times, and how they coped with it.
This book is really great for everyone to read, maybe single parents should take a peek in this book too as it will tell single parents how their child feels when they start dating someone else. then, they can talk it through with their child, so mistakes like in Lottie Project, that Charlotte Enright had to cope with, will not happen.
Furthermore, this book is very good to be used in Victorian sessions in school, seeing as the book is very funny, and still useful in teaching about a 11 year old girl's life in the Victorian times.
Rita Teo Bangkok Patana school, Thailand

This is definitely one of my favorite books. I guess sixth graders will enjoy it most, but parents will also enjoy it too. Jacqueline Wilson really knows how to get into the world of 11-year-olds.

Charlie Enright has a lot of problems at school. Her new teacher is strict and mean. She assigns the sixth-graders a Victorian project right at the beginning of the year. Also, she makes Charlie sit next to Jamie Edwards, which Charlie isn't sure she likes or hates.

She also is having problems with her friends. They have abandoned the 'We Hate Boys Club' and are now very interested in boys and not paying much attention to her.

And her home lifes not that wonderful either. Her single mother has just lost her job, but she finds another one quickly. It turns out that she has fallen in love with her boss and Charlie has got to stop her. Somehow. Someway.

Will Charlie's problems ever end? Read this great book to find out!