Ireland Books

I heard him read some of his poems tonight and they are absolutely amazing!! I bought the book and absolutely love it!!

this is the most gorgeous book i've ever seen, and it's a date book so it's completely versatile. it's the perfect size to put in your bag and bring with you. there's also a description of each of the 4 minor solstices with a poem or legend about it. each page is filled with beautiful poetry written in caligraphy paired with artwork. it's the best book i've ever seen, and since it isn't year specific (there aren't days of the week along with the dates) you can buy a new one every year and use it all over again!!!

I never thought that I would fine a book like this! It was absolutely amazing because it was written so well. It helped me a great deal in finding out about Celtic traditions, folklore, and many other things! If you are at all interested in Celtic folklore and would like a book that's easy to read and understand, this is the book for you! I promise, you won't be disappointed! Happy reading!

"Entertaining" and "fun to read" are not the usual descriptions applied to books like this heavily footnoted, two volume set. But this work is very enjoyable to read, despite its comprehensive and well-documented scope. David Irving will not be pleased. Mr. Sprecher effortlessly moves through the origins of the Military Tribunal conducting the trial, the 4 counts under which the defendants are tried, the defendant individuals, and the defendant government organizations. The prosecution cases against all of these are presented in volume I, and the defendants' cases are presented in volume II, followed by the judgement and aftermath.

Mr. Sprecher's presentation is a summary of each case presented by each prosecutor (or defense attorney), quasi-day-by-day, interspersed with personal observations, observations from other people such as psychologists who interacted with the defendants, and also provides defendant reactions to certain witnesses/documents during the trial. Highly informative, highly entertaining. Mr. Sprecher also provides pointers to follow-on sources, if you wish to do more research. An invaluable work.

One nit to pick, however: there are so many mispellings and typos in this work that one wonders if the publishers had editors go through the book prior to publishing it. Although the writing is first rate, the production work is second or third rate.

I first met the author in 1968, while I was still at Uni. Several years later I learned of his earlier life at Nuremburg. Now, I have found use in his having put down a summary of his work at Nuremburg. Mr. Sprecher has written a great reference work for anyone who might wish to pursue the evidence of Buchenwald, Treblinka, etc., rather than the dramatic stories we've often seen in film or read in novels. All human rights lawyers who are today looking for precedents to help support their arguments will find this is a thorough and excellently organised sourcebook. Non-lawyers need not worry--the language is quite readable, and while the text often refers to evidence, it nonetheless contains enough detail for the gruesome-minded.

This book discusses in considerable detail the trial before the first International Military Trial in Nuremberg in 1945 and 1946. From contemporaneous documents, Drexel Sprecher discloses the planning of aggressive wars by Nazi Germany which eventually resulted in the deaths of nearly 30 million people. Sprecher describes the evolution of the numerous concentration camps and the genocide of more than six million Jews and one-half million Gypsies. Though he was a prosecutor, Sprecher presents the first complete account of the defenses made on behalf of the 22 defendants at the trial. He also sets forth the findings of the International Military Tribunal concerning the guilt and innocence of the defendants. The book is an important source for reference by the several international tribunals which have been established by the United Nations to deal with recent war crimes and civil crimes involving the murder of large numbers of civilians. Inside the Nuremberg Trial is well organized into 122 chapters, each with many subsections. This organization makes it possible to find virtually any topic concerning the Nazi regime and the holocaust and how the Nazi leaders were brought to justice at Nuremberg.

As technology has increased the speed of communications over the past two centuries, so too has it increased its importance to governments. With knowledge being power, governments have sought to capitalize on the increasing rapidity and accessibility of communications, both for advancing their own control and to limit the power and influence of their adversaries. This is something that Daniel Headrick clearly demonstrates in this book, which examines the political aspects of the emergence of the global communications network in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Headrick begins by examining the emergence of the first technology to make rapid communication over long distances possible - the electric telegraph. While developing internal networks was relatively easy, communications over long distances was politically risky, as messages could be intercepted and disrupted on lines that crossed hostile territory. Security thus became an issue early in global communications, one that could only be guaranteed by submarine cables, which gave their owner direct contact with possessions half a world away. The leader in the effort to establish an international network was Great Britain; though most Western governments seized on telegraphy in the second half of the nineteenth century, only the British had capital markets large enough both to fund the often expensive projects and to absorb their often considerable loss.

By the start of the twentieth century, a rapid communications network spanned the globe, one that served as a tool of national power and security. Yet as Headrick notes, it also fueled international insecurity. He sees the quickening pace of communications as a factor in the growing international tensions that plagued the world in the first decade of the new century, as the speed of events overtook the ability of diplomats (who were used to a much more gradual course that gave them time in which to operate) to respond effectively. During the war, the British demonstrated the power granted by their control of the telegraph network, as they cut the Germans off from easy contact with other regions, especially America. This gave Britain a vital edge in shaping the interpretation of the conflict, one that helped swing the United States firmly into their camp.

Yet as vital an advantage communications control was, it was a reflection of British power at its zenith. Even before the start of the war, radio threatened to break the British monopoly on telegraphy. Moreover, by the end of the war the British faced a rival of even greater wealth: the United States, which used the new technology to erode Britain's dominance in telecommunications. The adoption of shortwave in the 1920s ended British hegemony, while the Second World War saw the British bequeath their position as the dominant power in global communications to the United States, during a conflict in which communications played a decisive role in the Allied victory over the Axis powers.

If there is a complaint to be lodged against this generally excellent book, it is that while Headrick does an excellent job of explaining the impact of telecommunications during the world wars, he rarely demonstrates how telecommunications facilitated political control in peacetime. It would have been insightful to examine episodes from the early years of telecommunications revealed its power and how such examples altered views towards the burgeoning new technology. Yet this is a minor quibble. Well researched and clearly written, Headrick offers a great introduction to the development of the global telecommunications network in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and its role in international politics, one that should be read by anyone seeking to understand the role of technology in shaping political power.

This is a brilliant effort, and easily the best work on telecommunications history in a politico-economic context that I have read. Headrick does the hard work, provides the detail, and then makes genuinely insightful comments to educate the reader as to the meaning of various events. It is rare to read such a well researched, straight forward book, and it is even easy to read. A complete success.

Daniel Headrick has written an essential resource by those working such issues as communications, national security, intelligence, and history. "The Invisible Weapon" describes the development of telecommunications from 1851 to 1945. Mr. Headrick shows how the new technology permitted the expansion of Britain's empire, and London's international influence.

Each section of the book brings to light the enormous impact the new telegraphic system had on world events. Mr. Headrick describes how Britain was able to secure near monopoly on important telegraphic technology, how London used its submarine cables to link the Empire, and how it controlled information to weaken its enemies. One cannot help but be captured by the amazing parallels to today's communications developments. Indeed, "The Invisible Weapon" has been noted on the bookshelves of experts in information warfare

The book contains clear and concise maps, excellent tables and figures,! and thorough footnotes. Each chapter contains an excellent conclusions section. The only flaw noted by this reviewer is the jacket design, so dull and grey that it likely hindered sales. Nevertheless, "The Invisible Weapon" will no doubt find a prominent place on bookshelves for decades to come.

From what I understand, the inspiration for this book came out of Leon Uris' research for the novel, "Trinity".

It's a pity that this book is out of print. It is an excellent photographic journal -- Jill did the photography, and Leon wrote the narrative. It gives a very real portrait of Ireland, and how this moment in history has arrived. You will not find these pictures in any travel brochure -- they are quite remarkable.

"What do I have?" said this fine old woman,
"What do I have?" this fine old woman did say,
"I have four green fields; each one was a jewel . . ."


The tragedy is that this wonderful book is out of print. Leon Uris and the Irish then-Mrs. Uris, Jill, collaborated on this work, which grew out of Uris' research for his novel, TRINITY.

The photographs are haunting, each one a poem. Few places on earth are more beautiful or have had the soil moistened by more tears. Irish history is sorrowful yet uplifting, and the result is the "terrible beauty" this book speaks of and to.

Published in 1978, this picture essay captures an Ireland that was still on the margins of Europe, a fly in the amber, that had not quite shaken off the Nineteenth Century.

Thirty years on, Ireland has transmogrified into a EuroYuppie haven, and until recently, had the fastest-growing economy in Europe. In 1978 (or even in 1990, when I was there), Dublin could be walked entire in a day; no longer.

It's a fair bet that upscale condos, Tesco Supermarkets and the golden arches now stand in many places pictured in this book. All of which makes IRELAND: A TERRIBLE BEAUTY more valuable than before.

sensitive portrayal with outstanding photographs of all classes of Irish people

This is a delightful little book that contains many great recipes and descriptions of the Irish countryside. Also contains beautiful watercolors that would be fit to be framed if I was willing to cut the book apart (which I am not!). The recipes are from many of Irelands famous chefs and restaurants and include everything from soups, breads, main courses and desserts. Well I'm off to the kitchen to try some of them!!!

Ireland Memories is brilliant! I read the book at one sitting. Both the writing and the artwork are outstanding. The recipes all sound so good and we are going to use the Chicken with Goat Cheese at our next catering luncheon. Anyone who has been to Ireland or anticipates going should have this book in their library.

This is a great book for anyone who's been to Ireland. Beautiful water color sketches interspersed with some great recipes are bound to generate fond memories of great places in a beautiful country. Makes a great gift as well.

Probably the most compelling book I have ever read. Its sheer intellectual scope is a joy to behold. A must for anyone who wishes to understand the complexity of Irish life.

Well researched and entertaining, this is the most readable work yet written on the subject of Ireland's painful progress since the early part of the century. The closing sections of Lee's opus contain some intuitive conclusions about his fellow countrymen, particularly the sections entitled 'Character' and 'Perspectives'. Scholarly guff on the subject of Ireland's breach birth and subsequent delinquency are rarely the stuff of bedtime reading but this is easy on the brain, partly due to Lee's strictly logical approach to his theme and partly because of his enormous skill as a writer. If you want a book on Ireland that doesn't read as though it were written by some OAP in a tweed G-string who hasn't seen sunlight since 1965, this is the one for you. Terrific.

It is sad that the most read Irish historian outside Ireland happens to be the Republican fellow-traveller, Tim Pat Coogan. Then, Coogan seems to aim mostly at the Irish-American market. It is sad because Coogan's bias is not widely recognised, whereas if it was, his books would probably be subjected to more than unthinking acceptance. For me, Joe Lee is by far the greater historian, and this work by him beats anything of Coogans into a cocked hat. Not that they disagree overmuch, Lee is also a Nationalist writer, but his judicious weighing of the evidence and his unblinkered and unwavering devotion to historical truth make him by far the better of the two as a writer and a professional historian. One place where they disagree is on the position of De Valera, whom Coogan has dethroned from his former eminence among 'constitutional' Republicans. Lee supplies a far more sympathetic and truthful analysis of 'the Long Fellow'. Another area where American readers may be surprised is the short shrift given to Sean McBride, later a leading light of Amnesty International and a recognised 'jet-set liberal'. However, McBrides interventions in domestic Irish politics were mostly inept and disastrous for this followers and friends. Also for a believer in religious liberty, he was obsequious to the Catholic church in a most apalling fashion. Therefore, read this book to have your expectations challenged, and old opinions undermined. Possibly, the best Irish historical work to emerge from the 20th century, and a book that will be recognised as such.

I liked this little book, we used it on my wedding, and our friends weddings. It's fun and almost always witty. Worth the little price.

This quaint little book is full of wonderful, whimiscal folklore. With each page there is a rustic black and white illustration giving the book its irish traditional look. The book is filled with short poems and greetings that would enrich anyone. Its fun and very easy reading making a great gift. I'm planning to send this book to my sister and Mom before we head to Ireland so we have a feel for some of the Irish folklore. It would make a great addition to anyones library.

Even the cover of this book is great. Chock full of sayings and blessings. A wonderful companion for an Irish wedding. Some of the sayings would make great conversation pieces when placed on place cards!!!

Steve Blamires provides a wonderful well research and theoretically sound book on Irish Celtic magick. Unlike other pagan authors who based their research on second hand translations or other non-myth books, Blamires goes directly to the source and uses direct translations from the Irish Text Society. He connects the tradition directly to the myths. This book is a must for anyone interested in Celtic Magick.

One hopes this book will be reprinted. In it, the author takes the old Irish classic The First Battle of Moytura as the model for his exposition of magical workings. My reservations about it are these: Blamires' style of magic is really patterned on the Hermetic model, and his path workings I find completely unnecessary. One doesn't need path workings to visit the four cities. One needs rather to learn astral projection to find out what they are like. As for the Hermetic model, it is perfectly good, if not old Irish. Considering the corrosion to which the Druid traditions were subjected over the centuries however, one really cannot expect much better than this. One thing that is certain is that Blamires' methods work and do give a beautiful basis for exploring and working with the still potent Irish deities. Blamires' other book Glamoury, based on some of the Duanaire Finn, is similar to this. It brings the reader into another dimention of the magical possibilities of working with the Irish deities. They are quite remarkable.

I first read this book 9 years ago and undertook the journeies within the texts with great determination, mystery and enthusiasm. This book though read many times since still hold the same magic for me thatit did that first time. The journey to sovereinty - that of the All Mother - is truley the most beautiful and emotional journey I have ever had - each time it is taken it is no less magnificent. Much like the book - Steven Blamires has put forth an exceptional work of the Celtic Pagans and their basis of belief. this book is an absolute MUST HAVE for any student of that tradition. No magical library is complete without it!

"Irish storyteller Marrie Walsh pens a memoir rich with the gifts of warmth, magic and wonder, revisting the scenes of her youth, where every neighbor was family, where hermits and bogey men and ghosts were all equally real and frightening, and where time seemed to have stopped for a while." (synopsis by Alibris)
I love personal accounts of growing up in an earlier generation. This is not the gritty, struggle that was Frank McCourt's experience of a city, depression era childhood. Instead the reader gets the country view of that same period.

Reading this book recently allowed me to discover a worthy successor to Flora Thompson's "Lark Rise to Candleford". Which to my mind stands as the classic textured literary time machine, that allows the reader to taste, touch, hear & smell a bygone era in full measure. Marrie Walsh has created a minor masterpiece with her (first?) book. Not only will those devotees of the country life memoirs find similarities with Thompson, but also touches of Miss Read as well as WB Yeats and Thomas Hardy here. The bitter as well as the sweet with a magical touch of folklife for good measure. Highly recommended. And may we see many more works from Ms Walsh's pen.

This is a marvelous little book recounting a childhood in Ireland. It is eminently readable and will transport you to a simpler world for a few hours.

Nothing can ever really be compared to the courage displayed by Anne Frank in her diary, but Cynthia Neale's Nora McCabe in Neale's famine book, THE IRISH DRESSER, comes close. Both Nora and Anne experience day-to-day life in a world gone mad. While nothing can extinguish their inner lights, the world they live in is pitch black, terrifying and cruel. The wonder of Anne Frank has always been how did she manage to cope at all. She has provided unending inspiration for any of us who is ever tempted to indulge in self-pity or despair. Neale's 13-year-old Nora McCabe, like Anne, sees the magic in the ordinary things around her-chickens with personalities and the thrill of an upcoming party where there might actually be food to eat, instead of the hopelessness which has wrapped itself around her family. Anne Frank hid in a cramped apartment in Amsterdam,and Nora McCabe literally hides in a piece of furniture-the Irish dresser, as she, unlike Anne,manages to escape from starvation and political oppression and start over again in New York. If you want to get a real sense of what the Great Famine in Ireland must have been like from a child's point of view, when over one million died and two million fled the island, read this book.

This book tells you what really happened in Ireland during the Potato Famine. It is also a story about family strength and love. Nora and her family are very near starving to death, so their father decides to move them all to America. The family gets split up on the boat to America, and a china cabinet becomes Nora's magical place. Sometimes this story is a little scary and sad, and sometimes it is full of hope and promise. But it is a story that needs to be told. If you have some Irish roots, this books helps you to understand your family history a little better.

The Irish Dresser: A Story Of Hope During The Great Hunger by Cynthia G. Neale is a novel written for young adults and set in the Irish Famine of 1845-1850. The Irish Dresser follows the struggles of Nora McCabe, a thirteen-year-old girl who wages a daily battle with hunger. Nora's adventure begins when her father decides to take her to America for an escape from famine and a chance at survival in a new world. The Irish Dresser is an exciting, entertaining, and highly recommended story of taking risks and facing new challenges for the sake of hope.