Ireland Books

JPII was a man that knew what was going on. His mind pierces through much of the nowadays rubbish that soils our world. In the name of Faith and Reason, the late pope's work comes forth like lightning from heaven.

This is a new and expanded version of the original volume published by in 1892 under the title "Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry." It was subsequently re-titled, "Irish Fairy and Folk Tales," and has seen several editions from different publishers.
This edition, with an illuminating forward by Paul Muldoon, also has other additions that help the reader penetrate the sometimes dense and archaic language. If I had to choose between the original edition and this one, I would definitely choose this one. The main body of the book is identical to the original.
Both Yeats and Lady Gregory were especially concerned that the best of the tales from the Irish countryside be preserved before their main purveyors, the Shenaches (storytellers) vanished. Those collected here are a varied lot, and not all of them will appeal to every reader. That, however, does not affect their value at all, for here a way of life is preserved and we can look through a small window into the beliefs and habits of the Irish people in the days when the "Fairy Faith" was still common amongst them. It is probably best not to read the collection straight through, but rather peruse it, selecting from it that which most appeals.
Yeats's singular contribution is the dividing the denizens of the Irish Enchanted Countryside into categories: The Trooping Fairy, The Solitary Fairy, the Sociable Fairy, etc, together with Ghosts, Witches, Giants and the like. Within each "type" there are essays, songs, poems, hearsay, histories ... in short, something to appeal to every taste, as long as that taste has a goodly sampling of fancy about it.
These fairies are not the gossamer winged, luminous beings of Victorian paintings. These fairies are as likely to curse as to bless and it does not benefit the unwary or skeptical to offend them. Here are pookas, leprechauns, far darrig, Ban-Shees, and lanawn-shees.
These creatures were ever present to the Irish peasantry, and were forgotten with the industrialization of modern times. Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of Yeats and others like him, much of this world was preserved for us.
Some of the stories and poems retain their Irish intonation and syntax and may be difficult for some to follow, but patience will be rewarded; One can almost "hear" the storyteller and the bard.
This is a volume well worth going back to again and again.

In this delightful volume, first published in 1892, William Butler Yeats has collected all manner of Irish folklore (mostly short stories, with a few poems) from a wide variety sources. He has divided the works into categories as follows: the "Trooping Fairies" (fairies, changelings, and the "merrow" or mermaids); the "Solitary Fairies" (the lepracaun, the pooka - an animal spirit, and the banshee); "Ghosts"; "Witches & Fairy Doctors"; "T'yeer-na-n-Oge" or "Tir-na-n-Og" (a legendary island said to appear and disappear); "Saints & Priests"; "The Devil"; "Giants"; and "Kings / Queens / Princesses / Earls / Robbers." Yeats introduces each section with background information on the creature the stories in that category will concern. He also includes numerous footnotes of interest, making this book a valuable resource for anyone seeking to learn about the tradition of Irish folklore.

While I have given this anthology a five-star rating based on it's value as a source of information on Irish mythology, it would probably be worth only four stars for entertainment value alone. Some of the stories are very short and/or don't have much of a point, and are less interesting. These tend to serve more as testimony to the nature of a particular mythical being rather than being an actual story with a plot and message for the reader. Nevertheless, the book as a whole offers a very comprehensive look at just what defines Irish folk culture. The stories that do have a point sometimes take the form of "how things came to be this way" tales, or provide a moral lesson, etc. Many of the stories are rather dark, as that tends to be the nature of lore from this region, but there are also some lighthearted and cheerful pieces.

Despite the book having been compiled more than one hundred years ago, most of the stories are quite easy to read. Yeats makes things even more simple for the reader by making footnotes where old Irish words or phrases are used, giving us their meaning. However, there are a few stories that have been left in a more archaic form, which is distracting and a bit harder to decipher. Take, for example, the following excerpt:

". . . the minit he puts his knife into the fish, there was a murtherin' screech, that you'd the life id lave you if you hurd it, and away jumps the throut out av the fryin'-pan into the middle o' the flure; and an the spot where it fell, up riz a lovely lady - the beautifullest crathur that eyes ever seen, dressed in white, and a band o' goold in her hair, and a sthrame o' blood runnin' down her arm" (pg. 46).

I should probably make note of the fact, for those whom it might interest, that although the title page says the book is "profusely illustrated," there are actually only a few pictures. I believe only six of the over seventy stories are illustrated, and these with simple (but nice), old-fashioned line drawings in black and white. However this is not really a criticism as I view it, since I like the book for its literary content and wouldn't really care if it had no pictures at all.

One of the things I enjoy most about literature is finding connections with other works I've read, and "Irish Fairy & Folk Tales" does not disappoint in this regard. Many of the pieces are derivations of other, more common fairy tales. For instance, "Smallhead and the King's Sons" (Ghosts / pg. 194) incorporates some elements from both "Cinderella" and "Hansel and Gretel," while "The Giant's Stairs" (Giants / pg. 355) has some similarities to the story of "Jack and the Beanstalk." There are more connections like this. On the whole I found this book to be very enjoyable, and also a valuable read from a literary / academic standpoint. I'd certainly recommend it to anyone interesting in the history of Irish culture, the study of fairy tales and folklore, or both.

This absolutely charming collection of stories truly represents the best of "fairy" tales in which the fairy folk feature prominantly as well as a number of other folk beasties. WB Yeats has managed to capture all of the humor, fright, and love involved in the fairy world and it is a joy to follow him around in a world he seems to know so well.

Yeats has long been one of my favorite poets; however, I did not expect his re-telling of Irish Fairy and Folk Tales to be up to his poetry standard. With that said, let me say he does an excellent job re-telling these old stories and if you have any interest whatsoever in fairy tales or Irish Mythology, read this book. "The Trooping Fairies" and "Witches, Fairy Doctors" were 2 of my favorite chapters but overall the whole book is a delight to read. It's an easy read, some stories are funny, some are scary, but most are just entertaining. Also there are some poems mixed in with the stories which add to the story-telling. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Very good book if you want to make your cooking taste like an Irish pube.

I really enjoy this book. I am by no means a cook and as a single male living on my own I don't really cook "real food" a lot. However, I find the recipes in this book not only easy to follow but really good. The soups are awesome, even if they sound bad at first, the stews are great and the book also gives a little bit of information on pubs in Ireland. There are a ton of recipes from fish to poultry and from salads to soups. I was even able to make the soda bread for my parents. Plus there are a bunch of recipes for various soda breads. This book is a great buy and totally worth your time.

This is the perfect book for us to use when opening our pub. Excellent resource.

`The Irish Pub Cookbook' is the fourth Irish themed cookbook I have reviewed from Irish-American Margaret M. Johnson of New York. All four, including `The New Irish Table', `Irish Puddings, Tarts, Crumbles, and Fools', and `The Irish Heritage Cookbook' are of similar trade paperback format from Chronicle Books. They are also similar in that all seem to be collections of recipes from various culinary professionals in Ireland. They all also seem to repeat a lot of sidebar material, although I have yet to see any repeated recipes.

To state a perfectly obvious fact, you probably only want to buy this book if you happen to want to cook recipes prepared at Irish pubs. That is, if you already own a fairly sizable collection of cookbooks, many of the recipes in this book will simply be variations on recipes you already have in either a standard book on Irish cooking or in books on Brasserie or Trattoria cooking. This premise, however, is no little recommendation. My personal experience of pub food in England, to which most of these recipes bear a strong resemblance, is that English speaking pubs offer a quality of food at least as good as their much more widely advertised French Brasserie and Italian Trattoria cousins. Like the famous Italian and French `bar food' recipes, these also have the virtue of being very fast to prepare. Either they cook very quickly or they can be cooked up ahead and reheated very quickly. The best model for Americans of pub / brasserie / trattoria food would be the kind of thing you will find at Chili's, Bennigan's, or Appleby's, except that my experience with the three European versions is that they tend to deal in less greasy and less cliched dishes.

The seven recipe chapters are:

Starters with 10 recipes with several based on seafood such as mussels, oysters, and salmon.
Soups with 9 recipes emphasizing cream based soups, plus four recipes for homemade stocks.
Salads with 9 recipes with lots of recipes using chicken, seafood, and cheese.
Hot Pots, Meat Pies, and Savory Tarts (hot pots are rich, thick stews) with 12 recipes featuring pies, savory tarts, `Irish Stew', and brown soda bread.
Meat and Potatoes with 12 recipes for, you guessed it, meat and potatoes, including pork (bacon and ham), lamb, fowl, and steaks.
Seafood with 8 recipes featuring salmon, cod, haddock, and monkfish.
Desserts with 11 recipes for cheesecakes, apple and pear cakes, puddings, mousses and pies.

If your primary interest is Irish desserts, go for the author's, `Irish Puddings, Tarts, Crumbles, and Fools', although this book includes cheesecakes, which are not in the dessert book.

Johnson certainly writes well about her recipes, although this may not be the best book for a green amateur, as there are few tips on techniques, although a fair knowledge of common kitchen techniques should be more than enough. I do tend to be just a little annoyed at Ms. Johnson's always citing Irish staples in her ingredients list such as `Kerrygold Irish Butter'. I feel that for a `comfort food book, it would have been better not to be expected to chase down a very specific, uncommon ingredient. The book also makes an important point that to the Irish, the pig is commonly divided into `ham' and `bacon'. This can easily be the source of the `Canadian bacon' label for smoked pork loin, as the Irish call everything not part of the rear leg ham to be `bacon'. While explaining this little bit of wisdom, the author seems to be not as clear as she could be in identifying exactly what kind of pork she means when she calls for `bacon'.

A collection of Ms. Johnson's books will give you an excellent overview of contemporary Irish cooking and contemporary Irish hospitality, with a few insights into Irish culinary history. So, if all you want is the recipes, these books are quite good. If you want to go deeper into traditional cooking, start with `Irish Traditional Cooking' by leading Irish cooking school owner, Darina Allen and her husband's `The Ballymaloe Bread Book' by Tim Allen (not the comedian).

Photos by the author blend with food photos by Leigh Beish in a lovely book which arrived too late for St. Patrick's Day feature, but which deserves ongoing mention as an excellent focus on Irish pub cooking. If you've been to Ireland in the last twenty years, you'll know there's been many changes in the nature of pub grub: just look at the tomato tarts, ham and chicken pie, spinach salad with pears and other dishes you wouldn't have identified with Irish pub foods of the past. Recipes - and photos - come from some of the most celebrated pubs in Ireland and represent a fine cross-section of modern fare home cooks will find quite easy to follow.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I enjoyed this book immensely, but probably for the wrong reasons. The book is a bit chewy in places, but stick with it, as it's surprisingly enjoyable on it's own merits. On a more selfish, sadistic note, I had been mecilessly bludgeoned on a regulary basis by a work colleague, a second generation descendant of the Emerald Isle, with tales of Celtic martyrdom and Anglo tyranny, and none of which I felt I had the right to dispute. Then I read the book. After ten minutes of lively debate, challenging all he knew as 'fact', he has not spoken to me since. No-one had ever shut him up before. Heaven. But back to the point, I found this to be a rather good read.

Baby Cromwell, Nottingham, England

R. F. "Roy" Foster author of 'W. B. Yeats: The Apprentice Mage,' 'Charles Stewart Parnell: The Man and His Family' and 'Modern Ireland,' has written this experience and interpetation into Irish history and literature. He does a fine job of it. His bravery in massacring every sacred Irish cow as one would have fun reading it. It leaves you with a warm, passionate, giggly feeling. It's entertainingly brilliant look at the past and present Ireland. I particularly love the chapters and passages on Theme-parks & Histories (with some warning from Foster on expliotation); the chapters on Yeats; When the Newspapers Have Forgotten Me: Yeats, Obituarists and Irishness; Selling Irish Childhoods: Frank McCourt & Gerry Adams; and, Remembering 1798. They're totally smothered in clichés and lots of traditional tidbits of fond or fatal memories, known to some as the Irish experience.

Foster cleverly works moments of Ireland's past into narratives of Irish culture on myth, folklore, ghost stories and romance. The result is from a varied interpetation of opinionated and right down funny interlinking essays. In Theme-parks and Histories-Foster writes of the Irish are to remember or commemorate anything. It is worth remembering the upward curve of Irish cultural achievement-referring to W. B. Yeats, Hugh Leonard, Ezra Pound, Cashel Heritage Society and the 2,000-acre Famine Theme Park in Knockfierna Hill west of Limerick. Irish history, the most distinctive achievement for it. His suggestion to form a monument to Amnesia and forget where they put it. As a historian he would be shocked, but as an Irishman he would be attracted to the idea. Foster shows no mercy on his view of manipulating Irish history on political places and Irish poverty and oppression as a commerically packaged heritage park. His exploration of Yeats' authority of the Irish story's fitting moments as the voice of his Ireland countrymen.

Foster leaves teeth-marked criticism of Frank McCourt (Angela's Ashes) and Gerry Adams and their devil may care attittude of taking hostages for fortune. Transcending into the bestsellerdom of Irish childhoods. Simply a technique of marketing where Irish version brag and whimper about the woes of their early years' experience. I find this to be an entertaining reading. In some places a bit wordy, but good telling of Irish culture. You may hate or love it. But, if your interest is in Irish history and literature it's quite essential.

Irish people of all persuasions and in all walks of life have developed a talent for building up a national history to their liking and drawing conclusions from it. Roy Foster's essays are about some of the ways in which Ireland's history has been interpreted, embroidered, exploited and packaged. I think everyone will agree there are cogent reasons for preserving the distinction between history and "national fiction". Ultimately, poor history makes poor propaganda, and propaganda in any case is a shabby use to put something as precious as a nation's history. This book is essential reading for people with an interest in Ireland. (I also recommend strongly the same author's earlier "Modern Ireland 1600-1972".)

This book ought to be on the shelf of anyone with an interest in Irish history. Foster has done an excellent job at making his points about the various 'uses' that history in Ireland has been employed for. From downright propaganda to 'memoirs' masquerading as vague truths he unleashes the power of clear thinking and valid sources. For so long Irish history has been treated as 'story' and this book attempts and succeeds in telling the difference. It is so refreshing to see something sensible in print! It is a great source book or reference and could also be read by delving into the different subjects in the index. I would recommend this for all who are involved in getting to know the real history of Ireland and the Irish and how some Irish 'history' came to be written in the first place.

Porter's tongue-in-cheek treatment of the marketing of Ireland is refreshing after an avalanche of Irish hype came from unscrupulous little publishers.The Disneynification of Ireland ,apparently propelled by American ad agencies for the Irish Tourist Board,is treated by Porter correctly as hype to snare innocent Irish-Americans.Porter gets almost every hilarious Irish twist of recent decades in this collection of exposes, including the hilarious, almost unbelievable marketing of the potato famine in Disney-like theme parks.Unfortunately, he closed his collection of revionist chapters without pointing to the biggest Irish hype of all -the invention and collapse of " The Celtic Tiger", based on runaway inflation and a Dublin stock market bubble that aped the rise and fall of America's Nasdaq.Foster's book is a must if you wish a clearer view of the Irish .

excellent book! What Jan Peczkis goes to great detail to deny is really a sad joke because we have WITNESS TESTIMONIES from the pogrom. IN FACT, it was not confined to Kielce! Poles rioted all over Poland, including Lodz where they tried to murder my grandfather in the melee. This was sadly not the first instance if a blood libel that resulted in a pogrom. Jews lived in fear of their lives in Poland BEFORE WORLD WAR TWO. During the war, more Poles informed on Jews to the Germans and Polish police who turned them over to the Germans, than instances of the rightteous who indeed saved thousands of Jews...usually when it involvd converting an adorable Jewish baby to Christianity. I can talk to PECZKIS about it til he will be as red as borscht in the face. In fact, if you want a perfect example of Polish anti-Semitism, go and try to get back ANY PERSONAL POSSESSIONS that a person you know has that belong to your family in Poland. You have a greater chance of getting struck by lighting (literally) than getting it back for ANY PRICE! That IS anti-Semitism. Believe me, my life would be made a lot easier, if this was not the case. Sadly, it is. My hope is that more Poles will come forward to be kinder to Jews who want to reclaim their heritage.

This review updates an earlier one, and refers to the 1998 paperback edition. This latter edition contains several articles not found in the original hardback edition. The authors trace many mischaracterizations of Polish-Jewish history in the American press. The informed reader can appreciate how little has changed since then. For example, the recent publications of NEIGHBORS and FEAR by Jan T. Gross have resurrected many old Polonophobic canards that should have been, if nowhere else, laid to rest by this 1998 edition.

There is an extensive expose of the so-called Kielce Pogrom--A Soviet-staged event (pp. 403-422). The Soviets wanted to discredit a free Poland in the eyes of the west, and to terrorize the remaining Jews into fleeing to Palestine. Other anti-Jewish actions in Hungary and Czechoslovakia got little press in the west, probably because anti-Communism had been relatively weak in those countries.

In Kielce, the tale of the blood libel had been spread by agent provocateurs (p. 414). The Jews were shot by Communist police, and club-wielding fake "steel workers" also took their toll. Other Communist police involved in the so-called pogrom had been dressed as goons or priests. There is the fantastic myth of the 15,000 to 75,000 cheering Polish onlookers (p. 406), a myth recently repeated by Gross in his FEAR. The actual number of Polish onlookers, most of whom were probably motivated by curiosity, didn't ever exceed several hundred at its peak.

After the "pogrom", inconvenient eyewitnesses met their deaths. The Kielce files themselves were burned in November 1989, shortly before the Communists left power.

Pogonowski makes clear that the Communist anti-Jewish policies of 1968 were not Polish. They were plainly Soviet-dictated (pp. 30-31).

The atlas itself is chock-full of useful information. The reader soon learns that, despite the frictions and mutual prejudices which sometimes developed between Poles and Jews, Poland was historically one of the most tolerant nations in the world for Jews. If the fact that 80% of the world's Jews, at one time, made their home in Poland does not prove this fact, then what does? This book makes it clear that Poland had been centuries ahead of others in terms of human rights and religious tolerance.

Despite the frictions and mutual prejudices which sometimes developed between Poles and Jews, the fact remains that Poland was historically one of the most tolerant nations in the world for Jews. If the fact that 80% of the world's Jews, at one time, made their home in Poland does not prove this fact, then what does? This book makes it clear that Poland had been centuries ahead of others in terms of human rights and religious tolerance.

In recent years, there has been a great deal of emphasis on Polish anti-Semitism. This is despite the fact that anti-Semitism existed virtually everywhere, and in Poland never approached the level which Jews encounted in many other European nations. Moreover, the positive aspects of Polish-Jewish relationships have been virtually ignored. Pogonowski's excellent book does much to show, in fact, how Jewish communities flourished in Poland.

Iwo Pogonowski's book is a veritable mine of information about Polish-Jewish relations since the Middle Ages. This subject has been badly distorted in the English-language publications, mostly for reasons that have nothing to do either with history or honesty. "Jews in Poland" needs to be read slowly, in small doses, with frequent returns because sometimes a very important fact is hidden in a footnote or some such obscure place. This volume looks and reads like a scrapbook, and the impression is reinforced by its graphic aspect.

"Jews in Poland" is full of very instructional maps and diagrams, it also carries a good selection of illustrations (although their quality is rather so-so). All in all, a book that stands head and shoulders over any other treatment of Jewish-Polish history in the English language.

Some reviewers have commented that Robert E. Conot's book, Justice at Nuremberg, doesn't add any new knowledge or insights into the Nuremberg Trials. This may be true, but why did Conot write this book-what was his purpose? In the introduction Robert himself says why he wrote this book: "Although the record has furnished a documentary bonanza for histories of the Third Reich, there has been an absence of knowledge and comprehension of the trial itself." (Conot x) Conot was concerned that not many people knew very much about such an important historical event. He wanted to write an easy to read book that would interest people in the Nuremberg Trial-and of course, make sure that "history was written true." (Conot xiii) Many people have misconceptions about the trial; the trial is often times seen as a sham trial and Conot wanted to clear up this perception. Indeed, the very name of his book, Justice at Nuremberg, suggests his belief that the trial was in fact fair, from the outset. Conot presents his case convincingly as the lawyers did at Nuremberg, with the final verdict being Justice at Nuremberg.

Some have complained that Conot's jumping around between the trial and what he believed were contextual actions confuses the reader, making it difficult to understand his reasoning. It is true that his presentation style is hard to understand at times, but this is probably more to do with the complexities of the Nuremberg Trial and the historical and political influences that Conot believed affected the trial. The complexities, therefore, can be hard to follow and confusing. In order to understand what happened at Nuremberg one has to understand what happened in Germany when Hitler came to power; all these events are confusing but without understanding them it would be pointless to even look at the Nuremberg Trial. The reason for this is simple: the reader would see what the defense and prosecution were saying; one side saying that the defendants were innocent, the other claiming to have documents and witnesses which show the defendants culpable for many atrocities. How would the reader know who was telling the truth? The past is being studied, and because of that there should be an explanation of the events leading up to the trial.

Robert Conot did a good job putting the trial into its historical context. While readers who have studied Nazi Germany for quite some time would be annoyed at having to read about things they already knew about, this book is good for people who have not studied Nazi Germany in depth. Robert Conot gives background information on the defendants-there are many interesting tidbits that he provides. Two examples that come to mind are the defendants Goering and Hess. Conot provides some interesting information about how when Goering was little he had to write an essay about a notable German and he chose to write about Epenstein. (Conot 41) Immediately after turning in his essay he was taken in to the principal's office and asked why he wrote about a Jew instead of a notable German. He was punished by having to write "I will not write essays in praise of Jews" on the blackboard one hundred times and by having to wear a sign around his neck saying "My godfather is a Jew." (Conot 41) Hess, a very strange man, thought that the Jews were controlling people with hypnotic powers. (Conot 47) He stabbed himself with a knife one time and then claimed that the Jews used magic to place the knife in his hands in order to tempt him (Conot 47) The kind of background information that Conot provides may seem like trivial facts or gossip to some, but these things are important because the reader gains insight into the lives of the defendants; what made them tick.

The author also does a good job of describing the motivations for the trial. The Nazi party, under the leadership of Hitler started a war that killed millions of people-not only soldiers on the battlefield, but noncombatants as well; but millions of civilians murdered. These civilians died in horrible ways: they were beaten to death, gassed, starved to death, essentially boiled with quick lye, worked to death, and used in horrific experiments. What the Nazis did was so unspeakably evil that it had to be addressed. As Jackson said in his opening statement, "The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their repeating." (Conot 105) However, if after the war, all the Nazis were lined up and shot, what lessons would the world learn? As Bernays said, "Not to try these beasts would be to miss the educational and therapeutic opportunity of our generation." (Conot 11) Furthermore, what would people today think of these actions? Would they believe that we were the same as the Nazis for not giving them a trial? The trial was important; the trial would show the world not only that this was not "Victor's Justice" but how evil the Nazis were and that such actions would not be tolerated in the future.

After reading this book one gets the impression that while this trial appears not to have been completely fair, it was far from a sham trial or "victor's justice." The biggest problem had to do with the fact that a Russian judge was presiding over the trial. This is a problem because the Judge's actions were essentially dictated from Moscow. Indeed, for every defendant, the Russian Judge tried to have the death penalty enacted. Furthermore, there was a very embarrassing incident: during a party someone raised his glass and toasted to the speedy trial and execution of the defendants-a toast all judges partook of. (Conot 92). This may be the definitive proof for some that the trial was nothing more than "victor's justice." To assume this though, is to ignore the rest of the facts-this judgment of the trial is too hasty. If the trial was just a sham then why was it that some of the defendants were acquitted? The actual results of the trial do not support the perception that this trial was rigged given the defendants did not all receive the death sentence. Many were hanged, but some were given various prison sentences, and of course, some were acquitted. Schacht, Fritzsche, and Papen were acquitted. Schirach, Neurath, Speer, Raeder, Hess, Funk, and Doenitz avoided the death penalty receiving varying sentences of time in prison.

Furthermore, there is other evidence provided by Robert Conot which shows that the trial was not a sham. First of all, the very fact that the defendants could even give their version of the story is certainly more than one would expect from a sham trial. Second, the defendants actually did have a chance to best the prosecutors in the verbal battle for their lives. Goering was an intelligent man and he outwitted Jackson. "Time and again it was Goering who caught Jackson in error, rather than Jackson who trapped Goering in lies." (Conot 337) Third, the judges didn't always rule against the Nazi defense lawyers. An important development during Goering's defense was that the defense tried to get the right to submit documents into evidence, and although Jackson (prosecutor) tried to prevent this from happening, the judges ruled that the defense should have the same rights as the prosecution in submitting documents. (Conot 346) Another interesting example of the Judges siding with justice instead of the prosecution or the defense was when the defense complained that they were not getting translations of all the documents that the prosecution was introducing as evidence. (Conot 146) When the prosecution was asked why this was the case it was discovered that the prosecution was sending tons of translations to the media, but not to the defense attorneys. (Conot 147) "...the prosecution seemed more interested in trying the case in the press than in furnishing the defense with copies of its evidence." (Conot 147) The judges ruled that copies of the evidence were to be given to the defense before they were given to the press, as the defense obviously needed them more. This is certainly a ruling that one would expect in a fair trial.

Just think, what is usually the purpose of a sham trial? In this case the purpose of having a sham trial would be to punish the Germans for what happened during World War II, right? If the purpose was to punish the Germans, then why weren't all the defendants executed? It makes no sense to claim that this was "victor's justice" when the victors gave a fair trial. The Nuremburg Trial had its problems-it was by no means perfect. However, to say that this trial was "Victor's Justice" is to show an ignorance of the facts. Not only were many people involved in the trial motivated to make it fair, the very fact that not all of the defendants were hanged is proof enough that the trial was fair.

Conot successfully presented his case. He wrote a highly readable account of the Nuremberg Trial that presents the trial, characters and influences in an easily accessible format to the public. More importantly, however, was that history was written true, and proving Conot's thesis that there was Justice at Nuremberg. Robert Conot hoped to interest a large audience in the Nuremberg Trial in the hope that the history surrounding this trial would not be repeated as atrocities of the future. Justice at Nuremberg captures the horrific atrocities committed during the period leading up to and including World War II, the people behind them, the influencing factors that preceded them, and the justice meted out to the perpetrators. Justice that the victims of World War II never received. Justice that lives up to the adage, "two wrongs don't make a right." Justice that says "never again."

The book is written by a Psychologist who was involved in the Nuremberg trials including testing the main defendants. I found his insites very interesting and combined with other books about the trials was a superb addition in understanding what when on.

For anyone who wants to know about the Nuremberg Trials, you must read this book. Canot gives us a real deal of the trial. He gives us an in to the processes of how the Trial worked and how the Justices felt. He tells the History of the Tiral as if you were right there. And that is a trait that not every book has. As an active reader of the Nuremberg Trials, I whole heartedly suggest and push for the reading of this book, in orfer to fully understand the true meaning of this gret event.

For those who enjoyed TNT's Nuremburg movie and would like to develop a more complete understanding of the trial, "Justice at Nuremburg" is for you. Author Robert Conot does a lot more than just recount the trial of the leading Nazis. He gives a full portrayal of their crimes and details their actions while they were in allied custody both before and during the trial. Conot also gives the background on the leading allied prosecutors and judges as well as detailing the increasing Cold War friction that surrounded the trial. The Nuremburg trial set the standard for international war crimes tribunals as we know them today. Many precedents were established that are still with us. But it is the fascinating (and revolting) stories of the defendant's themselves that make this book so compelling.

I can recommend this book to anyone wanting a basic knowledge of the Nuremberg trial and the atrocities that it exposed. My only complaint is that the book often drifts from the subject of the trial itself to general Nazi and Holocaust history, which is fine unless you've already read a good deal about these subjects in other books. One more issue is that Conot's mini-biography of Hitler, found at the end of the book, relies too much on speculation about the cause of Hitler's madness. (Can the root of Hitler's madness really be reduced to the view that he might have had syphilis?) Still, Conot manages to find some nuggets of information that I have not seen elsewhere, and when he does stay close to the trial it makes for highly intriguing reading.

In 1846, the rough beauty of County Clare is 17-year-old Margaret Meehan's whole world -- and it is nearly perfect. Margaret's family is well and thriving, farming Ireland's staple crop. She expects to marry handsome Tom Riordan, raise their children, and live in a cottage across the lane from her best friend, Kitty Dooley. Margaret has found her calling and is apprenticed to the old keener Nuala Lynch. Together they keen for the dead, waling the grief and pain of the bereaved in hopes of healing their sorrow. Margaret's life is full of hope and purpose. Then the potato blight returns. Harvests rot overnight, people are dying, Ireland is dying. Margaret finds that she cannot keen for an entire country. Leaving her decimated family, the tragic Kitty, and the death of her dreams, Margaret flees with her husband (who has become a wanted man) to America. There she finds the heart and soul of Ireland in the community of Irish immigrants, as well as her destiny as the voice of a keener. Author Maura Shaw writes a superbly chronicled story with detailed attention to historical accuracy and background. The Keeners is a deftly woven tale populated with memorably drawn characters and an engaging drama that grips the readers total attention from beginning to end. Highly recommended reading.

In 1846 County Clare, Ireland, seventeen-year-old Margaret Meehan thinks the world is terrific as her family farm has always done well growing potatoes and she anticipates marrying Tom Riordan. Adding to her belief that all is right in her orbit is that she is also apprenticed to the elderly keener Nuala Lynch as they provide solace to those grieving the loss of a loved one.

However, her idyllic life collapses as the potato famine begins with people dying throughout the devastated country. Unable to cope with so much death and demand on the keeners and with her spouse condemned as a criminal, Margaret and Tom flee to Troy, New York, where many Irish have immigrated to start anew. Here Margaret finds her expatriate countrymen in need of a Keener, but can she use her gift after watching her family, friends, and nation die?

THE KEENERS is a superb historical tale that brings to life the blight of the Irish when the crops failed in 1846 and many fled to a new world to begin again. The key to Maura D. Shaw's tale is the historical perspective that comes across with depth whether Margaret struggles with the nightmare of Ireland or the new optimistic beginnings in Troy. Margaret is a terrific center holding the novel together as she never forgets her roots, but wonders if she can return to keening after being overwhelmed with so much death as she suffers from a form of battle fatigue syndrome yet knows she is needed. This is a fabulous mid nineteenth century story that historical fans will cherish.

Harriet Klausner

Seventeen-year-old Margaret Meehan can only reminisce about the contented and peaceful life of her childhood in County Clare. But it is 1846 and now she must cope with the harsh realities of the Irish Famine. While potato crops turn to blighted foul slush in the fields, Margaret studies the vocation of being a keener - one who takes on the burden of grieving for the dead - under the tutelage of the aged Nuala Lynch. Margaret learns her duties quickly. It seems death has touched each family, some several times, in her once idyllic home in Ireland.

There is a bright spot in Margaret's life, however. She knows she will have a future with the handsome Tom Riordan. But the devastation surrounding the two leaves no one untouched and Tom is declared a wanted criminal. Their only escape from the horrific life they are experiencing is to take a ship to America and leave their beloved Ireland behind. The voyage to the land of promise is hellish, but once they reach Troy, New York, things start looking brighter.

Well-researched facts, likeable characters and a compelling story are told between the covers of The Keeners. Competently written, Shaw writes a moving story that takes the reader through the heartaches and joys and the decay and resurrection experienced by the Irish during a time of revolution and turmoil.

Maura D. Shaw gives readers a story rich in history and steeped in tradition in her new novel "The Keeners" from Medallion Press.

All is blooming in County Clare, Ireland in the spring of 1846, including seventeen-year-old Margaret Meehan. She is sure the heart of handsome rebel Tom Roidan is hers and he will soon take her hand. When not practicing the ancient art of the Keeners, singing and chanting songs of lament for the dead with Nuala Lynch, Margaret dreams and plans with her best friend, Kitty Dooley, of a cottage across the road from each other and their children playing in the lane.

But it is 1846, the year of the blight. The potato blight and famine will soon shatter her dreams. The devastation has her keening daily for friends, family, strangers, and her beloved County Clare.

Most of her family is gone. Kitty is a broken shell. Nuala has keened her last lament. Tom's Rebel activities have made him a wanted man. It's to America for Margaret Meehan. She flees with Tom to Troy New York. With a heart that keens for County Clare and a young girl's dreams, she will carve a new life in a strange land with the man she loves.

A gifted storyteller with a mastery of language writes a tightly paced story, and Maura D. Shaw is such a storyteller. Her knowledge of Ireland and its history, her empathy with a people she is connected to through her great grandmother, add a depth to this story that pulled me in to feel the hunger, pain, loss, fear, love, strength, and courage that take Margaret from the shores of Ireland to a new home and a new life. She captures the devastation of a land and its people through the eyes of characters that tug at the heartstrings and tie them into a forget-me-not bow. "The Keeners" is a bookshelf keeper. A book, a story, you will want to read again, from a talented author who respects her craft and cares about her readers and her subject.

This is was an amazing historical read that was both moving and entertaining. This story was epic in nature and truly a wonderful addition to the historical fiction genre.

One of the problems with historical fiction is that authors seem to be in such a hurry to tell their story that they only outline the historical significance and than move on to whatever story the plan to tell. Ms. Shaw is the exception to the rule. She has taken great care and paid attention to details when describing the trials and tribulations of the Irish during the potato famine that took place in 1846-47. She also took the same amount of care when she wrote about Margaret's new life in America working toward better working conditions and struggling in a new country where old customs have no place. As a result the reader has no problem seeing, smelling, hearing, and most importantly feels the pain and despair, and triumphs of our heroine Margaret Meehan Riordan. She is strong and never gives up. She buries both family and friends, and watches what is left of her precious Ireland starve and die. With her love Tom by her side she forges a new life for herself in America. Never loosing sight of who she is or where she came from.

This amazing read which left me both laughing and cheering. The reader will feel truly invested with Margaret and her Tommy and I can truly say I was sad when I came to the end and had to say goodbye. I hope that there is another story in the works of this amazing family. I highly recommend this read and suggest if you are a fan of a well-written historical novel look no further.

Official Reviewer for www.romancedesigns.com

Leonard Gross's well-researched and well-documented book about a few of the Jewish 'U-Boats' who survived in hiding in Hitler's 'Juden-Frei' Berlin is truly magnificent.
It reads like a thriller but every bit of it is true. I found it informative, well-written and very accessable, unlike similar works, (Such as 'Stella' by Peter Wyden) which, while also well-reseached and well-informed, were dry and hard to follow.
Less than 1% of the Jews that lived in Berlin before Hitler came into power were there after the fall of Berlin (some having escaped, most having been banished to the death camps), and the fact that Gross was able to get several of these survivor's stories is just incredible.
The characters were truly alive and I acutely felt every joy, every danger, every near capture and had to stop reading several times because it was all too real and terrifying, especially the horrifying concept that some turncoat Jews, thier own people, were hunting for them.
This is an unbelievably compelling piece of work that deserves to be read by everyone and I cannot recommend it strongly enough.

I bought this book a short time ago, and I started to read it the day I found it in my post box. It is a very captivating book about how 18 Jews survived in the very heart of Nazi Germany during World War. Some managed to keep their families somewhat intact, while others were the only survivor among their entire family.

They survived in different ways, but all had at least one person helping them. One of the things I liked the most with this book; was the very fact that it tells the stories of brave and good Germans who risked their lives in order to help fellow citizens. Despite the fact that they had had to live with Hitler's propaganda and terror for more than a decade, they still aimed to do their best. Even though many survivors and rescuers often were lucky, I was amazed about how clever they were and how they managed to stay alive.

On the front cover of the book Los Angeles Times is quoted to have written: "[Reads] like an Alfred Hitchcock thriller", and I agree with them. The book was very well written, and it was very hard to put it down. I found myself reading until I went to sleep, and next morning I managed to read another chapter before I went to work. I read the book in no time, and I was only sorry I had finished it. I wanted to keep on reading.
The big difference between this book and a Hitchcock thriller is of course that: "The Last Jews in Berlin" is not fiction.

The only thing that I missed was photos of the people I read about. Still, the book is so good I find it really deserves five stars

Gross is an exemplary writer, letting this story unfold through a spare, unembroidered narration of the harrowing events that affected the lives of a half-dozen different Jews. In this case, reality doesn't need any authorial florishes to create suspense and terror, and Gross's restraint as a writer highlights his subjects and lets them tell their stories in a very personal way. More than just a war history, this is an examination of the human spirit under seige.

This is one of my favorite books, not only because of the wonderful narrative, compelling characters, and inspiring stories, but because of the variety of circumstances these Jews found themselves in. Some went into hiding, some passed themselves off as Gentiles, some collaborated with the resistance, and all managed to survive. Some had no help and were separated from loved ones, some managed to keep their families somewhat intact. Their struggles, defeats, and victories are inspiring and a testament to the nature of the human spirit.
A small note: the stories are not told sequentially, and it may be easier the first time to skip chapters and read each person's tale completely, otherwise it becomes a tad overwhelming to keep track of so many characters.

Very worthwhile book. It was fascinating because it dealt with ordinary people in probably the most extraordinary circumstances. These multiple tales of survival explore what it took for persons who could easily be our friends, our neighbors, our familiy, to heroically survive in the midst of their hometown enemies while undergoing the privations of war. Substantively an excellent book.

I would caution you, however, that the tales are presented in a disjointed fashion, and I would recommend taking notes at the beginning on who's who in order to keep up with the players.

The last of his name, says Charles McGlinchey, who, old and heirless, revisits his life with a local schoolmaster. So long as someone reads his memoirs though, McGlinchey ensures the family name will endure. His book reads with fireside lyricism and so effectively captures a man and his times. It is unique not in subject but in the breadth of history and in the narrator's ease of storytelling. In just over 100 pages, McGlinchey transports us to a misty, nearly forgotten Irish past that, though shadowed beneath modernity, lives in the recess of his mind. He reminisces on all matters, with one memory unfolding into several more and those into yet more. Among the varied subjects, he recollects his family and home life, his job as a weaver, American emigration, local legends, popular spells and cures, and favorite pastimes. It is the arresting quality of local life in a small Irish community that makes this book such an enjoyable one. McGlinchey's ability to reach back generations and decades and to extract from them histories and individual stories not only astounds but more importantly it reveals an intimate portrait that should not be so soon forgotten.

I am in the early stages of writing a book about life in County Donegal during the 19th century. This book is one of a few primary sources that describe what life was like for the people in this county.

The book is superbly produced-- from the book design to its typefaces, it's beautifully executed. Considering how this material was obtained, the book is well edited. To me reading the book is like sitting around a turf fire in Ireland, listening to a very old man lovingly describe a time that was long since past. He mentions many people and places, mostly within the parish of Inishowen. One thing I would have liked to see is an index. Without an index it's difficult to determine if an ancestor is mentioned in the book.

The book contains many Irish words and common phrases that were in use at the time. The book also contains songs and poems in Irish (with English translations) that perhaps are not recorded anywhere else. Much of what he recounts was part of the Oral Tradition of the countryside.

In some ways reading this book brought sadness to my heart. My great-grandparents were born in Donegal around 1820. This book describes some of the hardships that they had to endure. It chronicles a way of life, and a people that are no more. McGlinchey speaks to this regarding the Irish language, "Down to my young days there was nothing spoken in this parish at fair or chapel or gathering of any kind but Irish.... The English language came in greatly in my own time and in the one generation Irish went away like the snow off the ditches."

Charles McGlinchey's book is wonderful. It manages to convey a sense of the cultural wealth which rural Ireland possessed until so recently. He himself fitted very much into the 'Seanachai' tradition, and we should be thankful that some of his knowledge has been preserved. The delightful thing about the book is the simplicity of the material.

This book was very interesting. It is a closely edited description of an old man's life in a remote rural area of Ireland in the first half of the century. He tells a few stories from his father's and grandfather's days but mostly describes what life was like during his life. The book was first published in the 50's, I think. Without referring directly at all to the major events of the day, we get a look at the changes that were underlying society in his time. From the story about his grandfather being "pressed" to serve in the British Navy during the Napoleonic wars on, I was hooked. The Kirkus reviews are misleading, though. They make it sound like the man was telling fairy tales instead of fairly straightforwardly recounting his life, which involved a fair amount of superstition.

This little book is a fascinating read and a must have for anyone with Irish ancestry. It was narrated by Charles MacGlinchey, whose family moved from the Finn Valley in Donegal to the Inishowen Peninsula and settled in Clonmany parish, where Charles McGlinchey was the last of his family, hence the title of the book. It's chock full of Donegal folklore, including tales of poteen stills, revenue men, men on their banishment, the famine, immigrants to America, landlords and tenants, kidnapped women, hedge schools and fighting sticks. Charles McGlinchey was born in 1861 and died in 1954. His life covered the period when most of our Irish ancestors were crossing the Atlantic in small ships with nothing but the clothes on their backs and a small cask of oaten bread for nourishment.
Don't look for a lot of genealogical information in the book. There is a mention here and there of a handful of families a fortunate few may be able to connect with; but on the whole this book is a living, breathing picture of life in Donegal when almost every Donegal man still spoke and read Irish as his native tongue and the Irish language had yet to melt away under the onslaught of English like the snow on a river bank, to use McGlinchey's phrase.
There are tales in the book of Donegal farmwives walking the thirty miles from Clonmany parish to the market in Derry and back again in time to do more chores before nightfall; of the oldtimers sitting with their backs to the fire at night sharing the ancient exploits of Finn and Cuchulain; of a rapacious Scottish landlord named McNeill from whom no comely lass in the parish was safe; of an Irish schoolmaster overly fond of the drink and of his eager young Latin hedgerow scholars; of a sodden Irish landowner who drank away his inheritance at the local pub; and of the great yearly fair at Pollan, a festive event attended by the entire community with occasional tragic consequences for the unlucky.
Books were almost unknown to the common man in Donegal. The few books McGlinchey mentions were mainly religious tracts, in Irish and Latin. He mentions offhandedly that a man of his acquaintance owned a book by someone named Aristotle. Tragicallly he also relates that many of the old Irish manuscripts were burned to prevent the spreading of disease in the community. Even if they had had books its doubtful anyone could have spent much time reading them. The cabins were dark at night and if anyone entered the cabin after dark the fire had to be stirred to raise enough light to see who it was. Homemade candles flickered in the windows on religious holidays.
Contrary to common misconception, the Irish did not just subsist on potatoes. The farmers made their own oaten and flour bread, which they ate with butter and washed down with fresh milk. They supplemented their diets with what they called "kitchen", which included everything from fresh fish to watercress from the ocean strands. Each family had a measure of corn for the winter, and most had at least a cow, perhaps a pig and a few chickens, although eggs were a cash crop reserved for the market at Derry. Red meat, as we know it today, was a rarity in their diet. Every farm had its rack of potatoes in the fields. The plows were wooden and drawn by horses. McGlinchey mentions a local farmer, one of whose horses took sick one day, and he took its place in the harness pulling the plow alongside the remaining horse for the rest of the day.
The famine did not seem to affect Donegal nearly as badly as it did much of the rest of Ireland. According to McGlinchey, an earlier famine in 1817 was much more devastating. It's not clear whether this condition pertained to Clonmay parish alone, or whether most of Donegal escaped relatively unscathed. But fly off to America nonetheless did the sons and daughters of Donegal and Inishowen, leaving behind forever the two-roomed thatched roofed cabins and the village fairs of their youth. Some of the more primitive living conditions common elsewhere in Ireland did not seem to prevail in Donegal. Sod cabins were almost unknown, except for temporary accommodations in the summer mountain pastures. Nearly every family had a cabin of stone, McGlinchey says, with lime covered walls, although rarely whitewashed, and hard clay or stone flagged floors. Some cabins even had windows. The fireplaces in early years lacked flues and the pall of smoke was ever present.
McGlinchey didn't write this book - he narrated it to a local schoolmaster when over ninety year's old. His often rambling text was edited by Brian Friel, and first published in manuscript form in 1986 in Belfast. The current edition is published by J.S. Sanders and Company, of Nashville, Tennessee.
I was especially struck by the fact that McGlinchey mentioned that the Donegal folk gave their farm animals, mainly cattle, pet names such as Starry and Missy. In our family we have a copy of the will for our immigrant Donegal ancestor, in which all of the family's cattle were so named. The twig, they say, does not fall far from the tree, and if you'd like to really get a feel for the world in which your Irish ancestors lived, then buy a copy of this book.
You won't regret it.

Rosenstock's classic black and white images evoke the spirit and power of the Irish landscape. The photographs are exquisitely reproduced, elegantly presented and then, wisely, left to speak for themselves. Rosenstock's artistic vision and his love of Ireland are clearly reflected in this beautifully designed volume. A must have for connoisseurs of landscape photography and lovers of Eire.

A beautiful art book containing 25 black and white photographs of Ireland. Anyone who loves landscapes, photography, or the rugged beauty of Ireland will appreciate the images and artistry shown in this volume. The photographic reproductions are of the highest quality and reveal the subtle details and tonal gradations present in the photographs. Mr. Rosenstock's statement at the beginning of the book is a wonderful introduction to the power and mystery of the light of Ireland. In short, it is illuminating. The Light of Ireland is a lovely book that invites the viewer to look at it again and again.

Iam thrilled to own this fabulous book; it is a work of art. I feel such a connection to these spectacular images. The reproductions of the photographs are wonderful. The simplicity of the silvery gray book jacket enhances the volume. I just love having this book. The Light of Ireland is a complete treasure!

This book is a MUST for the serious collector of photography. The 25 finely crafted images on the highest quality paper focus on Mr. Rosenstock's unique perspective of Ireland's mysterious landscape. Each page is a calming meditation. The people of Ireland ,among them notables, are already singing the praises of this book.

The Light of Ireland is a portfolio of twenty-five black and white photographs made in the west of Ireland over a period of nearly thirty years. Rosenstock's stunning images, rich in detail and range of tones, are exquisitely reproduced in a handsome volume in which the binding and typography contribute to its overall artistry. The few words of introduction are also carefully chosen; permitting the eloquent voice of the visual to command the attention of the reader.

Some people embroider their family trees on samplers, others create momentos and books for the family. Fortunately Di Robilant went further than this, making his great-great-great-great grandmother a research subject and having Knopf publish it for the general market. This ancestor was witness to and active in a critical time in the life of Venice and through her story we get an idea as to how the nobility coped during the Napoleonic years.

We are introduced to Lucia when she is 15 and her father is involved in extended and stressful marriage negotiations. At this time the Venetian elite are leading la dolce vita. Soon, Venetians and their republic will be jolted into new and uncharted territory.

Through the Mommo and Mocenigo families we see how the nobility adapted. Many fled. Others chose to work with the French, the Austrians, the French again and again the Austrians. Marriage and family scenes are just as striking as those of the famous events.

Lucia is resiliant. From an entralled young bride, she becomes realistic about her marriage that will only end when death due them part. There is infidelity, child birth and death, long separations, primitive medicine, fine entertaining, perilous travel and fiscal constraint.

Lucia learns to set up and manage households and farmsteads and to "wait" on a Princess who is half her age. Despite the many problems of her son and his education, she is a successful parent. She gets herself recognized in the Austrian court, educates herself in Paris, becomes a friend of Napoleon's Josephine, manages the family assets and has famous tenents in Venice. This woman is amazing for any age, but for her time, totally impressive.

There are two problems with the book, neither serious enough to take away stars. There are two maps but others are needed, one showing the various estates and others showing the travel routes to Vienna and Paris. The other problem may not be addressable. Lucia, while running what seems to be a large farmstead, refurbishes the main house. Then she raises, for sale, a small number of animals (are there not a lot of other animals on this farm?). Similarly, as a lady in waiting she raised two head of cattle. The economics/practicality of this husbandry does't compute for me.

What is wonderful about this book is that it makes history alive. It shows how larger events effect people's lives. The writer draws portaits of people whom we tend to care about and of the turmoil of Europe at the time.

I just finished reading this sequel to A Venetian Affair. Lucia is quite different from Giustiniana (the main character in the previous book) but this true story leaves you with the same mixture of fascination and melancholy. Unlike Giustiniana, Lucia immediately marries her first love, Alvise, and despite also being the protagonist of a scandal, her life is not as thrilling as Giustiniana's. Like Giustiniana, Lucia lives first hand through the European aristocracy, from Venice to Vienna and to Paris. But while in A Venetian Affair the source of dismay is the missed happy ending for Giustiniana and Memmo (her lover), in Lucia it's another demise that characterizes the book: the fall of her beloved Venice.
Through her detailed correspondence to her sister we learn of Alvise and Lucia's efforts to keep their status once orphans of the Most Serene Republic. This is what I believe defines this book. It's the story of a power couple who in their prime loses their motherland, and that helplessly witness a millennium of history being crushed between the French and Austrian power struggle. Alvise and Lucia, they really try. When Napoleon has the upper hand they get back on their feet and are actively involved in being part of the new world order. But as soon as the Austrians take control they have to start from square one, and we find Lucia mingling with the Viennese aristocracy while living in the Hasburgic capital. But then Napoleon is back, and off to Paris they go. These are not merely social ladder moves. There are estates to save, and the underlying theme is the slow but inevitable decadence due to unfortunate geopolitical circumstances that this otherwise very capable and visionary couple is subject to. Of course the book is packed with affairs and loaded with illegitimate children, but the force of this book is its historical value. It's the first hand account of how a historical European nation was phagocytized and of why its resurgence has been suffocated in the following decades.

Let's start with the lovely cover image: thanks to the research behind Lucia, this previously unknown work by the widely acclaimed Swiss painter, Angelica Kauffmann, came to light. And thanks to the owner's permission, its appearance on the cover allows us all to enjoy it. This is our first meeting with the blossoming young Lucia. Her glowing complexion, full bosom and that chestnut tendril that curls downward along her neck bespeak an innocent yet eager anticipation of life's sweetnesses. But this is not a love story. Lucia's life is much larger than her courtship and marriage with Alvise Mocenigo, and emphatically disproves what we think of as the bounds for a woman then.
From the start, Lucia's story shows her caught in the middle of things, from local power struggles in Venice to empires rising and falling and the devastating wars they brought about. Political events determine one challenge after another for her, as daughter, fiancée, wife, mother, woman on her own.
Accounts of political moves, diplomatic dealings, warfare strategy might not seem the stuff of a woman's life story, and yet they make perfect sense here, are fundamental, illuminating and intriguing. As these combine with finely wrought details of the everyday, the past truly comes to life. Di Robilant's style, as in A Venetian Affair, draws the reader in. When you read Lucia, you feel welcome and respected. And at once you are involved.
Di Robilant works with some very special material, unearthed not only among family papers but also in archives around Europe. In the end, he did not write the story exactly as he had set out to, for his research uncovered unexpected turns in what he knew as his family's history. He never makes an issue of this, but leaves it tacitly to his readers to imagine what it must be like to see a family legacy twisted into a different shape and to discover fundamental family ties you never knew existed. Di Robilant set out to bond with his past, which in the end he did, but not with the past as he knew it when he set out.
I highly recommend this book to readers with a passion for Venice, the Napoleonic years and memoirs about women who rise to unexpected challenges; to readers curious to have an insider view of life at court (Paris, Vienna, Milan) in the nineteenth century or a landlady's perspective on the scandalously libertine Lord Byron; to readers simply fond of books where biography and history elegantly merge with great merit to both genres.

Lucia: A Venetian Life in the Age of Napoleon begins where Andrea Di Robilant's A Venetian Affair left off. Lucia Mocenigo was the eldest daughter of Andrea Memmo, and she married at seventeen into one of the best-known patrician families in Venice. When the Republic fell in 1797 to Napoleon, Lucia went to Vienna, where she became friends with Josephine Bonaparte. Later, Lucia moved back to Venice, where she became Byron's landlord. She died in the 1850s, when she was in her 80s.

Lucia is a compelling look into the life of an intriguing woman. She was at the heart of European political change, as her letters to her husband and sister show. What Di Robilant does successfully in this book, as he did in A Venetian Affair, is bring the event s and people to life. Everything Lucia, her husband Alvise, and her son Alvisetto, do is documented here with precision. Sometimes with too much precision: when her son was a teenager, Lucia obsessively worried over his progress in school. But in all, Lucia was an impressive woman who rose to the challenges she faced with courage.

In this book Venice at the end of the eighteenth century comes to life. Lucia was only a young girl when she returned to her native city from Rome, where her father was Venetian Ambassador, to be married to a much older man. She lived in many of the great courts of Europe, travelled extensively, witnessed the fall of the Venetian Republic to Napoleon, and as an impecunious widow was the landlady who rented out her fabulous family palazzo to no other than Lord Byron. It was in the attic of Palazzo Mocenigo on the Grand Canal that her correspondence, recounting every minute detail of her long and fascinating life, was preserved and handed down through the generations until it came into the hands of the author, who is her descendant. A wonderful book. Highly recommended.