Ireland Books

M. Steven Fish hat Neuland beschritten, indem er erstmals die eigenartige Entwicklung russischer unabhängiger sozialer und politischer Gruppierungen in der Sowjetunion unter Gorbatschow in eine komparatistische Rahmentheorie eingebettet hat. Die Enstehung einer unabhängigen Zivil- und politischen Gesellschaft in Rußland ist zuvor schon zahlreich dokumentiert und beschrieben worden. Explizite und umfassende Erklärungsschemata für die zunächst stürmische Parteiengenese von ca. 1989 bis 1991, allerdings später immer deutlicher werdendere Fragilität dieser neuen politischen Landschaft sind bisher jedoch kaum vorgelegt worden. Zur Begründung der spektakulären organisatorischen Ineffektivität, programmatischen Abgehobenheit und ideologischen Haarspalterei der vielen neuen russischen Parteien der frühen 1990er sind bislang wenig mehr als fragwürdige Spekulationen über den unmündigen Nationalcharakter der Russen oder über die Auslöschung ihrer politischen Kultur durch das bis zuletzt "totalitäre" Regime hervorgebracht worden. Fish liefert hier ein wesentlich differenzierteres Bild und schildert mit viel Empathie und theoretischer Finesse, warum die erste Welle der Parteineugründungen von 1988 bis 1991 zum Scheitern verurteilt war.
Zwei wohldurchdachte Argumente stechen aus Fishs Begründung heraus. Erstens weist er darauf hin, daß die sogenannten "Neformaly" (wörtlich: Informellen) - also die eigentlich verbotenen, aber nichtsdestostrotz geduldeten neuen politisch und sozialen Gruppen - der zweiten Hälfte der 1980er und die neuen Parteien der frühen 1990er im Prozeß ihrer grundsätzlichen Identitätsfindung und politischen Selbstverortung nur beschränkt auf tradierte Handlungs- und Denkmuster, wie etwa auf den Hintergrund einer Dissidentenbewegung, zurückgreifen konnten. Anders als in den Ländern Ostmitteleuropas, spielten Dissidentennetzwerke und andere alternative nichtstaatliche Institutionen nur eine beschränkte Rolle im politischen Leben der UdSSR vor 1985. Die sich selbst oft explizit als "Parteien" bezeichnenden neuen Gruppierungen mußten somit bei der Formulierung ihrer politischen Ziele, Programmatik und Rolle im gesellschaftlichen Leben des Landes tatsächlich bei Null - "from scratch" - anfangen. Damit war ihr Reifungsprozeß in gewisser Hinsicht demjenigen der neuen, ebenfalls traditionslosen und lange organisatorisch ineffektiven Grünen Parteien Westeuropas der 1970er-1980er in mancher Hinsicht ähnlich. Die neuen russischen "Parteien" waren in ihrer Anfangsphase somit oft keine vollentwickelten Parteien im herkömmlichen Sinne, also pragmatische, um politische Macht ringende Organisationen. Sie sollten dies zunächst auch in erster Linie gar nicht sein. Vielmehr dienten die "Parteien" und ihre häufigen und langandauernden Kongresse und Konferenzen zunächst als Foren einer ideel-politischen Selbstvergewisserung der einzelnen Mitglieder, der kollektiven Identitätsbestimmung nach innen sowie der Abgrenzung gegenüber politischen Konkurrenten nach nach außen. Häufige Spaltungen und eine Aversion gegenüber Verschmelzung mit ideologisch nahestehenden anderen Gruppierungen waren die Folge. Prominentestes Beispiel war das vom Westen mit viel Bedauern beobachtete Scheitern der Vereinigung der Republikanischen und Sozial-Demokratischen Partei Rußlands. Obwohl beide Parteien ideologisch nahezu deckungsgleich waren und den offensichtlichen organisatorischen Nutzen des zunächst ernsthaft anvisierten Zusammengehens scheinbar verstanden, spielte die Wahrung der neugewonnenen Identität eine letztendlich größere Rolle als politische Pragmatik. Die aus der Demokratischen Plattform der KPdSU hervorgegangene Republikanische Partei wollte ihre neugewonnene Selbstidentifikation als progressive Avantegarde der intellektuellen Elite des Sowjetstaates nicht aufgeben. Die SDPR ihrerseits wollte ihren Status als alternative linke, explizit oppositionelle Partei ohne KPdSU-Vergangenheit nicht aufs Spiel setzen.
Die zweite Besonderheit der russischen Transformation war, daß eine breit angelegte Demokratisierung auf Landesebene noch vor dem Abschluß einer Reihe elementarer Liberalisierungsmaßnahmen einsetzte. Anders als in den Transitionen in Südeuropa, Lateinamerika oder Ostasien hatten politisch ambitionierte Persönlichkeiten in Rußland die Chance, sich insbesondere in Legislativorgane verschiedener Ebenen wählen zu lassen, noch bevor oder schon kurz nachdem sie die Möglichkeit erhalten hatten, sich politische zu organisieren. Nach der Wahl einiger der bekanntesten russischen Demokraten in die Volksdeputiertenkongresse sowie Regional- und Stadtsowjets beziehungsweise sogar in Exekutivorgane (Jelzin, Popow, Sobtschak) waren diese wichtigen Führer weitgehend für den Aufbau einer unabhängigen Zivilgesellschaft und Parteienlandschaft verloren. Und dies, obwohl die UdSSR und RSFSR Deputiertenkongresse und Sowjets zumindestest bis zum August 1991 in ihren Kompetenzen beschränkt waren und somit eher als Sprechtribüne für verschiedene politische Kräfte, denn als relevante Entscheidungsorgane fungierten.
Fishs fruchtbare Kombination einer Vielzahl von sowjetologischen und komparatistischen theoretischen Erkenntnissen mit gründlichen Vor-Ort-Recherchen und teilnehmenden Beobachtungen stellt zweifellos einen Meilenstein in der Aufarbeitung der neuen russischen Revolution am Ende dieses Jahrhunderts dar.

"Democracy from Scratch" explains, in theory and anecdote, why Russian politics were so confused around 1993. It is a special historical document -- and was quite an influence on me personally (in the form of a semester's worth of lectures) because Steven Fish was my senior thesis advisor.

The Mahmutcehajic's work is a perfect literature for anyone who ever wanted to know why Bosnian war happened, why Genocide, Concentration camps and enormous human suffering and misery occurred at the end of the twentieth century and what was this conflict all about. I am sure this essay will satisfy anyone who wants to discover more about Bosnian tragedy either professionally or out of curiosity. For historians an politicians Mahmutcehajic's work represents an excellent and detailed expertise, for history, politics or international affairs Students it is the richest resource available about War in Bosnia and for just a curious reader it is the best yet informer about one of the greatest human tragedies in this century.

The Mahmutcehajic's work is a perfect literature for anyone who ever wanted to know why Bosnian war happened, why Genocide, Concentration camps and enormous human suffering and misery occurred at the end of the twentieth century and what was this conflict all about. I am sure this essay will satisfy anyone who wants to discover more about Bosnian tragedy either professionally or out of curiosity. For historians an politicians Mahmutcehajic's work represents an excellent and detailed expertise, for history, politics or international affairs Students it is the richest resource available about War in Bosnia and for just a curious reader it is the best yet informer about one of the greatest human tragedies in this century.

This is a book that reads more like poetry than a novel. It's rich and sensual imagery allows the reader to become a participant observer of the events that are not always readily understood. Once you just allow yourself to become a part of the scenery, and to let the images wash over you, then you begin to be rewarded. This book brought tears of many emotions for me. It is filled with real, honest people, living real, honest lives, and like life it is both humorous and depressing, joyful and oppressed, desperate and free.

The characters in each of the stories in this book are so real that sometimes it is frightening, but in the very best way. I was completely engrossed (shocked, touched, amazed) by each tale. I discovered Jenny's writing after taking a Creative Writing course under her tutelage at a university in upstate New York. On the last day of class she let us read "Touched." I read it the first time, and thought it was good. I read it again a few months later, understood it much better and thought it was great. I then proceeded to read the rest of the stories and was completely amazed. (I think if I had read these stories *before* I took the class, I would have been too intimidated to let her see my own writing.) This is a terrific group of stories, and I wish I could read some more of her writing.

If you love to read about adventure, monsters, magic and the horrors of war and brutal human sacrifices then this is the story for you. But, if you enjoy romance then Destiny's Warriors has that for you too. This is a book for everyone of all ages from every walk of life.

Destiny's Warriors is a story about ancient Pre-Christian Ireland, a fantasy to be sure. Human Sacrifice and war plague the good people. Ancient Pagan Gods deal with their emotions and struggle to overpower other gods while addicted to the quickening begot of human sacrifice. These issues are far from today's troubles. Yet, each and every character is easy to relate to and you can't help feeling like you are in their world and part of the experience as you cringe in horror, cry in grief and cheer for their triumphs.

Betrayal, lust and greed guide the gods who rule over mortal man. Revenge, murderous plots, enchanted warriors and monsters guide the story down Destiny's path. You'll love Destiny's Warriors and want to read it over and over again.

Though this is not a new book, it should still be much sought out for it offers readers--scholars and the general public--the opportunity to discover how the Jews in the medieval era were cast the heinous role as servants of the Devil. This study details the Anti-Semitism of that age with chilling color. I highly recommend this title.

Trachtenberg's the Devil and the Jew has only recently returned to print after decades of being unavailable. The book is so good, that it was even hard to find in libraries because it was so often stolen. Now at last it is available to the modern reader without having to resort to theft or exauting searches.

In this work, the author traces the history of the christian association between the Jew and the Chritian devil from early church history, but with a particular focus on the middle ages. Many of the myths that many Jewish murders have been based on, right up to the 20th century, have their roots in this period and Tractenberg does a tremdous job exploring them. While many others have written about this topic, (Moss, Towards the Final Solution being a particularly fine example) none of the more recent works have in any way displaced Trachtenberg's careful study.

This is a must for the collection of anyone intersted in this topic or anything else related to European Jewish History. Buy it now before it again goes out of print.

I discovered this book in a store in Boston. I thought I knew a good deal about contemporary Irish poetry. However this book took me by surprise. It is outstanding. I had not come across this poet before. What a pleasure his work gave me. This is an original, I have no doubt.There is a dark imagination at work here which I don't think I have seen in modern Irish poetry. I will be ordering all of John Hughes's work . Highly recommended.

One of the few books of poetry to have made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. This book has poems which use language in an evocative and mysterious way. A challenging book in terms of the intellect and imagination at work within its covers. Highly recommended.

Oxford Dictionary Of Superstitions is a no-nonsense, definitive reference to superstitions ranging from spells, cures, and rituals to taboos, charms and omens. Entries are arranged alphabetically by subject; each listing presents a handful of historical citations that offer evidence of the belief. A select bibliography and analytical index round out this exemplary and easy-to-use quick reference.

According to _A Dictionary of Superstitions_, the answer to that one goes back to 1507. The book is filled with page after page of the interesting stories behind close to any superstition one could imagine. As its title suggests, the superstitions are presented in a dictionary format, something that I found very helpful. The definitions include--to different extents--histories, dates, publications, locations, and sometimes even related poetry or bits of songs. There are fifteen different entries for "Eggs," if this gives you any idea as to the scope of book! More than anything, it's a fun read (and to be taken with a "grain of salt" perhaps). It's entirely possible to sit down and read the letter "C," for example, all of the way through, from "Cabbage Stalk: divination" to "Cutlery falls=visitor." One of the best aspects of the text is the sometimes bizarre anecdotes included by the editors, and the conversational and often entertaining manner in which the entries are written. Wonder why it's bad luck to have a clock facing a fire or to crack a mirror, why it's a good idea to rub a dead mouse on your cheek, or where the first references to the cricket as an omen appeared? There's a lot more (494 pages worth), and I definitely recommend it.

The perfect place to start if you want to learn about St. Patrick or early Irish Christianity. O'Loughlin is the best scholar in the world on this subject, but his books are easy to read.

Written by a theology lecturer at the University of Wales, Lampeter, Discovering Saint Patrick is a religious and biographical study of Saint Patrick, that strives to understand as much as possible about his life, his impact on history, how he influenced the development of Irish Catholicism, and much more. Thoroughly researched, drawing heavily on original sources as well as directly from scripture, Discovering Saint Patrick approaches the life and times of the famous saint with a scholarly eye for detail and as much corroboration and verification as reasonably possible. A welcome contribution to church libraries and biographical collections of holy figures, and a "must-read" for anyone who is curious to understand what St. Patrick's Day is really all about.

I decided to read "Disturbance" having very much enjoyed Jamie O'Neill's later more well-known novel, At Swim, Two Boys. Reading a good author's early works, I'm never certain whether to expect more gold or merely an interesting artifact of the author's personal growth.

In "Disturbance" I think I found both. It is a much shorter novel, concentrating on smaller events and fewer characters, but the more limited scope of this story is executed hauntingly. The author has a talent for getting the reader to share the experience of his characters, and he uses that talent beautifully here. Nilus is lost and isolated after his mother's death, living in a crumbling house with his distant father. As he works to lose himself in petty distractions the reader shares his distraction, confusion and inability to interact naturally with others.

I would say that "At Swim, Two Boys" is still the more polished masterwork, but "Disturbance" is still a deeply impressive novel - easily worth a five-star rating.

Nilus Moore, the narrator is in his mid teens and still at school as he starts his account. His mother has recently died, and he lives with his father, but it seems Nilus' world is falling down around him. Their large house is crumbling away while the other houses in the street are being demolished, and his father has taken to his bed, living on garlic cloves and brandy. Putting on the pressure is Nilus' uncle, his father's twin brother, who wants to demolish their house for redevelopment.
As Nilus approaches the end of his school days he struggles both to keep his home together and maintain his sanity. His bedroom, at the very top of their house is his refuge and which he keeps immaculately clean, where he is constantly checking to ensure that the sheet folds on his bed are in order, and where he watches over his near impossible 5,000 piece jigsaw puzzle. He also has to contend with his aunt and uncle's interfering, his pregnant cousin and her estranged boyfriend, an aging priest and other odd characters.
Nilus is an appealing character, especially as he efficiently tries to take on such heavy responsibilities for one so young. However not all is as it may appear, the subtle clues are there, but they might easily be overlooked.
This is a captivating, witty and often very funny story that repays careful reading.

This book has been re-printed.

New ISBN is 1903464706

This short autobiographical account of an Irish doctor's World War II experiences is so riveting that I stayed up way too late to finish it. Dr. MacCarthy served in Europe and was then shipped out to the Asian theatre where he endured the unthinkable. The most striking things I took away from this book is how strong human beings can be in the face of terrible events and how good can triumph within each of us. As the preface said, if you went to a movie and saw all the things portrayed which Dr. McCarthy lived through, you'd think it too far-fetched to be true.