Book Description

John Ireland (1838-1918), first archbishop of St. Paul, believed that the United States offered a new and tremendously favorable opportunity for Roman Catholics and their church.By vigorously and single-mindedly urging his fellow Catholic immigrants to take their place in the mainstream of American life, he played a major role in the growth of the American Catholic church.

Marvin R. O'Connell's masterful biography brings to life the experiences that shaped Ireland's views and describes the battles that marked his career.In smooth and flowing prose, with rich detail and enlightening analysis, O'Connell traces Ireland's life, from his boyhood to his years as a powerful player in Vatican politics and an advisor to American presidents.

Ireland was one of the important and characteristic figures of the American Gilded Age, a man whose own rags-to-riches story followed classic lines.Born in Ireland in 1838, he saw as a boy the horrors of the Great Famine.In 1852 he and his family emigrated to St. Paul, Minnesota.Sent by pioneer Bishop Joseph Cretin to France for his education, Ireland became a priest in 1861.His work for temperance and Catholic colonization on Minnesota's western frontier gave him national prominence and launched him on a long and impressive career.

Ireland was an Americanist, one of a group of Catholic leaders who promoted the ideal of a truly American church.O'Connell's accounts of Ireland's hard-fought and often acrimonious battles present a lively portrait of a complicated man, with impressive strengths and surprising weaknesses.Ireland struggled to convince the Vatican that the American church was more than a collection of immigrant churches; he argued to his fellow clerics that immigrants could abandon Old World customs and languages without losing their faith; he encouraged Catholics to take advantage of the opportunities offered in America; and he strove to demonstrate to Protestant Americans that Catholics were not hopelessly foreign.

O'Connell also tells little-known stories of the archbishop's personal politics and finances.Ireland became wealthy through land speculation, but nearly lost all in the Panic of 1893.As a prominent and out-spoken Republican, he associated with William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, and William Howard Taft.

Though John Ireland was denied the ultimate accolade of a cardinal's hat, and though his colleagues on the episcopal bench were by no means unanimous in supporting him, his influence upon the development of American Catholicism was enormous.This forthright biography is a fascinating account of an important man. ... Read more

Book Description

Jim Callaghanss career in British politics in unique. Starting from humble circumstances, he went on to hold all of the major offices of state: Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and, for three tumultuous years (1976-1979), Prime Minister. This fascinating biography illuminates not only the life of its subject but also the history of the Labour Partys struggle to face the eras major changes at home and abroad. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Readable but lacks drama and context
Callaghan was in some ways a pivotal political figure. He not only lead the Labour party to a critical defeat which not only saw the conservatives dominate Britain for a record period but his loss of office led to the destruction of everything he stood for. That is the union movement, Britain's place as a manufacturing nation and the notion of the labour party being a working class movement.

The writer of the book has been absorbed by Callaghan's career and has come to like him (as did most of the British Electorate). His biography thus lacks a sense of the tragedy of Callaghan's life and the failure of his Prime Minister Ship and the desolation which resulted.

Instead we get a picture of a man on the right of the labour movement who was a decent man and tried in his political career to stand for what he thought was right.

A readable biography which looks to much at the man and perhaps not enough at the political context.

A good read
James Callaghans political life covers so much ground over such a period of time,that even at 750 pages this is a breezy read. It enscapsulates an interesting and significant period of Britains history and this wellwritten biography neatly captures the feel of these times. Callaghan'spremiership has often been perhaps judged rather too harsely with thememories of the final period, rather than earlier acheivements being to theforefront of most peoples minds. this attempts to be a revisionistbiography and in truth the author is a little too reverential towards anduncritical of his subject. ... Read more

Book Description

The autobiography of one of the most popular saints in history, now available in a new translation.

Beyond being recognized as the patron saint of Ireland (perhaps for having chased some nonexistent snakes off the Emerald Isle), little else is popularly known about Saint Patrick.And yet, Patrick left behind a unique document, his Confession, which tells us much about both his life and his beliefs.This autobiography, originally written in the fifth century, and short by modern standards, is nonetheless a work that fascinates with its glimpse into the life of an intriguing man, and inspires with its testament of faith.Here, in this new edition from internationally acclaimed translator John Skinner, the character of Patrick, his era, and his world vividly come to life.

Also included in this volume is the only other document known to have been written by Patrick, a letter he wrote to the soldiers of Coroticus--also Christians--who had raided parts of Ireland and taken away prisoners who were then sold into slavery.This letter is a wonderful demonstration of Patrick's rhetorical fire.Quite irate, Patrick harangues his fellow Christians, and the results are every bit as autobiographically revealing as the Confession.

John O'Donohue, author of Anam Cara, provides an insightful foreword that re-creates the unique spirituality of Patrick and of the Irish people, and shows how it applies to our lives today. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

interesting work -- autobiographical, not autobiography
This is a very short book (81 pages long, 111 if you include the prefaces and the frontispiece, big print, easily fitting in your jacket pocket) and includes Patrick's Lorica -- the hymn known as the Deer's Cry or Faeth Fiada as well as The Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus (basically a public pillory of Coroticus) and St. Patrick's Confession.

If you are interested in buying The Confession because you want a straight-forward account of St. Patrick's life, you should be warned that it will not serve that purpose. If that is what you're looking for, I recommend you buy a biography instead. Given that the literary conventions for autobiographies had yet to be established, this work is much like St. Augustine's Confessions but more laconic and oblique. Apparently, it was written in defense of his character, having been recently defamed by his ecclesiastical competitors in England. As such, I think it would be best approached as an example of St. Patrick's theology. The editor has been very helpful in this regard by noting in the text every instance St. Patrick is quoting from the Bible. I'd estimate, on that basis, that quotes from, allusions to, the Bible account for around 40% of the text. Thus, if you want to understand the work, you probably want to read it with a Bible near so you can follow the thread of St. Patrick's argument/allusion. However, as you might imagine, this adds substantially to the amount of time required to digest the book.

I found A Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus much more accessible, which makes sense given its intended audience - the faithful of Ireland. It comprises about a fifth of the book and was very interesting to me, at least, as an example of the power of ideas, how they can be used to bind together a community which can then be wielded as a tool, and why, in the competition between the old or pagan meme with the Christian one, the Christian meme more or less prevailed.

"Deer's Cry" is only a few pages long, and not more than nice to have. It clearly illustrates, however, the difficulties John Skinner (the translator) notes of translating these works, namely the loss of the chiastic structure and overall prosody. This is a problem of translation in general, but I would wager that these works are particularly difficult in that regard. I trust the translation is good, but I thought prospective buyers who, like me, are unfamiliar with St. Patrick and his times should be made aware of these difficulties.

With the above in mind, I would recommend this book as an interesting primary source for the thinking, life and times of St. Patrick which, in places, are both beautiful and disturbing.

You'll read it over and over again
This charming little book is a great guide for anyone who wants to know the man who is St. Patrick. In this work, O'Donohue doesn't discuss the legends that surround Patrick but translates Patrick's own writings and adds an insightful commentary. The author offers a new examination of Patrick as he suggests that Patrick's hard-to-decipher language is not the result of Patrick's lack of learning, as Patrick and many of his commentators claim, but the result of Patrick's own brilliant mind trying to bring the message of the Gospel to the Celts in their own language. This book will take you directly to the heart of a simple saint who's witness to Christ changed the fate of Ireland and, consequently, the fate of the world. ... Read more

Book Description

Known as a diplomat, government minister, historian, biographer, anti-war activist, playwright, editor, political theorist and university president, Conor Cruise O'Brien has brought his unique perspective to such thorny issues as Irish nationalism, Zionism, post-colonial Africa and India and terrorism. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

a Californians view
In 45 years, I'd never seen this book in my dad's library, but on the night my mother died - I went in there and pulled it from the shelf and started to read through the tears.
I've not too long myself on this bench - figuratively speaking, of course, I hope.

A classic of "poor mouth" literature !
This is the story...of a lovely lady! This book was the bane of every school child in Ireland for decades. It used to be on the curriculum so that, despite the fact that you would have to grit your teeth to read it, it was a bestseller in Ireland. It tells the story of Peig Sayers, a woman who lived in the poor and rural south-west of Ireland in the early 20th century. In this book, everyone was poor, no-one had anything, people were evicted from their hovels, life was hard, people died young, children were barefoot, the livestock slept in the house, it was always raining....well, you get the idea.

Peig was born on the mainland of Ireland, but married a fisherman who lived on the Blasket islands, a small collection of islands a few miles off the coast of Kerry. Tough as things were on the mainland, things were tougher still here! You were lashed by the Atlantic, the wind could blow you off the cliffs, and you could be drowned while you were fishing, and that was on a good day! The book tells of her struggle to be accepted by the islanders, how she brought up her large family, how she coped with the death of some of her sons fishing, and the folklore, stories, and culture all around her.

This book, and others like it from other authors on other islands ("The Islander" being another good example) formed a literary style which became known as "the poor mouth". They all share similar characteristics as they described the oppresive hardships suffered stoically by the people. Even now in Ireland, anyone whinging about their bad situation would be dismissed as "putting on the poor mouth" and everyone would know what was meant. There is even a spoof "poor mouth" book by Flann O'Brien, which is well worth reading as an antidote to all the hardship and depression!

Now that Peig is no longer force fed down poor school children's throats, it has been re-appraised as a valuable historical record of western Irish culture, and no longer as an instrument of torture. Now that you don't HAVE to read it, more people now seem to WANT to read it! The book was originally written in the Irish language since that was the only language Peig spoke, but a translation in English is available.

If you want a glimpse of an Ireland now long gone (and it really is long gone, despite what anyone might tell you), you can't go wrong with Peig. Just make sure you have a good supply of prozac close to hand.

Is maith is cuimhim liom( It is well I remember)
I did this book at school in Irish, being really square I liked it.Peig told her story of hardship and poverty with humour,and dignity. It gave real insight into the life of the Irish tennant farmer in the early 19th century, I even used it for my thesis at uni. Good book

Thanks for the Memories!
I remember reading this book when I was a young girl, going to school in Ireland. Of course, I didn't appreciate it as much then, considering that I had to read it in its original Gaelic language. I am surprised at how I can recall the stories that Peig told. Her story holds great importance, as it describes a way of life that no longer exists in Ireland. I recommend this book to any descendants of Irish immigrants who wish to discover about the lives their past family members lived. The content of this book is quite heartwarming, something that can be appealing to anyone.

every school child should be made read this book
i've read and re read this book, and think it's wonderful. As i turned each page I was peig sayers of the great blaskets. I ran up the road to school with her and her friend Cait, and my little bones shivered as hers did. I felt her pain when she left dunquinn for the island and felt her joy when she was welcomed to the island and it's people. This book is on the circu, of the schools in ireland, and I always remember my own daughter coming home to me from the dunquin,dingle, great blaskets area, from a school trip and from then on calling me "girl" I was annoyed with her for her familarity, until I learned she was as she called it studying Peigland, and peig called her mother girl. I want to go live on the blaskets islands or sit by Peigs grave and tell her what a wonderful life she had, not a hard one as she imagined with the cruel seas ect., life is much harder here in this big bad world. Peig has touched my life and I have lost the book so many times when friends did not return it. Anytime I go home I go down to Peigland and sit by her grave and dream I am her, off up the road with little Cait to school. What a beautiful story ... Read more

Book Description

Best known as the cofounder of the Irish band The Pogues, Shane MacGowan has become a cult figure on the alternative-music scene. His achingly beautiful lyrics, as well as his legendary lifestyle of excess, have earned him an avid following that packs his shows and buys his albums. One of the most unusual memoirs to come along in quite a while, A Drink with Shane MacGowan is structured as a series of interviews between MacGowan and his wife, Clarke. The singer recounts his experiences growing up on a farm in Ireland, where his family began giving him two pints of Guinness a night at the tender age of five and his father took him to hang out with bookies and drunks at the local pub. He tells of moving to London and becoming part of the London club scene in the mid-1970s, just as punk was beginning to emerge, offering a firsthand portrait of a seminal time and place in music history. MacGowan also provides his own, strongly opinionated views on The Pogues' success and the reasons for his abrupt departure from the band. As he invites us into this fascinating world, MacGowan tells many hilarious stories and riffs on a wide range of subjects, from Irish history and politics to literature, film, religion, his own substance abuse, and much more. Sometimes maddening, sometimes charming, often brilliant, and always honest, A Drink with Shane MacGowan is an enjoyable romp with a truly unique personality. PRAISE FOR SHANE MACGOWAN: "MacGowan can be a dazzling songwriter, channeling his unruliness into rambunctious tales of drinking, sporting, drinking, fighting, and drinking."--Los Angeles Times ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Rock and Roll Paddy
"A drink with Shane MacGowan" is a series of recorded interviews with Shane by longtime girlfriend Victoria Clarke. It is an interesting approach and Victoria gets Shane to open up in ways the media, of course, would be unable to. The beginning of the London punk scene, family, drugs/drink, racism, religion, authors, the end of the Pogues and his life's philosophy are just a few of the many topics covered by Shane and Victoria. Also included are some handwritten songs and drawings which were a cool touch and greatly contribute to the book. The only downside to this book was Victoria's overdone, heavy handed (and self complimentary) chapter introductions. But these will be easily forgiven, for this is a fascinating conversation with an amazing songwriter. Definitely recommended for any music, Pogues/Popes or punk fans.

Shane MacGowan Rocks!
This book is a series of interviews/chats conducted by Shane's wife(Victoria Mary Clarke). The format allows for some great storytelling about his past and family and helps to understand how he is the way he is. Great read for any fans of the shane MacGowan, the Pogues, or Ireland in general.

Amazon Reviewer Devours a Plate of Chips, Hungrily.
On your first read-through, I highly recommend taking your editing pen and marking out Victoria Mary Clarke's dribbling of adverbs. You'll be thankful you did the next time you dip into A DRINK WITH SHANE MACGOWAN. And trust me -- despite my grousing -- you'll want to read this book numerous times. Like other reviewers, I've absolutely no problem with the interview style of the book as it produces some splendid results and Ms. Clarke gets some wonderful details from Mr. MacGowan again and again. This is an absolute must for fans of the Pogues, the Popes and Irish literature especially.

The Unrepentant Paddy
Shane does an excellent job of explaining what a true Paddy is and how he has celebrated that tradition in his music to the delight of all his fans over the years. This was particularly insightful to me as an American who grew up far from the Irish enclaves. His commentary on how a real Paddy views popular Irish writers like Yeats was extremely insightful. I hate to see him killing himself the way it appears he insists on doing, laying it all off on the culture of the Paddy as some sort of excuse or artistic endeavor rather than the tragedy it is for an artist as visionary, bold and well read as this one. The book is "written" by his wife who tape records a series of interviews which meander horribly at times and badly need the help of a good editor. I found every other sentence of Shane's ending with, "you know what I mean," extremely annoying. There is some good stuff here, but I feel this was a project his wife and maybe the publisher wanted more than Shane. It has the feeling of someone trying to get coherent words out of another who may not be capable of speaking coherently, or at all, in the future.

MacGowan and His Girl with Green Eyes
A Drink with Shane MacGowan is a great read not only for fans and those curious about the break up of the Pogues but those who enjoy a bit of craic or great storytelling. One gets a peek inside a very unique and brilliant mind and also gains knowledge of interesting bits of Irish and punk era history. The somewhat maligned question and answer format is, in fact, an engaging way to shed light on the relationship between MacGowan and his closest companion. While leading to a greater understanding of the man himself, it acquaints the reader with Clarke, an interesting character in her own right. An established writer, she peppers the banter with lighthearted sarcasm, humorously toying with writing styles much in the way of Joyce (another first year English lit. groupie!)
All in all it is a great book with a pint in a quiet corner of your favorite pub but works as well with tea and flannel pajamas - highly recommended! ... Read more

Book Description

King Richard I's personal bravery on the battlefield won him the name 'Lionheart' but as David Miller reveals, his battles and campaigns demonstrate a brilliant grasp of strategy and tactics. The 'Lionheart' was no mere medieval 'head banger' but a thoughtful military leader, the only Crusader commander who managed to get an army to Palestine without going bankrupt in the process. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (6)

A Pinch of Salt
I recently took part in an online discussion over the merits of O'Connor and Montgomery and came to the conclusion that my knowledge was lacking on the details of their respective attributes as General Officers in the field, so when I came accross this book I thought "Just what I want".

Once I read the introduction however, whilst assuming the details and history to be correct, what jaundiced my view was that the purpose of the book was to "prove" that Montgomery inherited his good actions from Auchinleck as opposed to 'creating' them himself. This raised the possibility of a 'slant' to the text in order to "prove" the authors contention.

Having said that, I thoroughly 'enjoyed' the read which was most informative.

Classic account of leadership in the Desert War
This book is a study of the leadership of the British army in the desert campaigns of World War II. First published in the 1960's, it caused a stir in its attempt to deconstruct the invincibility myth surrounding Field Marshal Montgomery.
Barnett makes a convincing case. His Montgomery is the villain of the book, a self-serving opportunist whose actual military skills never matched his inflated reputation. Barnett is especially indignant over Montgomery's dishonesty when first assuming command of the 8th Army, namely in taking the credit for much of Auchinleck's work and passing it off as his own. Consequently, there's a palpable relish in the way he describes how the famous Battle of El Alamein was unbelievably almost lost under Montgomery direction, and how the ensuing pursuit to the Tunisian frontier was hamstrung by his hesitancy and conservatism.
Barnett is equally highly critical of Churchill's direction of the war in the Mediterranean, for example with regard to the Greek campaign, which he maintains was based on unsound military strategy and fought by British forces for purely cynical political gain. Meanwhile, O'Connor is lamented as a forgotten hero, victor over a hugely superior Italian army. Ritchie and Cunningham are sympathised with as men hopelessly out of their depth. Auchinleck is the hero of the piece, a towering figure of stoicism and dignity, saviour of the Middle East yet virtually betrayed by his superiors in 1942 with his dismissal and replacement by Montgomery and Alexander. Throughout all this, Rommel flits in and out of the narrative, a genius with almost supernatural ability to prevail against overwhelming odds.
The book is virtually a condemnation of the entire British army officer class in World War II who, with honourable exceptions, are dismissed as good-natured yet plodding amateurs, anachronistic in their thinking and no match for a professional, modern German army. Furthermore, the author asserts that the 8th Army was effectively incapable of ever defeating the Afrika Korps in battle without overwhelming material and numerical superiority, and without the benefit of high-quality intelligence, i.e. the Ultra decrypts.
The case against Montgomery seems so persuasive that it is almost necessary to balance this out and seek an opposing viewpoint in his favour, which can easily be found among his own biographers. Barnett to his credit does note Montgomery's undisputed ability to inspire and raise morale among his troops and does admit that he was not a poor general as such. His huge reputation however warrants the most rigorous and uncompromising examination of his overall record, which Barnett is not afraid to carry out.
The Desert Generals is one of the best books I have read on any aspect of the Second World War. Well-written, reasoned and thought provoking, it will appeal to both the serious student of the period and to those with a more casual interest.

Barnett displays his keen ability to dissect high command
In this book, Barnett again demonstrates a unique ability to dissect high command. Barnett was ahead of his time with his critical analysis of Montgomery. The latest edition includes a section which details the extent to which the allies in North Africa knew in advance what Rommel's moves would be, thanks to ULTRA intercepts. With this additional information, Montgomery's cautious conduct of the campaign in North Africa comes into even greater question. Barnett also details how the British, under O'Connor, were on the verge of driving the Italians from North Africa in 1940, but instead chose to send an expeditionary force to Greece on what was basically a poltical mission masterminded by Winston Churchill. That mission, like Churchill's foray into Gallipoli during the First World War, collapsed and Axis forces were not cleared from North Africa until early 1943. This book is highly recommended for anyone who enjoyed *Hitler's Generals* or *Swordbearers*, both also by Barnett, or anyone interested in the history of the Second World War, North African theater.

Bashing the Montgomery Myth
This work is a study of military leadership under stress, not a detailed blow-by-blow campaign history. The setting is the Libyan and Egyptian deserts, between June 1940 and January 1943. The perspective is thoroughly British and the fluctuating tide of British military fortunes is depicted by a detailed examination of the five key commanders in this period. Originally written in 1960, this work was revised in 1981 to incorporate the later information on the role of Enigma. Although Barnett's main contention - that General Montgomery's accomplishments were more mythical than factual - is not addressed until the last chapters, it is the primary intent of the author to debunk this myth.

The first chapters deal with the opening of the desert war and the initial victories of Field Marshal Wavell and General O'Connor over the Italians. Beda Fomm was O'Connor's brilliant victory, but today it is overshadowed by Rommel's battles. Despite the extent of these victories, the victors were soon forgotten: O'Connor was captured in the initial attack of the German Afrika Korps and Wavell was relieved by Churchill. Although this was an interesting phase of the war for the British, these chapters lack the dynamic quality that the rest of the book has.

General Sir Alan Cunningham, a hero of the campaign in Ethiopia, was sent to replace O'Connor. He was the first British general to face Rommel on even terms, but he lasted in command for only three months. When Cunningham took command, the British were still reeling from Rommel's first offensive and desperately attempting to raise the siege of Tobruk. Cunningham presided over the premature Operation "Crusader" to relieve Tobruk, constantly goaded by Churchill to strike at once. Barnett's portrait of Cunningham is interesting in two respects. First, as a successful colonial soldier suddenly thrust into command of a large mechanized army, Cunningham fumbled Operation Crusader (although more for non-technical reasons, like failure to achieve mass at the decisive point or maintain unity of effort). Cunningham was able to recover and muddle through to a victory of sorts, but suffered a loss of confidence that was fatal to his continued command. This is Barnett's second interesting point, on the strain of battle command upon the commander. Ostensibly, Cunningham was relieved due to "battle fatigue" but the erosion of his command authority and confidence was closer to the truth.

General Auchinleck, the British Commander-in-Chief in the Mideast, then made a disastrous choice in selecting General Ritchie to temporarily command the 8th Army. Although Operation Crusader had forced Rommel to abandon the siege of Tobruk and pull back, Ritchie took over command as the Germans swept back up to the Gazala line outside Tobruk. Ritchie was well-connected politically and he possessed a soldierly image but unfortunately, his professional abilities were modest. Ritchie was unimaginative and indecisive - fatal attributes when faced by an adversary like Rommel - and his static defense and piece-meal use of armor resulted in the 8th Army's greatest defeat. After Tobruk was lost and Rommel pushed into Egypt, Auchinleck decided to relieve Ritchie and take over command of the 8th Army himself.

Barnett's portrait of Auchinleck and his chief-of-staff Dorman-Smith is intended to vindicate these men as the true saviors of Egypt and British military fortunes in Africa. The case is persuasive. Although only in command for a few months, Auchinleck stopped Rommel at the First Battle of El Alamein and began the process of re-organizing the 8th Army into a more effective force. Dorman-Smith was a military intellectual, and he accurately predicted Rommel's likely course of action and advised Auchinleck on British dispositions. Unfortunately, Churchill visited Egypt right after 1st Alamein and Auchinleck and Dorman-Smith were relieved. The reasons are ambiguous, but the purge was due to political and personal reasons much more than military factors. The benefactor was General Montgomery, who became the new commander of 8th Army.

Barnett's portrait of Montgomery is even more unflattering than most American portrayals of this controversial general. I was unaware, for example, that while at Sandhurst Montgomery has set another cadet on fire as part of a hazing incident (and even recounted it in his memoirs). Montgomery took command when the British were finally receiving massive reinforcements in Egypt and Rommel's forces were at their weakest. Engima decryption also gave Montgomery valuable insight into the enemy's strength and weaknesses. Nevertheless, Montgomery's set-piece Second Battle of El Alamein was nearly a failure. The breakthrough battle was a muddle that nearly foundered on Rommel's minefields and anti-tank barriers. When German supply difficulties finally helped to turn the battle his way, Montgomery clearly fumbled the pursuit and allowed the Afrika Korps to escape. However, Barnett cites the creation of the Montgomery Myth - that his battles all went according to plan and that he was invincible - as necessary to restoring bruised British military prestige. In these pages, Montgomery is clearly labeled as a vainglorious liar of limited military capabilities, but with a keen eye for public relations.

This book is an excellent study of command. For these readers who believe that Hitler interfered with the German war effort, this book is valuable for showing how Churchill also interfered. Churchill's Greek adventure in 1941 weakened the British in North Africa at a critical moment, as well as his diversion of forces to the Far East in December 1941. Likewise, Churchill's insistence on holding indefensible Tobruk in 1942 led to a great British disaster. Furthermore, Churchill was constantly badgering his commanders to attack which reduced the amount of time they had to learn their commands and build up their forces.

There are only two areas I can fault in this book. First, the sketch maps are absolutely awful. The reader will need to find other campaign maps to support the text because these are crude in the extreme. The second area is on the strategic impact of the war in the desert. Several times, Barnett makes the assertion that the war could have been lost if the Germans had broken through at El Alamein. Of course, Barnett is British and the British would like to have everyone believe that the British Army won the Second World War (or at least prevented it from being lost). Barnett also parades "what if" fantasies about German troops reaching the Persian Gulf in a month or even going on to India. This is nonsense, even without hindsight. Rommel's logistics were stretched to the breaking point getting to El Alamein but Barnett makes it sound like going an extra 1,500 miles would be easy. The book lacks balance in placing the Desert War in its proper historical perspective: it was a sideshow for the Germans and a valuable training ground for the British, but the war was decided elsewhere. Loss of Cairo did not equate to loss of the war. Barnett might have done well to remember that Napoleon's conquest of Egypt under similar circumstances (British naval superiority) did not produce any great strategic result for him. It is hard to see how Rommel's handful of troops and tanks could have done much beyond taking Cairo and even harder to see how holding Cairo would have saved Hitler's empire.

Fills a gap and pays a well deserved tribute.
This book examines the role played by some of the lesser known yet great commanders of the North African campaign. The arrival of Field Marshall Montgomery in North Africa and his subsequent victory at El Alamein in 1942 made him a overnight hero. Unfortunately, the commanders who had come before him were not given their dues, even though they had done a great job managing the situation in the North African theater during the intial difficult times. Undoubtedly, Montgomery had done a great job in winning the war in the North African theater, yet one must not forget that other great commanders such as O'Connor, Auchinleck, Ritchie, Wavell, Cunningham had set up the stage for him. In order to have a balanced view of the commanders in the North African campaign, this book is a must read. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Whether or not you're going to Ireland, read this book!
I have been to Glendalough twice, spending a week there each time, with many hours in the company of the authors of this book. Michael Rodgers and Marcus Losack know and love the area of Glendalough. They are deeply grounded in the spiritual heritage of Celtic Christianity and, in addition, honor the deeper and wider aspects of spirituality that are present in this ancient site. In an era when Glendalough is in danger of becoming just another spot on the tourist trail, Michael and Marcus' book helps you to go deeper into ancient traditions, whether your pilgrimage is in person or in your heart.

The history of a place
To get the true feeling of a place, I think you have to know the background and what to look for. Visiting Glendalough in Ireland, you'll instantly see that the area is gorgeous, but knowing the rich history of the place and what to look for will enhance the meaning. This book will take you through the monastic city of Glendalough step by step, and explain the rich history of the place. ... Read more

Book Description

Amazon.com

The four biographical essays that make up Eminent Victorianscreated something of a stir when they were first published in the spring of 1918, bringing their author instant fame. In his flamboyant collection, Lytton Strachey chose to stray far from the traditional mode of biography: "Those two fat volumes, with which it is our custom to commemorate the dead--who does not know them, with their ill-digested masses of material, their slipshod style, their tone of tedious panegyric, their lamentable lack of selection, of detachment, of design?" Instead he provided impressionistic but acute (and, some said, skewed) portraits. Rarely does Strachey explore the details of a subject's daily or family life unless they point directly to an issue of character. In short, he pioneered a deeply sardonic and often scathingly funny biographical style.

None of Strachey's Victorians emerge unscathed. In his hands, Florence Nightingale is not a gentle archangel descended from heaven to minister sweetly to wounded soldiers, but rather an exacting, dictatorial, and judgmental crusader. Her "pen, in the virulence of its volubility, would rush ... to the denunciation of an incompetent surgeon or the ridicule of a self-sufficient nurse. Her sarcasm searched the ranks of the officials with the deadly and unsparing precision of a machine-gun. Her nicknames were terrible. She respected no one." Dr. Thomas Arnold, the man appointed to revamp the very private British public school system, fares little better: in Strachey's acid ink, he became "the founder of the worship of athletics and the worship of good form." In this same vain, military hero General Gordon is portrayed as a temperamental, irascible hermit, occasionally drunk and often found in the company of young boys--a man who tended to forget and forgo the tenets found in the Bible he kept with him always. And the powerful and popular Cardinal Manning, who came within a hair's breadth of succeeding Pope Pius IX, belonged, Strachey writes, "to that class of eminent ecclesiastics ... who have been distinguished less for saintliness and learning than for practical ability."

As he offered up indelible sketches of his less-than-fab four, Strachey was intent on critiquing established mores. This effortlessly superior wit knew full well that deep convictions and good deeds often go hand in hand with hypocrisy, arrogance, and egomania. His task was to pique those who pretended they did not. --Jordana Moskowitz ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Delightfully bitchy, impeccably written
This book dealt a death blow to hagiographic biography as it was practised well into this century. The deligtfully bitchy tone, with conspiratorial overtones, takes one instantly into the boudoir of the personages portrayed. This shows it is not necessary to read a 1000 page tome to properly understand a historical figure. Strachey was obviously biased against religion (particularly of the Catholic variety), and against politicians in general. He was also selective of the material he chose to disclose and never wavered from allowing his preconceptions to substitute for analysis. But could he write!

The Original Expose of the Victorians
This superb book, by a too-often overlooked author writing at the brink of the modern age, was an instant classic when it was released near the end of World War I. It exposed to the war-weary young the hypocrisy and hollowness of the Victorian ideals they believed they were fighting for, through its marvelous depictions of four leading Victorian figures. Strachey did a tremendous amount of background reading and research, which never shows in his tightly written, crystalline prose. But more impressive is how he managed to "re-imagine" these figures, based on their own writings and what was written about them, to understand why these figures were often held up as the ideal, but in reality had become stereotypes who did not deserve the reputations they had won (or deserved them for different reasons than were commonly acknowledged). Nightingale, Bennett, Gordon, Manning -- their names would taste bitter in the mouths of the first generation of the new century, because of this book.

Eminently Readable
Although the institutions that Strachey targeted are no longer in existence, that does not render this work of art irrelevant any more than the outdated and archaic language of Shakespeare render the plays irrelevant. Strachey's is the portrait of an age, as much of the early twentieth century as the nineteenth that preceded it.

Not what you'd expect
This is a strange book. The author created quite a stir when he published it at the close of the First World War: it's not the laudatory, voluminous biography that was popular at the time. Instead, it's a more impressionistic work, artistic rather than factual. And since it's not one biography but four short ones, the individual sketches tend to be more along the lines of extended eulogies or obituaries.

The four people studied in this book are Cardinal Manning (who almost became Pope), Dr. Arnold (who reformed the British public school system), Florence Nightingale, and General "Chinese" Gordon (killed defending Khartoum). The first difficulty, I would imagine, for the average American reader is that of these four, only Florence Nightingale will be familiar. The book only briefly touches on the events of the people whose lives are sketched here, and it's helpful to know something of the individual's background and life prior to picking up the current book. I only knew "Chinese" Gordon, and him not that well, so the four bios were only of moderate interest to me.

The writing style, however, stood out. The author has a bad habit of stretching his thoughts out beyond all reason. Paragraphs, at various points, run upwards of two pages in length, and sentences fill line after line. The author is full of opinions, and pushes them at you rather relentlessly. The tone of the book, and the way it was recieved at the time, show a considerable irreverence, as all of the bios involved are at least somewhat negative. While "Chinese" Gordon has always been known to have been somewhat eccentric, and the criticism of Manning and Arnold are probably irrelevant to most now, Florence Nightingale is mainly criticized for being a pushy woman. I don't know that this will play very well these days, especially since she was right more than wrong.

I enjoyed this book reasonably well, given the shortcomings that I knew it had going in. I would recommend it to those interested in the topic, the author, or the era of British history.

So glad I finally got around to reading this one
Eminent Victorians has been on my 'to read' list for about 20 yrs, and I'm so glad I finally got around to it. Perhaps Lytton Strachey was the first to create "the new biography," not wrapping his subjects in flowery adjectives as was the style of his times, but instead skewering them with sarcastic and scathingly funny written portraits. And, as he seemed on intimate terms with Everyone Who Was Anybody during the early 1900s, his book created quite a stir. Far from confining his critiques to people, Strachey also lambasted the stilted mores, the hypocrisy, and the severely limiting lines of social strata of his era.
Although it's dated, of course, Eminent Victorians makes terrific reading for anyone interested in that era before everything changed with the First World War. ... Read more

Book Description

Orderic Vitalis, born near Shrewsbury in 1075 and sent as a child oblate to the Norman abbey of Saint-Evroult, wrote one of the most vivid and important medieval chronicles. His world encompassed Shropshire in the aftermath of the Conquest, Normandy in civil war and at peace, and, briefly, the wider French perspective of the priory of Maule. Saint-Evroult was open to all the cross-currents of a changing society, and Orderic witnessed fundamental changes in church organisation, patterns of aristocratic inheritance, attitudes towards knighthood, and Christian militancy towards non-Christians.BR>This book is concerned with monastic life and culture and its interaction with the life of courts and Norman families. It also describes the life of Orderic himself, and an appendix gives a translation of his own moving account of his life, an epilogue to the Historia.MARJORIE CHIBNALL is a Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge. She has written many booksand articles about the Anglo-Norman world, including an edition of Orderic's Ecclesiastical History. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Guilty, But Not As Charged
After reading "Dream Maker," the DeLorean hatchet job by Ivan Fallon and James Srodes, I had to seek out and read DeLorean's own rebuttal. "Dream Maker" left enough doubt (and displayed so much bias) that it's obvious there are two sides to the story.

I must say, it confirms more than it denies. Oh, the drug charges and trial were obvious government falsehoods, and John easily demolishes the evidence against him. Recounting the travesty trial takes over half the book, even though "Dream Maker" stops before the trial begins.

What was more interesting is his recounting of his life before the trial, and his very, very brief touching on the failure of DeLorean Motor Company. In these he reveals himself to be very vain, mean-spirited, self-centered and willing to blame everyone but himself. It is not pretty reading his cruel and tactless dismissals of his ex-wifes or business partners.

He starts the acknowledgements by saying that writing this book was good therapy. "In the beginning, [co-author] Ted [Schwarz] knew that I was bitter, angry and hostile. But as he and I talked through 1,200 pages of transcript, I slowly healed and developed a more balanced view, just as Ted knew I would."

Well, a few more months of healing would have been beneficial, because this book blames everybody for the downfall of JZD and DMC except the one person who, clearly, was to blame.

John's conversion to born-again Christianity, which dominates the last half of the book, is just another case of seeking to escape responsibility. Everything is "God's will."

In all, a fascinating glimpse into a slimy world of high stakes, high finance and huge egos.

Behind the Company
A great book written by a great man! Before you make judgements about John DeLorean...hear it from his side. A MUST READ for any DeLorean enthusiast or if you just want to know more about the man, car and company. ... Read more

Book Description

38 b/w photographs In this magisterial study, Norman J. Girardot focuses on James Legge (1815-1897), one of the most important nineteenth-century figures in the cultural exchange between China and the West. A translator-transformer of Chinese texts, Legge was a pioneering cross-cultural pilgrim within missionary circles in China and within the academic world of Oxford University. By tracing Legge's career and his close association with Max Müller (1823-1900), Girardot elegantly brings a biographically embodied approach to the intellectual history of two important aspects of the emergent "human sciences" at the end of the nineteenth century: sinology and comparative religions. Girardot weaves a captivating narrative that illuminates the era in which Legge lived as well as the surroundings in which he worked. His encyclopedic knowledge of pertinent figures, documents, peculiar ideologies, and even the personal quirks of principal and minor players brings the world of imperial China and Victorian England very much to life. At the same time, Girardot gets at the roots of much of the twentieth-century discourse about the strange religious or nonreligious otherness of China. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Before you do anything else, read this book
This book takes a detailed look at the Victorian-era translation of China in the context of both a symbolic and literal pilgrimage to the Orient. It may be said to be an intellectual biography of James Legge. I liked the book because of the extensive, well-researched footnotes. I would fully and unreservedly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the trials and tribulations of the Victorian-era translation of China. While the book requires a small commitment of time from the reader, it provides in return a unique and fully formed picture of an interesting subject. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (5)

the best royal biography ever!
Once in awhile I can judge a book by its cover-I have now owned a copy for 11 years and I also re-read it once a year or so. Mr Pope-Hennessey does a brilliant job bringing a huge cast of charachters to life, and Queen Mary herself is a fascinating study in early 20th century womanhood. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading about women in the royal family. All the elements are there, in great detail-but don't expect dirt digging. But you will not be dissappointed!

One of the best biographies of a Royal
I've owned this biography for ten years, and I seem to go back and re-read it once a year. It's the kind of book that's so well-written, you can start reading it from any chapter and get hooked. I don't think you have to be a Royalty-fan to enjoy it. Queen Mary was a fascinating person & her life was so interesting, to say the least. It's got so much detail, and the author makes you understand the circumstances which made Queen Mary the person she was. This book was published in 1957, which was only a few years after her death and a more reticent time, so don't expect any delving into Queen Mary's unfortunate habit of "guilting" people into giving her their historical knicknacks, etc. for her vast collections. (Or about her shady dealings in the matter of acquiring Empress Marie of Russia's jewel collection from the Empress' daughters at a bargain price.) For the Royal buff, there is also a wealth of information on Queen Victoria, Edward VII, Alexandra,et al. Make this a cornerstone of your Royalty (or just good biography) collection & you won't be disappointed.

God Save the Queen
Pope-Hennessy's book is a delight to read. He writes in a readable engrosing manner which makes his book hard to put down. He gives us a enthralling account of the life of this remarkably down to earth woman who is always a queen. The many love letters she received from her husband, the king, also disclose to us a woman who was indispensable to his success as a monarch. For everyone who has an even remote interest in royalty this is the book for you. A good read!

A Small Treasure
I stumbled upon this book at a library discard sale, andactually decided to buy it to find out more about the Queen for whichthe ocean liner was named than for any interest in the person herself!Like the previous reviewer, I found the detail amazing, and developeda genuine affection for the Queen's mother, the Duchess of Teck, aswell as (surprisingly) Queen Victoria. Pope-Hennessey did an admirablejob of keeping all the relatives sorted out, and the exhaustivefootnotes and references kept the reader on track. Unlike the previousreviewer, however, I thought the book became slogged down in detailafter detail, often delivered in a "cutesy" style that wasless "eighteenth century" than coy preciousness. There wasalso a measure of sexism I suppose that was "normal" when hewas writing which dates the material somewhat. All in all, it tellsan engrossing story of the English monarchy at the zenith, as well asthe decline and fall of the British Empire. One thing for sure- I knowafter whom the present Queen has modeled her fashions these last 50years!

A wonderful biography
I am so glad to see James Pope-Hennessey's Queen Mary in print again after so many years. This is the official biography of the present Queen's grandmother, originally published in 1959 or 1960. Most official biographies are dull. Queen Mary is not. It accomplishes that which all biographies should desire: not just a bare record of the subject's life, but an evocation of the subject's world. Every home of Queen Mary is elegantly described. Her travels in Italy and elsewhere and her visits to the homes of relations in England and in Germany are exhaustively but not boringly documented. Pope-Hennessey's prose is stately, almost eighteenth century, but always lucid and often witty. My favorite sections of the book are those dealing with Queen Mary's life before her marriage, when she was a morganatic princess with few prospects. Her often difficult and embarrassing early life made her a suitable prospect for a bride for the Duke of Clarence and Avondale, second in line to the British throne. The Duke, or Eddy as he was known in the family, was a difficult young man with embarrassing habits (since this is an official biography written under the auspices of Buckingham Palace, Pope-Hennessey was necessarily circumspect about these habits. You will not find a discussion of the Cleveland Street scandal here, for instance). When Eddy died a few weeks after his engagement was announced, his fiancee (and the British Empire) was transferred to his more suitable younger brother George, Duke of York. Although the circumstances of her marriage and ascent into the highest levels of British royalty were a little unusual, Queen Mary was the epitome of royal dignity for the rest of her life as Duchess of York, Princess of Wales, Queen Consort, and finally Queen Dowager. Pope-Hennessey's coverage of the Queen's personal life is a bit limited,once again due to the limits placed on an official historian. Her relationships with her husband and children, especially the Duke of Windsor, are not dealt with in much detail, and her personal peccadillos, such as her penchant for dropping broad hints about presents she would like, are not covered at all. But there are plenty of unofficial sources if you are looking for that sort of thing about Queen Mary and her family. Pope-Hennessey is the best choice for those looking for a beautifully written description of life in a vanished world. ... Read more

Book Description

Christopher Robbins was a down-at-the-heels freelance journalist in London when a "friend"—an expat American drug dealer who masqueraded as a count—linked him up with an elderly gay Irishman, purportedly the "greatest Irish filmmaker ever"—which turned out to be the case.

Brian Desmond Hurst had made some thirty films in his eighty years (including A Christmas Carol, Tom Brown's Schooldays, Dangerous Moonlight, Simba, and Playboy of the Western World), and was on close terms with people such as John Ford, Laurence Olivier, Noël Coward, Sean O'Casey, Vanessa Redgrave, and a slew of other notables. Hurst immediately hired the young journalist to write the screenplay for his final work, a biblical epic about the birth of Christ, dubbed "The Box Office Blockbuster"—and subsequently his autobiography—"The Big Bestseller." No reader can fail to become spellbound and laugh-out-loud by the wit, warmth of heart, sense of mischief, Celtic charm, and vast appetite for life present in The Empress of Ireland. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Everyone knows of St Patrick, but what do we know about him? Simply that it was he who `converted the Irish to Christianity'. The strange fact is that for two hundred years or so after his death, although his name was remembered with respect, everything else about him was forgotten. E.A. Thompson pieces together the story of his life, drawing his evidence from the only real clues that exist, Patrick's own writings, not from the later Lives. He reveals him as coming from a well-to-do nominally Christian family in Britain, being captured by Irish raiders and forced into slavery in Co Mayo, converting to a most earnest Christianity, and eventually escaping from Ireland to the fulfillment of his calling. As a bishop, he is shown to have been a man of profound originality, and his writings - his Confession and his Letter to Coroticus - further display his character. It is no surprise that a host of legends became attached to his name, and the biography is completed with a look at some of those early legends. Preface to paperback edition by COLMAN ETCHINGHAM, Maynooth. E.A. THOMPSON was Professor of Classics at Nottingham University. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

no latin, but still no good for laymen
I got E.A. Thompson's _Patrick_ because it was billed as a book for those interested without Latin. Unfortunately, it did little to sate my curiosity about the man.

This has much to do with the state of "Patricology" as a field. In the 1960's, D.A. Binchy delivered a lecture that convincingly showed that all the secondary sources on St. Patrick were untrustworthy guides to the actual man. This left "Patricologists" with Patrick's two writings, comparative anthropology and archeology to work with.

With so little to go on, Thompson approaches his subject with what amounts to a passage by passage exegesis of _The Confessions_ and _Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus_. The only assumption that Thompson sticks with throughout his book is that Patrick was an awful composer of Latin. Fair enough, after all Patrick confesses the want himself, but you can see how it leaves Thompson room to lean this way or that without much justification. When it's convenient, Patrick is just incomprehensible; other times he "must" have meant x.

Most startling, the exegesis rarely tries to fit the Biblical allusions -- of which Patrick's writings are rife -- into the senses Thompson argues for even though they would seem to be the most obvious clues. Thompson appears to dismiss the great majority of them as a literary convention of the times.

Thompson doesn't even back up his other interpretations consistently by referencing the audience Thompson deduces for each work. This at times leads him to contradictory outcomes.

Also, having read a translation of Patrick's works I wouldn't have guessed that he was such an awful writer. Perhaps his Latin grammar fell way short, but the sense generally seems to come right through, in translation anyway. If Thompson means that Patrick's grammar was off, that would really not mean much vis-a-vis his skill as a writer given that grammar is only a tool for conveying meaning. If you can do so without it, you don't need it. The read also begs the question: how is it that such a miserable piece of prose managed to survive 1500 years when nearly nothing else did? This is especially surprising if, as Thompson argues, Patrick's contemporaries didn't think of him as that much of an august personage. In any case, Thompson does not address this question.

I gave this book three stars because it is plainly written and easy to follow. (Although there are many places where Thompson appears to be addressing his colleagues more than the general reader.) I think you could glean an idea of Patrick and his times by reading E.A.'s book. At times it can be pretty funny, although a tad twee.

Thompson recommends for further reading _The Life and Writings of the Historical St. Patrick_ by R.P.C. Hanson, a layman's version of _St. Patrick: His Origins & Career_, which was published in 1968 and as of 1985 was "likely to hold the field for many a year." I haven't read it so I can't vouch for this. Although it's outdated, I would recommend over Thompson the narrative section of Bury's _The Life of St. Patrick and His Place in Hisory_ for beginners interested in him.

Note: No endnotes, all extra commentary in footnotes. His bibliography doesn't indicate which publications would be good for the Latinless reader. It appears to be addressed to the specialist.

Saint Patrick was not Irish
It is doubtless that Irish medieval Christianity differs from the rest of the Christian world not only because of the difference in the date of Easter or the tonsure's shape. All the historians agree that that was an exceptional type of religiousness. To understand this difference one has to look back to the very beginnings of Irish Christianity and to its founder - St. Patrick. This is a figure about little certain is known. All the knowledge we have we derive from two of his writings Confessio and Epistola ad Coroticum. Thompson in his book discusses line by line these writings speculating about their explicit and implicit meaning. This resembles a deductive work of a detective and requires a broad knowledge not only of history itself, but also geography, theology and mentality as well as of course - medieval Latin and paleography. He also discusses a controversial figure of Palladius in a relation to St. Patrick as well as Coroticus and his conflict with the Saint. This book is addressed to people truly interested in the matter and is a serious, scientific work, one of the most discussed among the historians, yet it is written in a simple, comprehensible way, making reading it a real pleasure for history adepts as well as history students. It discusses all the controversies among the historians about certain details of St. Patrick's life, from the date and place of his birth to his death, so that a reader may not only get to know the author's point of view, but also of other historians, and try to judge him/herself. Thompson, however, is very convincing in his way of writing and gathering evidence justifying his opinions. He also treats the opinions of his opponents - historians with a witty, yet mischievous sense of humor. The author leaves us not only with a broad and detailed knowledge about the Saint but also with some open questions left for further future investigation. ... Read more