No comments about The Last of the Name: Memories of Donegal.

1 comments about The Double Life of Doctor Lopez.

1. From its Joycean opening to its meticulous and affable investigation of the life of Lopez, this book is simply gripping. It's rare to find a writer with so obvious a love of language and such a firm grip on the Elizabethan mileau. If this era is of the slightest interest to you, this book is an essential addition to any self-respecting library.

2 comments about Wellington's War: 2His Peninsular Dispatches.

1. Normally I would give this a 3/4 star review, but as the book isn't likely to be reviewed frequently, I'll give it a 5 to balance the other review.
   Rathbone has taken Wellington's written commentary on the Peninsular War from letters, dispatches, etc, and woven them into a history of the expulsion of the French from the Iberian Penisula by the British, Portugese, and Spanish. Rathbone is indeed enamored of his subject, but rightly so (I'm sure there is plenty of counterbalancing material out there). The story is told in a clear, illuminating fashion, and is exciting until the end.
   I found Wellington as depicted here fascinating in his own words: brilliant, farthinking, strategic, daring, bold. It took a genius to beat the genius of Napoleon.
   This may not be the best material for serious students of this time, but as a contextual supplement to the Cornwell Sharpe series, it is perfec



2. The author is completely in love with Wellington. He refers to Napoleon as "the much overrated General Buonaparte." He doesn't have the courtesy to call him by his prefered name. He describes Wellington's dispatches as a joy to read, whereas they are actually very dull. As far as I can tell, he has his facts right, he just presents them in a very one sided and boring way. Overall, if you need something to start a fire with, this is the book for you.

2 comments about The English Eccentrics.

1. Who but Dame Edith Sitwell could produce such a wonderful send-up of the British, poking fun by speaking the truth as she saw it, in The English Eccentrics. Eccentricity was often simply the Ordinary carried to a high degree of pictorial perfection, Sitwell claims, and thus we get a gifted glimpse of the usually-overlooked obvious.
   
   Of course, there is so much material to work with, it is a wonder the book isn't multi-volumed! Originally published in 1933, it retains much of its vitality and levity despite being two generations (at least) behind the times. Sitwell caught the character of the English Eccentric at a time just before the wholesale decline of Empire, and thus the character portrayed here is a 'standard' one.
   
   'Eccentricity exists particularly in the English, and partly, I think, because of that peculiar and satisfactory knowledge of infallibility that is the hallmark and birthright of the British nation.'
   
   In the relating of small tales and glimpses of life, Sitwell takes us through a history of language usage and abusage, cultural niceties gone awry, personal proclivities taken to extremes, historical remembrances remembered a bit incorrectly, all the while maintaining a strong British 'we know just what we're doing, thank you, and we're doing it quite correctly' attitude.
   
   We find hermits, both ancient and ornamental (the distinction between the two of course being a relative flash that one would think inimical to the hermit-age); quacks and alchemists, some members of the sporting set (we learn of one who, in an attempt to scare the hiccups out of himself, set fire to his nightshirt--of course he was still in it--and was satisfied despite the burns that his hiccups had been vanquished), various other sorts and sets in the land.
   
   Perhaps the most valuable lesson to be learned from this book would the Of the Benefits of Posthumous Fame. Using Milton as the first example, Sitwell proceeds to demonstrate just how this posthumous fame (for the man who sold Paradise Lost for the meagre sum of £20) can be a great boon to all concerned, particularly those who have the foresight to collect locks of hair or write poetry about rummaging through the bone-remains of the dead poet. Of course, there followed in short order a detailed (yet anonymous) description of why the poet could not have actually handled the bones of the poet, not least of which being that as the grave said 1653, and Milton was not in fact buried until 1674, et cetera; thus begins an active correspondence of attempting to prove or disprove in fashion why Milton was not bodily handled.
   
   This is a thoroughly English treatment; like her eccentrics, Sitwell's style of writing is likewise gloriously eccentric. Much will be missed on the first reading, and again the second; by the third reading (should you be so eccentric as to persevere through to such) you will either be so charmed by the writing that you will carry this book around, quoting passages that need context to be understood (and thus be ordained into a minor order of eccentricity yourself) or, you will give the book away to the most tedious of your friends, hoping that the friend will take the hint.
   
   The choice is yours.



2. The inimitable Edith Sitwell, in her jewelled prose, weaves together the threads of assorted strange personages, and the effect is hypnotic. The approach is poetic, oblique, and perhaps not to everyone's taste - and if it were, would you be at all interested? I, for one, was enchanted by her descriptions of, for example, the amphibious Lord Rokeby, the Ornamental Hermits, the dandy Romeo Coates, the rascally William Huntington "the coal-heaver Preacher", the intrepid Squire Waterton, and the ingenious Princess Caraboo, among dozens of others.

   Such understated whimsy within these pages! Such a singular philosophy bound these disparate lives! Read, for example, of the rich Miss Beswick, whose sole concern was that, having passed on, she might not realize it, and that her death "might prove to be only an illusion, a dreamless sleep." And so she left a large sum of money to a certain doctor and his family, "on condition that the doctor should pay her a visit every morning, after what appeared to uninstructed persons, to be her death, in order that he might be assured of the reality of this." Dame Edith dryly notes, "When the Doctor died, the mummified Miss Beswick, that candidate for immortality, was removed to the Lying-in Hospital."

   It's Edith Sitwell's droll, ornate prose, moreso even than the picturesque eccentrics, that make this a book to savor, to read bits of aloud, in the small hours of the night.

   And now the hurled invective: Shame! Shame that this book is out of print! What poverty-stricken, unpoetic times are these?

3 comments about Memoirs of Chaplain Life: 3 Years in the Irish Brigage with the Army of the Potomac (Irish in the Civil War).

1. Father William Corby (1833-1897) of the Congregation of the Holy Cross was a Chaplain in the famous Irish Brigade of the Army of the Potomac. His great moment was giving general absolution to the kneeling soldiers of the Brigade on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg. The famous Paul Henry Wood painting at Notre Dame University captures the scene, so important in America's religious history. So do the statues of Corby at the University and on Hancock Avenue at Gettysburg.
   
   This is Father Corby's memoir of the war, first published in 1893. When the armies clashed, chaplains usually stayed behind the lines and worked in the hospitals, so Father Corby's memoir only lightly focuses on tactics, strategy, or details from the battlefields. Rather, his is mainly a memoir of camps, marches, the hardships of soldier life, and profiles and vignettes of the Brigade's leaders. He shares many stories that give a feel for the Army of the Potomac and the humor of the times. Civil War historians and re-enactors will find his account valuable and fascinating.
   
   Father Corby brought a priest's faith and commitment to the Brigade, and it is these themes that most infuse the book. He records masses in camp and the field; conversations with Catholics, Protestants, and the unchurched; and work with the wounded and dying. Writing letters for illiterate soldiers gave him other insights on life and faith. He ministered to men sentenced to death by military courts and accompanied them on their final walk. In the midst of appalling carnage, he was sustained by knowing he helped many face death in the state of grace.
   
   Father Corby included shorter recollections by other Catholic chaplains in the Union Army in his own book. Editor Lawrence Frederick Korb provided an excellent introduction with a full survey of Corby's life, and he added appendices on the Wood painting and the statues of Corby by Samuel Aloysius Murray.
   
   At the time of the Civil War, Catholics were an often-despised minority in a majority-Protestant nation, and in Chapter IX, Father Corby ringingly condemned "bigots" and affirmed Catholics as true Americans. The scene of Father Corby and the Irish Brigade at Gettysburg was seen by thousands. It softened the hearts of many, and it may now be reckoned a milestone toward an American future of interfaith understanding and respect.
   
   -30-



2. I truly enjoyed the book Memoirs of Chaplain Life by William Corby. Father William Corby, a Catholic, served as a chaplain to the Irish Brigade in the Army of the Potomac. Corby relates the many trials and dangers that he suffers over his three years of service. He tells the stories of narrow escapes from the enemy fire. He ministers to the men, "hears their confession," and often dose duties not required by his being chaplain. The book gives an interesting look into the religious life, as well as everyday camp life in a Civil War Army. I will say that the book is hard to get through, but it is worth the time to read. Father Corby is an interesting character.



3. Father Corby's Irish Brigade memoir provides a very valuable and interesting record of the Civil War. His testimony gives the reader a first-hand account of life in the Church and in the Army.

   In some sections, the memoir is not terribly exciting; it is for the history buff who wants to know more than which general won a given battle. The book tells of the great and small trials of army life. Its value comes from the author's testimony about the lives of the soldiers and their experiences.

   The book will best suit those who possess a knowledge of the war, as Father Corby's passing mention of campaigns and generals' names will be lost on the uninitiated.

   I strongly recommend this book to those interested in Civil War and Irish history.

1 comments about The Wordsworth Book of the Kings & Queens of Britain (Wordsworth Reference) (Wordsworth Reference).

1. This particular reference of the Kings and Queens of Britain provides 2-3 page autobiographies of each monarch from a complete chapter dedicated to the Saxon Kings, and from William the Conqueror to George VI. It provides a breakdown of the eight dynasties that has been seated on the throne from 1066 to 1952 along with detailed family trees for each dynasty. The book also provides detailed maps so the reader can get a visual idea of how Britain was created from the Norman Conquest 1067-72, The Dominions of Henry II Plantagenet 1154-89, to the Hundred Years' War, the War of the Roses, and the Civil War. This reference also has a chapter on Irish kings and a chapter on Scotish kings as well. This reference is good for people who just want a little overview of each king or queen of Britain. For anything deeper, I suggest an individual autobiography for each monarch.

No comments about David Trimble: The Prince Of Peace.

No comments about John Redmond and Irish Unity, 1912-1918 (Irish Studies (Syracuse, N.Y.).).

1 comments about Darwin's Metaphor.

1. This book discusses the origins of Darwin's ideas of competition, natural selection and adaptation in the context of Malthus's socio-economic ideas. See also 'Origins of Mendelism' by R. Olby and 'The Mendellian Revolution' by P. J. Bowler for the contrast with Mendel's ideas. Darwin was influenced by vague ideas from economics, whereas Mendel, who independently laid the groundwork for understanding evolution at the cellular level, started with a foundation in physics.

No comments about Churchill.