No comments about Oliver Cromwell (Very Interesting People S.).

No comments about The Good Soldier: The Biography of Douglas Haig. Gary Mead.

4 comments about White Goats and Black Bees (Classics from the Southwest Ireland Series).

1. Donald Grant and his wife, NY journalists, retire and move to a cottage in Ireland. Their experiences and adjustments to their neighbors, to small scale farming, and to the culture of Ireland makes entertaining reading.
   They learn goat keeping, rabbit raising, and the ways of bees and geese. The evenings chatting in the pub, the village interactions, the local customs and other trivia of daily life make you feel a part of their Irish experience.



2. If you loved Under the Tuscan Sun than you will find a great book here! Donald Grant's book will make you reexamine your life and reorganize your priorities all while providing good reading pleasure. A bit dated as it was written in the 70's, but it is more about finding yourself and the cultural life in rural Ireland.



3. I may be guilty of a little bit of nepetism (Mary Grant being an aunt, a bit removed and seldom seen), but this book has been a family treasure around the house for years. Anyone looking for an inspiring story about a simpler life should look into this one for sure.



4. Donald and Mary Grant, two well paid journalists living in New York City, decide to do a career change in their late 50's. They purchase a cottage sitting on three or four acres, later to become 11 acres, and live off the land. They visit the local Irish Pub on Saturday nights, chat about farm animals, and throughout the year entertain friends from their previous life who thought them totally "bunkers". Donald for added income writes a column for an American newspaper describing their new life. At a time when Americans have had to make career changes late in life, I would highly recommend this book. I think they added to the success of their endeavor by choosing Ireland, for it is definitely a country where nature has it's way. Untamed, perhaps, but also unspoiled. I believe in my heart that the troubles in Ireland should not be and Great Britian should give Northern Ireland it's freedom just as Donald Grant felt after living there. The Irish are unique, pleasantly unique, and should remain so

2 comments about Mary Queen of Scots.

1. This is a wonderful book about the Queen of Scotland! I was in Edinburgh, Scotland a couple months ago, and saw this book. It contains wonderful pictures and is well-written! Great book for anyone interested in the Mary Queen of Scots!



2. What an excellent addition to a library dedicated to Mary of Scotland. This book covered her life in a beautiful way, what with portraits (done during her life and modern), pictures of the places she lived, and members of her court. Although every detail of Mary's life just couldn't be incorporated into this book, there was enough to help a person see the time that she lived in and, perhaps, what motivated her to do some of the things she did. For a thorough understanding of her days, please enjoy the grand bio of her by Antonia Fraser. For a quick synopsis of her life, this coffee-table style edition is just wonderful.

1 comments about A Muslim Woman in Tito's Yugoslavia (Eastern European Studies (College Station, Tex.), No. 24.).

1. Ably translated by Thomas J. Butler and Saba Risaluddin, A Muslim Woman In Tito's Yugoslavia by Munevera Hadzisehovic is the gripping and true story of a woman who observed first hand the horrific Serbian injustice toward Muslims; the callousness of the Communist Party toward a hard-working citizenry, as well as the detrimental and destabilizing effects of an intolerant state government. A gripping, dark, and forcefully honest presentation of social ills from a personal point of view, A Muslim Woman In Tito's Yugoslavia is recommended for inclusion in Islamic Studies, International Studies, and 20th Century European History reference library collections.

1 comments about Neil Lennon: Man and Bhoy.

1. Neil comes across as being very honest in this book. It is a good read. However, he states that Willie Thorns was a former world snooker champion. This is incorrect as Willie Thorne never was. He mentions that Martin O'Neil won 64 caps playing for Northern Ireland where, approx. 15 pages later, Martin O'Neil goes onto explain to another player in front of Neil Lennon what he won as a player, including winning 62 caps playing for Northern Ireland. When I read inconsistencies like this, the credibility of the book drops & starts to disappoint me. If you don't mind such inconsistencies, then read the book, as you will enjoy it.

1 comments about The Butcher: The Duke of Cumberland and the Suppression of the 45.

1. I originally bought this book to get my information about the Duke of Cumberland. Although it talks of Cumberland, he is but one of the many people viewed in this book. Mr. Speck gives us the events and political actions of the rebellion of 45 and the culmination of "the forty-five" at Culloden. It main focus is to show that the rebellion was not widely supported at all. That the highland army massed about the Young Pretender was relatively large; they represented a small minority when compared to greater Scotland. Mr. Speck shows that the Rebellion although feared was not supported and with any amount of resistance by George II and his administration it would have crumbled anyway. Many modern historians seem to romanticize the Young Pretender and his run through Scotland but we see more of the follies he lead and the fluff created by time. We also see that due to the "Aggressive" prosecution of the battle of Culloden the Jacobite rebellion all but ended and another rebellion never occurred. Good book. A bit tedious at times but nice to see a new point of view on an old and very important event in the history of Great Britain and especially Scotland and the Jacobites.

No comments about The Village of Cannibals: Rage and Murder in France, 1870.

1 comments about Ludwig Erhard: A Biography.

1. Ludwig Erhard is not exactly a household name, either in the world of economics or politics. But this great man was economics minister, and eventually the chancellor of West Germany from after the war until 1966.
   
   His faults mainly lie in the areas of not being a man of detail and his intense dislike of the political 'beast'.
   
   His strengths all focus around his unswerving comittment to free market economics as the prescription for the creation of national wealth and freedom.
   
   This books tells a fascinating story about a fascinating man who was possessed by noble ideas and ideals, and who achieved much.
   
   This book made me antisocial for a couple of days. A great buy!

No comments about God's Eugenicist: Alexis Carrel And the Sociobiology of Decline (Monographs in French Studies).