No comments about Guns, Kites and Horses: Three Diaries from the Western Front.

2 comments about Martin McGuinness: From Guns to Government.

1. Liam Clarke and Kathryn Johnston are journalists who have covered the political conflict in Northern Ireland for many years. This is a biography of one of the central characters in the IRA. The authors give some description of the times - poverty, commercial discrimination, political gerrymandering - which convinced a significant minority of the nationalist population that Northern Ireland had to change radically. They give some coverage to the reasons given by various militant Republicans - McGuinness among them - for taking up arms, mainly that the reaction of the British (and Unionist) state to the struggle for Civil Rights was violent and had to be met with violence.
   However it is plain that Clarke and Johnston see the thirty years of IRA violence and the thousands of lives which were lost as purely futile and corrupting. They have no basic tolerance for the reasons given for the continuation of armed struggle and, as such, their opinions become front and centre of this biography. Their basic argument is that the deal which brought about the Good Friday Agreement was little different from the deal on offer twenty five years previously at Sunningdale and that the intervening years had seen thousands of people killed, maimed and jailed. They further point out that the only difference between the two agreements was the participation of Sinn Fein and infer, therefore that the violence was really a struggle for power within the nationist community; which Sinn Fein won, at the price of given up their revolutionary aspirations.
   
   While most or all of this may be true, this belief sets the tone for the book itself, and paints McGuinness as cynical, ruthless, effective mainly in self-preservation. The interviews serve mainly to emphasise these traits, and I think ultimately turns the reader away from the views espoused. I was also not convinced that McGuinness provided the key thinking on the various changes in strategy that the movement took over years, though the authors seem to think McGuinness greatly influenced these moves. I did not find the evidence convincing - indeed it seemed to me that McGuinness is more an executor (pun intended) than a strategist.
   
   The book is extremely effective in highlighting the callous, ruthlessness of most of the IRA operations, the ineffectual nature of the campaign led to more and more civilian deaths, the effectiveness of the British authorities led to a widening of the catagories of IRA `legitimate targets' to encompass anyone who dealt with the authorities, and yet more and more innocents were being killed.
   There is a book to be written on whether the Sinn Fein leadership are the ultimate cynical politicians, using violence for publicity for over thirty years , and ultimately using the promise of peace to extort votes and a measure of political power. There is also a view that a movement which started in rage and wanted revolution, moved slowly and painfully towards politics having exhausted every other possibility (and at a fearful price in innocent blood). It also needs to be recognized that that IRA did not possess the only (or even an effective ) veto on political progress in Northern Ireland, however their actions justified a Unionist veto for longer than it might otherwise have lasted.
   This book is written from too convinced a political viewpoint to be an effective biography, and as such I am sorry I read it. A much more effective and convincing book on the evolution of Sinn Fein is `The Secret History of the IRA' by Ed Moloney, Read that instead.



2. Be aware that this book is entirely compiled of statements and claims that are highly disapproved of by the man himself Martin McGuinness whom highly disapproved of the book's release.

   I was misled by a review I'd read of the book and mistook it for a fair coverage of the man McGuinness.

   I found this book to be tongue in cheek bias against it's claimed topic and not at all worthy of any attention whatsoever.
   Too many references not based in truths to mention.

   It is obviously a book to put McGuinness in a certain light and not at all to provide unbiased or balanced info.

   More a work of dogma about the figure of the man than anything of historically accurate value.

   A huge disappointment.

1 comments about Mathematics With Love: The Courtship Correspondence of Barnes Wallis, Inventor of the Bouncing Bomb.

1. If you watch the History Channel very much you will inevitably see a film clip of a rotating, garbage can looking, device being dropped from an airplane and see it skipping across the water. This was the bomb invented by Barnes Wallis to take out the Ruhr dams in Germany.
   
   On April 23rd, 1922 Barnes met Molly. They began to write to each other, at her father's insistence they could only correspond if he used the letters to teach her mathematics. So he taught her calculus.
   
   He proposed on Thursday December 21st 1922. She accepted on Friday September 12th 1924. They married April 23rd 1925. They were married for fifty years.
   
   This is an absolutely delightful book from a time long past. I can only imagine if I told my daughter that her boyfriend could only correspond with her if he were using the letters to teach mathematics.

No comments about Berlin Witness: An American Diplomat's Chronicle of East Germany's Revolution.

No comments about Emily Bronte: Heretic.

2 comments about The Reign of Arthur: From History to Legend.

1. In this book Christopher Gidlow manages to take a genuinely fresh look at the material for an historical Arthur. Unlike many "real Arthur" enthusiasts (from John Morris to P.F.J. Turner) he does not make the mistake of assuming that any scrap of material from Welsh legend that is not obviously false must contain a germ of truth. But also unlike most modern professional historians (e.g. Nick Higham) he does not dismiss any reference to Arthur (or even to a 5th/6th century British revival) as being fiction simply *because* it mentions (or was later associated with) Arthur.
   
   What Gidlow does do, in the first half this book, is to argue pretty convincingly that there is no reason not to trust the early (pre-11th century) Welsh records of Arthur. These ascribe him several victories in Britain against the Saxons (most notably at Badon) and also a final fatal battle with Medraut at Camlann. Gidlow also analyses the writings of the 6th century British monk Gildas (who doesn't mention Arthur) to find new clues about the role and influence of Arthur in Britain.
   
   The second half of Gidlow's book is an analysis of how the Arthurian legend developed in the 11th and 12th centuries. This is not as well written, nor (for me) as interesting as the first half of the book. Nevertheless I learned quite a lot from this part, even if it did contain some errors (such as describing Liberius as Justinian's general in southern France; in his long and convoluted career he arguably acted as *Theodoric*'s general in southern France, and as Justinian's general in southern *Spain*.)
   
   Another minor shortcoming of the book is that Gidlow does not directly address the recent arguments of Higham in "King Arthur: Myth Making and History". I'm thinking in particular of Higham's claim that the description of Arthur in Nennius (9th century) was artfully constructed to serve a particular role in a biblically inspired narrative, and therefore not to be taken as in any way historical. But perhaps this is too much to expect from Gidlow, since "The Reign of Arthur" was published only two years after Higham's book.
   
   To sum up, Gidlow's book should be read by all those who are seriously interested in the real history of Britain in the 5th and 6th centuries. However, I would not recommend it to someone who wants a first introduction to this period. For a beginner, I would recommend "Kings and Queens of Early Britain" by Geoffrey Ashe, which covers the Arthurian period as well as the centuries before and after. Ashe has his own particular theories about Arthur, and (given the book's scope) the analysis is much lighter than Gidlow's. But he writes well, discussing in parallel the history and the legends with remarkable success.



2. Many Arthurian enthusiasts have attempted to identify the one and true original for the man who became the center of so much legend, the genuine King Arthur. Working from Welsh poems and Medieval tales, such writers have come up with a myriad of answers to the question: "Who was the real Arthur?" He was from Scotland, from Wales, from Cornwall. He was an overking, a minor king, a mere leader of a small warband. But while such studies in popular history have been churned out year by year, academic historians in recent decades have been largely dismissive of the notion of a historical original, instead contending that the figure of Arthur was wholly mythical, the legends contaminating the few ancient sources (such as Nennius and Bede) that mention him. Yet, such dismissal of a historical Arthur by many academics seems to be something of a matter of faith in iteself, with little being published on the subject.
   
   But what do the ancient sources really say and, at least equally importantly, what can we understand about their reliability? Should we blythely accept the modern academic disdain for a genuine Arthur? These are the questions addressed by Christopher Gidlow in "The Reign of Arthur". Gidlow is an Oxford-trained professional historian with a longtime interest in Arthur. The first half of his book is a source-by-source analysis of the evidence -- Y Gododdin, Gildas, Bede, Nennius, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Annals of Wales. And consistently Gidlow concludes that the sources do support the existence of a real Arthur sometime around the end of the Fifth Century CE, a military leader -- perhaps a king or perhaps not -- who led British forces to victory at Badon over the Saxons, a real core about which the later legends were added. Carefully Gidlow explains the regional origins and limitations of the sources and what we can expect to find and not find. I found his exploration of Gildas's De Excidio Britanniae to be especially illuminating.
   
   The second half of "The Reign of Arthur" is devoted to those later writings when the legend was almost hiding the historical original, such as in various "Lives of Saints" and most especially Geoffrey of Monmounth's work. There is less here about the historical Arthur to be revealed, but Gidlow's analyses are nonetheless instructive.
   
   "The Reign of Arthur" should be read by anyone with a serious interest in the question of whether or not such a man ever existed. It does not seek to provide a specific identity in a specific site, as do so many of the popular history works in this field, but Gidlow's book puts the search for Arthur upon much firmer ground.

No comments about Crowdie and Cream and Other Stories.

4 comments about Wheelchair Around the World.

1. I found this book extremely disappointing. The title suggested one would read about the author's experiences as a wheelchair traveler, the obstacles faced, the solutions available, and the recommendations to other such travelers. Instead, the author was healthy, and although his wife had a physical impairment, she did not appear to be disabled (her activities of daily living were not restricted). She did use a wheelchair, but she was not wheelchair-dependent. The book suggested she could walk, climb steps, use normal restrooms, drive, use normal hotel rooms, and public transportation, where a truly wheelchair-dependent individual can do none of these. The book is not focused on `wheelchair travel'; just on `travel'. As such, the title is misleading to wheelchair-dependent individuals who are considering travel, as it presents a rosy picture that I do not find realistic. I am an internist who has been wheelchair-dependent for a long time, and who has also traveled considerably. I am not a pessimist; it can be done, but it requires enormous, pre-trip, homework and planning to the smallest detail, a very large checkbook, and a very strong and very, very loving companion. I just returned from two weeks in Europe and this is some of what I found:

   * Transferring from your wheelchair to an aisle chair to get to and from your seat is very cumbersome and time consuming. Allow ample time for connecting flights.
   * Airplanes' restrooms are not wheelchair accessible; a transatlantic flight is a real challenge in this sense. A `Foley' leg bag could help.
   * My wheelchair was totally wrecked on arriving at our destination. Consider taking a backup.
   * I could not find one single wheelchair accessible restroom in London's Gatwick airport. Again, consider the leg bag.
   * Access to public transport such as buses, trains, and boats is extremely limited to very new ones with adequate ramps, etc. do your homework before you leave, and not on airport arrival. I frequently had to rely on limo services. Taxis are frequently reluctant to load the wheelchair in the trunk.
   * There are steps everywhere and few curb cuts. A travel chair with four small wheels handles much better than your standard wheelchair.
   * There are few wheelchair accessible restaurant restrooms. Do your homework.
   * Wheelchair accessible hotel rooms in Europe frequently address the toilet but not the bathing facilities. Ask before booking, or bathing will be a mayor obstacle. Usually, the newer, more expensive hotels offer better facilities.
   * Cruise ship gangplanks are usually in steps, impossible to manage in a wheelchair. There are bumps and lips everywhere in the floor of most ships. Again, the travel chair is helpful- not the wheelchair.
   * Many of the monuments, churches, etc. are simply not accessible and you will have to limit yourself to watching from your vehicle.
   * The Americans With Disabilities Act does not apply to Europe. What may be your right in America is merely a courtesy in Europe. Don't expect to be moved to the front of the line everywhere.
   * Avoid arrivals at night when services are limited.

   Good luck!




2. "Wheelchair Around the World is the Simpsons' inspirational story of how this husband and wife team fulfilled their lifelong dream to travel around the world. A light, entertaining travel log, Wheelchair Around the World is a daily account of the couple's adventures-and-misadventures-from the glorious sights they visited to the obstacles they faced due to Anne's handicap. Through stunning photos and vivid detail, Simpson teases each of our senses, beginning with images of Ireland's dazzling spray-covered Cliffs of Moher, Hawaii's breathtaking volcanoes, and the daunting height of Japan's infamous Mt. Fuji. The Simpsons' advice serves as a resourceful guide for all, yet their story exudes an addictive spirit of adventure and faith in God that makes Wheelchair Around the World a motivational, delightfully fun read." Malverne, NY National Amputation Chapter #76, Disabled American Veterans. About the Author: A resident of North Carolina, he has written travel articles for "Fifty Plus" and has served as editor and publisher of the North Raleigh Gideons International Newsletter. A retired IBM information developer, he is a former IBM instructor and a lay speaker at a local Methodist Church.



3. Life wont stop me either,just like Anne.Painful as life might be they proved you can never give up! When is the next book due?



4. At the NC Writer's Network conference, I saw others pick up this book, published by Pentland Press, and found that they were just as intrigued as me by the fact the book offers a new glimpse of travel in a very difficult fashion. The book offers hope and sound advice for the senior traveler as well as a profound wealth of knowledge for the young traveler based on the experiences supplied by this couple who love travel. Each and every part of the book exmplifies their love for adventure and travel. I hope to see more writings by this author.

No comments about Jack's World: Farming on the Sheep's Head Peninsula, 1920-2003.

No comments about Catholic Queen, Protestant Patriarchy: Mary Queen of Scots and the Politics of Gender and Religion.