Thomas D'Arcy McGee: Passion, Reason, and Politics, 1825-1857, the first volume in a two-part biography, explores the development of those principles in Ireland and the United States. From his early temperance speeches in Wexford, Ireland, David Wilson follows McGee across the Atlantic, where at nineteen he became the editor of America's leading Irish newspaper, and traces his subsequent involvement with the Young Ireland movement, his reactions to the Famine, and his role in the Rising of 1848.

Final Exam A Memoir is a fascinating and witty story of an active and observant pilgrim in the middle of the Twentieth Century. The author, David Wilson, Professor Emeritus, at the University of California Los Angeles, reveals in detail his memories throughout his life. Peripatetic from the start he was born in Rockford, IL., grew up to ten in La Grange; then lived a few years in upstate New York and Toledo, OH. He served in the US Navy in WW II. In the subsequent years he traveled widely and was swept into the struggle against McCarthyism and the turbulence on campuses in the 1960s. The memoir also throws light on the growth of foreign area studies, particularly Southeast Asia, where he lived for many years. As a professor he was not only active in teaching and research but also in university politics and administration. Professor Wilson is the author of books and articles about Thailand and also about higher education. The story will be interesting to the author’s contemporaries as well as younger readers.

The nine contributors in this book argue otherwise - and in doing so make a major and original contribution to our understanding of the Irish experience in Canada and the place of Irish-Canadian nationalism within an international context. Focusing on the period 1820 to 1920, they examine political, religious, and cultural expressions of Irish-Canadian nationalism as it responded to Irish events and Canadian politics. They also look at tensions within the movement between those who argued that Ireland should share the same freedom that Canada enjoyed within the British Empire and revolutionary republicans who wanted to liberate both Ireland and Canada from the yoke of British imperialism.

The expansion of the British Empire during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries created the greatest mass migration in human history, in which the Irish and Scots played a central, complex, and controversial role. The essays in this volume explore the diverse encounters Irish and Scottish migrants had with Indigenous peoples in North America and Australasia. The Irish and Scots were among the most active and enthusiastic participants in what one contributor describes as "the greatest single period of land theft, cultural pillage, and casual genocide in world history." At the same time, some settlers attempted to understand Indigenous society rather than destroy it, while others incorporated a romanticized view of Natives into a radical critique of European society, and others still empathized with Natives as fellow victims of imperialism. These essays investigate the extent to which the condition of being Irish and Scottish affected settlers' attitudes to Indigenous peoples, and examine the political, social, religious, cultural, and economic dimensions of their interactions. Presenting a variety of viewpoints, the editors reach the provocative conclusion that the Scottish and Irish origins of settlers were less important in determining attitudes and behaviour than were the specific circumstances in which those settlers found themselves at different times and places in North America, Australia and New Zealand. Contributors include J. M. Bumsted (Manitoba), Edward J. Cowan (Glasgow), George Dalgleish (National Museums of Scotland), Marjory Harper (Aberdeen), H.P. Klepak (Royal Military College of Canada), Gillian I. Leitch (Montréal), Roderick MacLeod (McGill), Douglas McCalla (Guelph), Heather McNabb (McCord Museum of Canadian History), Irena Murray (Royal Institute of British Architects), Jock Murray (Dalhousie), Cath Oberholtzer (Trent University), Eileen Stack (McCord Museum of Canadian History), René Villeneuve (National Gallery of Canada), and Suzanne Zeller (Wilfrid Laurier).

To realize his vision, McGee became a strong supporter of the "new northern nationality." A spellbinding orator who emerged as the youngest and most intellectually gifted of the Fathers of Confederation, he fought what he saw as the atavistic and intolerant elements of Canadian life - the Orange Order, with its strident anti-Catholicism; the opponents of separate schools, whom he viewed as enemies of minority rights; and above all the Fenian Brotherhood, with its dreams of revolutionizing Ireland and annexing Canada to the United States. Convinced that compromise with Fenianism was impossible, he set out to destroy the movement through a strategy of confrontation and polarization - channeling his earlier extreme tendencies in the service of moderation and attempting to reduce the influence of Fenianism within his own community. In the process, he alienated many of his former supporters, who came to regard him as a traitor who sacrificed the cause of Irish nationalism on the altar of personal ambition. On 7 April 1868, McGee was assassinated on the doorstep of his Ottawa boarding house. As someone who took an uncompromising stand against militants within his own ethno-religious community, and who attempted to balance core values with minority rights, McGee has become increasingly relevant in today's complex multicultural society.

Although James Joyce began these stories of Dublin life in 1904, when he was 22, and had completed them by the end of 1907, they remained unpublished until 1914 — victims of Edwardian squeamishness. Their vivid, tightly focused observations of the life of Dublin's poorer classes, their unconventional themes, coarse language, and mention of actual people and places made publishers of the day reluctant to undertake sponsorship.
Today, however, the stories are admired for their intense and masterly dissection of "dear dirty Dublin," and for the economy and grace with which Joyce invested this youthful fiction. From "The Sisters," the first story, illuminating a young boy's initial encounter with death, through the final piece, "The Dead," considered a masterpiece of the form, these tales represent, as Joyce himself explained, a chapter in the moral history of Ireland that would give the Irish "one good look at themselves." But in the end the stories are not just about the Irish; they represent moments of revelation common to all people.
Now readers can enjoy all 15 stories in this inexpensive collection, which also functions as an excellent, accessible introduction to the work of one of the 20th century's most influential writers. Dubliners is reprinted here, complete and unabridged, from a standard edition.

A magisterial account of one of the worst disasters to strike humankind--the Great Irish Potato Famine--conveyed as lyrical narrative history from the acclaimed author of The Great Mortality

Deeply researched, compelling in its details, and startling in its conclusions about the appalling decisions behind a tragedy of epic proportions, John Kelly's retelling of the awful story of Ireland's great hunger will resonate today as history that speaks to our own times.

It started in 1845 and before it was over more than one million men, women, and children would die and another two million would flee the country. Measured in terms of mortality, the Great Irish Potato Famine was the worst disaster in the nineteenth century--it claimed twice as many lives as the American Civil War. A perfect storm of bacterial infection, political greed, and religious intolerance sparked this catastrophe. But even more extraordinary than its scope were its political underpinnings, and The Graves Are Walking provides fresh material and analysis on the role that Britain's nation-building policies played in exacerbating the devastation by attempting to use the famine to reshape Irish society and character. Religious dogma, anti-relief sentiment, and racial and political ideology combined to result in an almost inconceivable disaster of human suffering.

This is ultimately a story of triumph over perceived destiny: for fifty million Americans of Irish heritage, the saga of a broken people fleeing crushing starvation and remaking themselves in a new land is an inspiring story of revival.

Based on extensive research and written with novelistic flair, The Graves Are Walking draws a portrait that is both intimate and panoramic, that captures the drama of individual lives caught up in an unimaginable tragedy, while imparting a new understanding of the famine's causes and consequences.

The volume comprises lightly annotated translation of a key medieval Arabic text that bears directly on the Crusades and Crusader society and the Muslim experience of them.

Gun-for-hire James 'Ash' Ashcroft thought he'd left Iraq behind. Last time he only got out alive thanks to the bravery of his interpreter and friend Sammy. But now a call for help means Ash must once again face the chaos of war-torn Baghdad - and this time there's no pay cheque. Abandoned by the occupying Coalition Forces, Sammy and his family face certain death at the hands of the Shia-dominated Iraqi Police and the death squads that roam the streets unless Ash and his team can get in and get them to safety over the border. This is the action-packed story of their audacious escape from Baghdad. It is a gripping account of the chaos of war, where the only thing that can be relied upon is the bond between former brothers-in-arms.

'...from time to time a study comes along that truly can be called ‘path breaking,’ ‘seminal,’ ‘essential,’ a ‘must read.’ How the Irish Became White is such a study.' John Bracey, W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies, University of Massachussetts, Amherst

The Irish came to America in the eighteenth century, fleeing a homeland under foreign occupation and a caste system that regarded them as the lowest form of humanity. In the new country – a land of opportunity – they found a very different form of social hierarchy, one that was based on the color of a person’s skin. Noel Ignatiev’s 1995 book – the first published work of one of America’s leading and most controversial historians – tells the story of how the oppressed became the oppressors; how the new Irish immigrants achieved acceptance among an initially hostile population only by proving that they could be more brutal in their oppression of African Americans than the nativists. This is the story of How the Irish Became White.

More than four hundred years after his death, Sir Francis Drake remains one of the legendary figures of history. His career is one of the most colourful on record. The most daring of the corsairs who raided the West Indies and Spanish Main, he led the English into the Pacific, and cirumnavigated the world to bring home the Golden Hind laden with Spanish treasure. His attacks on Spanish cities and ships transformed his private war into a struggle for surivival between Protestant England and Catholic Spain, in which he became Elizabeth I's most prominent admiral. His exploits marked the emergence of England as a major maritime nation.

This classic study by a distinguished scholar recounts the ancient tales of Ireland and Wales. Written in a highly readable style, it will delight neophytes as well as those well versed in Celtic folklore with its lively tales of romance and love, of war and carnage, and of deeds both noble and villainous.
Illustrations from rare sources enhance this treasury of lore and its stories of the strife and mythic powers of the gods, their loves and aid to mortals, and of famous heroes, pagans, and Christians of antiquity. John Arnott MacCulloch, a former canon of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit and author of several books relating to the Celtic culture, discusses the coexistence of paganism and Christianity and their influences on each other, particularly in regard to the heroic cycles of Cuchulainn, Fionn, and Arthur.

The perfect St. Patrick's Day gift, and a book in the best tradition of popular history -- the untold story of Ireland's role in maintaining Western culture while the Dark Ages settled on Europe.

Every year millions of Americans celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but they may not be aware of how great an influence St. Patrick was on the subsequent history of civilization. Not only did he bring Christianity to Ireland, he instilled a sense of literacy and learning that would create the conditions that allowed Ireland to become "the isle of saints and scholars" -- and thus preserve Western culture while Europe was being overrun by barbarians.

In this entertaining and compelling narrative, Thomas Cahill tells the story of how Europe evolved from the classical age of Rome to the medieval era. Without Ireland, the transition could not have taken place. Not only did Irish monks and scribes maintain the very record of Western civilization -- copying manuscripts of Greek and Latin writers, both pagan and Christian, while libraries and learning on the continent were forever lost -- they brought their uniquely Irish world-view to the task.

As Cahill delightfully illustrates, so much of the liveliness we associate with medieval culture has its roots in Ireland. When the seeds of culture were replanted on the European continent, it was from Ireland that they were germinated.

In the tradition of Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror, How The Irish Saved Civilization reconstructs an era that few know about but which is central to understanding our past and our cultural heritage. But it conveys its knowledge with a winking wit that aptly captures the sensibility of the unsung Irish who relaunched civilization.

BONUS MATERIAL: This ebook edition includes an excerpt from Thomas Cahill's Heretics and Heroes.

Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher

Lonely Planet Montreal & Quebec City is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Stroll down the cobblestone streets of Old Montreal, cycle through the Parc des Champs de Bataille, or enjoy the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of Montreal and Quebec City and begin your journey now!

Inside Lonely Planet Montreal & Quebec City Travel Guide:

Full-color maps and images throughout Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss Cultural insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - including customs, history, art, literature, cinema, music, architecture, and politics Free, convenient pull-out Montreal & Quebec City map (included in print version), plus over 28 color neighborhood maps Covers Old Montreal, Downtown, Plateau Mont-Royal, Little Italy, Mile End, Outremont, and more

eBook Features: (Best viewed on tablet devices and smartphones)

Downloadable PDF and offline maps prevent roaming and data charges Effortlessly navigate and jump between maps and reviews Add notes to personalise your guidebook experience Seamlessly flip between pages Bookmarks and speedy search capabilities get you to key pages in a flash Embedded links to recommendations' websites Zoom-in maps and images Inbuilt dictionary for quick referencing

The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet Montreal & Quebec City , our most comprehensive guide to Montreal and Quebec City, is perfect for both exploring top sights and taking roads less traveled.

Looking for more extensive coverage? Check out our Lonely Planet Canada guide for a comprehensive look at all the country has to offer, or Lonely Planet Discover Canada, a photo-rich guide to the country's most popular attractions.

Authors: Written and researched by Lonely Planet.

About Lonely Planet: Since 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel media company with guidebooks to every destination, an award-winning website, mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveler community. Lonely Planet covers must-see spots but also enables curious travelers to get off beaten paths to understand more of the culture of the places in which they find themselves.

All Standing The Remarkable Story of the Jeanie Johnston, the Legendary Irish Famine Ship recounts the journeys of this famous ship, her heroic crew, and the immigrants who were ferried between Ireland and North America. Spurred by a complex web of motivations—shame, familial obligation, and sometimes even greed—more than a million people attempted to flee the Irish famine. More than one hundred thousand of them would die aboard one of the five thousand aptly named “coffin ships.” But in the face of horrific losses, a small ship named the Jeanie Johnston never lost a passenger. Shipwright John Munn, community leader Nicholas Donovan, Captain James Attridge, Dr. Richard Blennerhassett, and the efforts of a remarkable crew allowed thousands of people to find safety and fortune throughout the United States and Canada.

Why did these individuals succeed when so many others failed? What prompted them to act, when so many people preferred to do nothing—or worse? Using newspaper accounts, rare archival documents, and her own experience sailing as an apprentice aboard the recently re-created Jeanie Johnston, Kathryn Miles tells the story of these extraordinary people and the revolutionary milieu in which they set sail. The tale of each individual is remarkable in and of itself; read collectively, their stories paint a unique portrait of bravery in the face of a new world order. Theirs is a story of ingenuity and even defiance, one that recounts a struggle to succeed, to shake the mantle of oppression and guilt, to endure in the face of unimaginable hardship. On more than one occasion, stewards of the ship would be accused of acting out of self-interest or greed. Nevertheless, what these men—and their ship—accomplished over the course of eleven voyages to North America was the stuff of legend.

Interwoven in their tale is the story of Nicholas Reilly, a baby boy born on the ship’s maiden voyage. The Reilly family climbed aboard the Jeanie Johnston in search of the American Dream. While they would find some version of that dream, it would not be without a struggle—one that would deposit Nicholas into a deeply controversial moment in American history. Against this backdrop, Miles weaves a thrilling, intimate narrative, chronicling the birth of a remarkable Irish-American family in the face of one of the planet’s greatest human rights atrocities.

Compellingly written and even-handed in its judgments, this is by far the clearest account of what has happened through the years in the Northern Ireland conflict, and why. After a chapter of background on the period from 1921 to 1963, it covers the ensuing period—the descent into violence, the hunger strikes, the Anglo-Irish accord, the bombers in England—to the present shaky peace process. Behind the deluge of information and opinion about the conflict, there is a straightforward and gripping story. Mr. McKittrick and Mr. McVea tell that story clearly, concisely, and, above all, fairly, avoiding intricate detail in favor of narrative pace and accessible prose. They describe and explain a lethal but fascinating time in Northern Ireland's history, which brought not only death, injury, and destruction but enormous political and social change. They close on an optimistic note, convinced that while peace—if it comes—will always be imperfect, a corner has now been decisively turned. The book includes a detailed chronology, statistical tables, and a glossary of terms.

A rip-roaring ride through the history of the Emerald Isle

Ireland’s story is an amazingly dramatic and intense one – and today the influence of Irish culture can be felt around the globe. This book helps you find out why, taking you on a rollercoaster journey through the highs and lows of Ireland’s past including invasions, battles, executions, religious divide, uprisings, emigration – and Riverdance!

Mike Cronin is a lecturer at the Centre for Irish Programmes, Boston College, Dublin. He has written 5 books on Irish history.

Discover:

When and how Ireland became Celtic Ireland and Britain’s complex relationship The evolution of Irish culture How Irish emigration has affected the world Northern Ireland’s rocky road to peace

The date was Good Friday, April 23rd in the Year of Our Lord 1014. The most ferocious battle ever fought in Ireland was about to begin...

In the three decades since Morgan Llyweyln wrote the bestselling novel Lion of Ireland, she has studied the legendary life of Brian Boru, High King of Ireland. Often dismissed as a mythical figure, as all the known facts about him are contained within the several Irish annals. But thirty years of research have led Llyweyln to conclude with certainty that Brian Boru actually lived, a great battle took place in 1014: and Ireland won.

Read about the life of Brian Boru and the battle that changed the course of Irish history in this exciting and accessible account.

This splendidly illustrated study by the distinguished Celticist T. W. Rolleston masterfully retells the great Celtic myths and illuminates the world that spawned them. Focusing principally on Irish myths, the book first takes up the history and religion of the Celts, the myths of the Irish invasion and the early Milesian kings.
What follows is pure enchantment as you enter the timeless world of heroic tales centered around the Ulster king Conor mac Nessa and the Red Branch Order of chivalry (Ultonian cycle). These are followed by the tales of the Ossianic cycle, which center on the figure of Finn mac Cumhal, whose son Oisín (or Ossian) was a poet and warrior, and the traditional author of most of the tales. Next comes a summary of the Voyage of Maeldūn, a brilliant and curious piece of invention that exemplifies the genre of "wonder-voyages" — adventures purely in the region of romance, out of earthly space and time. Finally, the author recounts a selection of the myths and tales of the Cymry (Welsh).
In these pages, readers will delight in the favorite and familiar tales of Cuchulain, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, the Grail, Deirdre, and many more figures that haunt the shadowy, twilight world of Celtic legend. The magic of that world is further brought to life in more than 50 imaginative full-page illustrations by Stephen Reid, Arthur G. Bell, and the famed illustrator J. C. Leyendecker. Reprinted here in its first paperback edition, Celtic Myths and Legends also includes several helpful genealogical tables: Gods of the House of Dōn, Gods of the House of Llyr, and Arthur and His Kin, as well as a useful glossary.

Each summer all over the world, gigantic and magnificent works of art are sculpted in fields of wheat, barley and other crops. Usually formed under the veil of darkness, in the few short hours between sunset and sunrise, they become visible as the mists of early morning evaporate under the rays of the sun. But are they elaborate hoaxes or eternal mysteries? World authorities, Karen and Steve Alexander reveal that hidden within the proportions and shapes of many of these spectacular designs are measures and harmonies that have been used for thousands of years in the creation of sacred and holy spaces. This ancient way of using design, measure and proportion is explored here to the full. Sacred geometry, numerology and other mustical concepts long forgotten in modern design are discussed alongside the crop circles in which they have been found. The result is a groundbreaking book that reaches to the heart of these mysteroius creations. Synopsis: The intriguing question hangs on every tongue: are they untouched by human hand? The market remains strong because crop circles are so compelling and because they make this a most beautiful book! There are no other books that focus on the aesthetics of these wonderful creations. Log on to the authors' site to see the full potential of this book. This is a full colour, lavishly illustrated photographic tour de force of crop circle designs. It discusses the fascinating link between the circles' shapes and the concept of Sacred Art and other New Age philosophies. The stunning images are provided by Steve Alexander, who files over the enormous patterns created in the crops, and photographs them within the context of their landscape. His wife Karen describes and explains the meanings of each symbol, and analyses them within the framework of Sacred Art - the spiritual creativity inspired by the world around us.

Compiled in one book, the essential collection of Celtic folklore:
Legends and Stories of Ireland- Samuel Lover
Glossary
King O'Toole and St Kevin
Lough Corrib
A Legend of Lough Mask
The White Trout
The Battle of the Berrins; or, the Double Funeral
Father Roach
The Priest's Story
The King and the Bishop
Jimmy the Fool
The Catastrophe
The Devil's Mill
The Gridiron; or Paddy Mullowney's Travels in France
Paddy the Piper
The Priest's Ghost
New Potatoes
Paddy the Sport
The White Horse of the Peppers
The Legend of the Little Weaver of Duleek Gate
Conclusion of the White Horse of the Peppers
The Curse of Kishogue
The Fairy Finder
Cuchulain of Muirthemne- Lady Gregory
Preface by W. B. Yeats
I. Birth of Cuchulain
II. Boy Deeds of Cuchulain
III. Courting of Emer
IV. Bricrius Feast
V. The Championship of Ulster
VI. The High King of Ireland
VII. Fate of the Sons of Usnach
VIII. Dream of Angus Og
IX. Cruachan
X. The Wedding of Maine Morgor
XI. The War for the Bull of Cuilagne
XII. Awakening of Ulster
XIII. The Two Bulls
XIV. The Only Jealously of Emer
XV. Advice to a Prince
XVI. Sons of Doel Dermait
XVII. Battle of Rosnaree
XVIII. The Only Son of Aoife
XIX. The Great Gathering at Muirthemne
XX. Death of Cuchulain
Note by W.B. Yeats
Notes by Lady Gregory
The Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel
The Cattle-Raid of Cooley
Gods and Fighting Men- Lady Gregory
The Celtic Twilight- W. B. Yeats
Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts by Patrick Kennedy
Preface
Dedication
Household Stories
Jac and His Comrades
The Bad Stepmother
Adventures of Gilla na Chreck an Gour
Jack the Master and Jack the Servant
I'll be Wiser the next Time
The Three Crowns
The Corpse Watchers
The Brown Bear of Norway
The Goban Saor
The Three Advices which the King with the Red Soles gave to his Son
Legends of the 'Good People'
The Fairy Child
The Changeling and his Bagpipes
The Tobinstown Sheeoge
The Belated Priest
The Palace in the Rath
The Breton Version of the Palace in the Rath
The Fairy Nurse
The Recovered Bride
Faction-fight among the Fairies
Jemmy Doyle in the Fairy Palace
The Fairy Cure
The Sea Fairies
The Black Cattle of Durzy Island
The Silkie Wife
The Pooka of Murroe
The Kildare Pooka
The Kildare Lurikeen
The Adventures of the 'Son of Bad Counsel'
Witchcaft, Socery, Ghosts and Fetches
The Long Spoon
The Prophet before his Time
The Bewitched Churn
The Ghosts and the Game of Football
The Cat of the Carman's Stage
Cauth Morisy looking for Service
Black Stairs on Fire
The Witches Excursion
The Crock found in the Rath
The Enchantment of Gearhoidh Iarla
Illan Eachtach and the Lianan
The Misfortunes of Barrett the Piper
The Woman in White
The Queen's County Ghost
The Ghost in Graigue
Droochan's Ghost
The Kiranelagh Spirit
The Doctor's Fetch
The Apparition in Old Ross
Ossianic and Early Legends
Fann Mac Cuil and the Scotch Giant
How Fann Mac Cuil and his Men were Bewitched
Qualifications and Duties of the Fianna Eirionn
The Battle of Ventry Harbour
The Fight of Castle Knoc
The Youth of Fion
Fion's First Marriage
How Fion selected a Wife
Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne
The Flight of the Sluggard
Beanriogain na Sciana Breaca
Conan's Delusions in Ceash
The Youth of Oisin
The Old Age of Oisin
Legend of Loch na Piasta
The King with the Horse's Ears
The Story of the Sculloge's Son from Muskerry
Fios Fath an Aaon Sceil
An Broan Suan Or
The Children of Lir
Lough Neagh
Killarney
Legend of the Lake of Inchiquin
How the Shannon acquired its Name
The Origin of the Lake of Tiis
The Building of Ardfert Cathredral
How Donagh

This edition of Michael Wood's groundbreaking first book explores the fascinating and mysterious centuries between the Romans and the Norman Conquest of 1066. In Search of the Dark Ages vividly conjures up some of the most famous names in British history, such as Queen Boadicea, leader of a terrible war of resistance against the Romans, and King Arthur, the 'once and future king', for whose riddle Wood proposes a new and surprising solution. Here too, warts and all, are the Saxon, Viking and Norman kings who laid the political foundations of England - Offa of Mercia, Alfred the Great, Athelstan, and William the Conqueror, whose victory at Hastings in 1066 marked the end of Anglo-Saxon England.

Reflecting recent historical, textual and archaeological research, this revised edition of Michael Wood's classic book overturns preconceptions of the Dark Ages as a shadowy and brutal era, showing them to be a richly exciting and formative period in the history of Britain.

'With In Search of the Dark Ages, Michael Wood wrote the book for history on TV.' The Times

'Michael Wood is the maker of some of the best TV documentaries ever made on history and archaeology.' Times Literary Supplement

Continues Neil's landmark exploration of how our land and its people came to be, which began with the acclaimed A HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.

Who were the first Britons, and what sort of world did they occupy? In A HISTORY OF ANCIENT BRITAIN Neil Oliver turns a spotlight on the very beginnings of the story of Britain; on the first people to occupy these islands and their battle for survival.

There has been human habitation in Britain, regularly interrupted by Ice Ages, for the best part of a million years. The last retreat of the glaciers 12,000 years ago brought a new and warmer age and with it, one of the greatest tsunamis recorded on Earth which struck the north-east of Britain, devastating the population and flooding the low-lying plains of what is now the North Sea. The resulting island became, in time, home to a diverse range of cultures and peoples who have left behind them some of the most extraordinary and enigmatic monuments in the world.

Through what is revealed by the artefacts of the past, Neil Oliver weaves the epic story - half a million years of human history up to the departure of the Roman Empire in the Fifth Century AD. It was a period which accounts for more than ninety-nine per cent of humankind's presence on these islands.

It is the real story of Britain and of her people.

Written for both veterans and those considering their first rail journey, this guide is an expansive resource for train travel and the broader world of rail transit in the United States and Canada. Bridging the past with the present, the handbook explores the origins of the rail systems, the monumental task of building America's first trans-continental railroad, passenger and freight railroad operations, and the differences between the various lines. The new edition includes updated information on ticketing procedures, routes, Amtrak's simplified fare structures, and the explosion of railroad-related data such as schedules and ticket purchase options available on the internet. In addition to offering time-tested advice on finding the lowest fares, avoiding pitfalls, packing for an overnight trip, when to board, and whom to tip and how much, the reference presents a number of rail itineraries-from day trips to see the colors of the fall season to lengthy journeys that will take more adventurous travelers around the entire country. A perspective on high-speed lines-such as proposed links between Los Angeles and San Francisco and Chicago to St. Louis-envisions the future of rail transportation.

This is the compelling story of a former Jesuit who traveled to Ireland in order to better understand the IRA, its widespread support among Irish Catholics, and the country's continuing civil unrest. Author Douglass McFerran, an American, made many key contacts in Northern Ireland, enabling him to gain unprecedented access to republican groups. He met with members of the Orange Lodge and the heavily armed Royal Ulster Constabulary; he had tea with leaders of Sinn Fein; and he participated in the annual Internment March on the streets of Belfast. In this book he provides a history of the conflict in Northern Ireland and goes beyond the propaganda on both sides to understand the causes of today's violence and explore what would be necessary to end it. McFerran wrote this book at the suggestion of individuals within the Irish republican community. During its writing he had the cooperation of several Sinn Fein leaders and past and present members of the IRA. McFerran came to believe that the violent situation in Northern Ireland can best be explained by considering the manner in which the English government, through genocide and civil repression, attempted to eliminate Irish resistance to English rule. The failure of the Anglo-Irish War to achieve a united Irish government brought on a republican movement with a political expression in Sinn Fein and a military expression in the guerrilla activities of the Irish Republican Army. The continued failure of the English government to negotiate with Irish nationalists can be attributed to a desire to maintain the political support of predominantly Protestant unionists, who since 1913 have pledged armed resistance to any effort to allow a Catholic-led government to rule over them.

The Celtic period was one of tremendous expansion, the last phase of European material and intellectual development before the Mediterranean world spread northwards over the Continent and linked it to modern times. Nora Chadwick's classic survey traces the rise and spread of the Celts, from their arrival in the British Isles in about the eighth century BC to the gradual transformation of their culture, initially under the Romans and later the Saxons.

More than 20 million Americans claim some sort of Irish heritage. But how much do you really know about this amazing country? Forget about shamrocks, leprechauns, and all that blarney--this book is a concise and authoritative guide that dispels the myths and tells the true stories of the Irish. Highlights include:
Who St. Patrick really wasThe story behind "Sunday Bloody Sunday"Scandals in the Irish churchComing to America and the real gangs of New York The spooky truth behind changelings, leprechauns, and fairies
Complete with an Irish language primer and pronunciation guide, this book is an informative pot of gold for everyone who loves the Irish!

Here is Oscar Wilde's most brilliant tour de force, a witty and buoyant comedy of manners that has delighted millions in countless productions since its first performance in London's St. James' Theatre on February 14, 1895. The Importance of Being Earnest is celebrated not only for the lighthearted ingenuity of its plot, but for its inspired dialogue, rich with scintillating epigrams still savored by all who enjoy artful conversation.
From the play's effervescent beginnings in Algernon Moncrieff's London flat to its hilarious denouement in the drawing room of Jack Worthing's country manor in Hertfordshire, this comic masterpiece keeps audiences breathlessly anticipating a new bon mot or a fresh twist of plot moment to moment. A selection of the Common Core State Standards Initiative.

Was Diana murdered? Was the British Royal family involved? Was she pregnant and engaged to Dodi? Did the paparazzi or 'a blinding white flash' cause the crash? Was driver Henri Paul really drunk or were his blood tests switched?
Since Princess Diana died in Paris on 31 August 1997 there have been more questions than answers about the crash that killed her, despite lengthy official French and British investigations.

This is the authoritative and up-to-date study into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, which includes unique access to Diana's close friends and bodyguards, French and British detectives who probed the crash, and the official French investigation's dossier into the crash.

Ireland's patron saint has long been shrouded in legend: he drove the snakes out of Ireland; he triumphed over Druids and their supernatural powers; he used a shamrock to explain the Christian mystery of the Trinity. But his true story is more fascinating than the myths. We have no surviving image of Patrick, but we do have two remarkable letters that he wrote about himself and his beliefs -- letters that tell us more about the heart and soul of this man than we know about almost any of his contemporaries. In St. Patrick of Ireland Philip Freeman brings the historic Patrick and his world vividly to life.
Born in Britain late in the fourth century to an aristocratic family, Patrick was raised as a Roman citizen and a nominal Christian, destined for the privileged life of the nobility. But just before his sixteenth birthday, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and abducted to Ireland, where he spent six lonely years as a slave, tending sheep. Trapped in a foreign land, despondent, and at the mercy of his master, Patrick's ordeal turned him from an atheist to a true believer. After a vision in which God told him he would go home, Patrick escaped captivity and, following a perilous journey, returned to his astonished parents. Even more astonishing was his announcement that he intended to go back to Ireland and devote the rest of his life to ministering to the people who had once enslaved him.
One of Patrick's two surviving letters is a declaration written to jealous British bishops in defense of his activities in Ireland; the other is a stinging condemnation of a ruthless warlord who attacked and killed some of Patrick's Irish followers. Both are powerful statements remarkable for their passion and candor. Freeman includes them in full in new translations of his own.
Combining Patrick's own heartfelt account of his life as he revealed it himself with the turbulent history of the British Isles in the last years of the Roman Empire, St. Patrick of Ireland brilliantly brings to life the real Patrick, shorn of legend, and shows how he helped to change Irish history and culture.

Covering the U.S.A. and Canada like never before, and for the first time with full-color photographs, here are 1,000 compelling, essential, offbeat, utterly unforgettable places. Pristine beaches and national parks, world-class museums and the Just for Laughs festival, mountain resorts, salmon-rich rivers, scenic byways, the Oyster Bar and the country’s best taco, lush gardens and coastal treks at Point Reyes, rafting the Upper Gauley (if you dare). Plus resorts, vineyards, hot springs, classic ballparks, the Talladega Speedway, and more. Includes new attractions, like Miami’s Pérez Art Museum and Manhattan’s High Line, plus more than 150 places of special interest to families. And, for every entry, what you need to know about how and when to visit.

“Patricia Schultz unearths the hidden gems in our North American backyard. Don’t even think about packing your bag and sightseeing without it.” —New York Daily News

Newly updated on the hundredth anniversary of the tragedy by Titanic expert Dave Gittins to reflect the latest facts and theories about the ship's sinking, Titanic: The Death and Life of a Legend will fascinate Titanic experts, amateurs, and newcomers alike. 

In this gripping, deeply researched exploration of the Titanic's tragic sinking, journalist Michael Davie investigates the events, controversies, and legends that have surrounded the disaster. Sifting through historical documents and survivors' accounts, Davie details the nineteenth-century origins of the White Star Line, narrates the story of the "unsinkable" ship's deadly voyage, and describes the dramatic discovery of the Titanic's wreckage in 1985. Davie offers insightful portraits of the protagonists and dramatizes the confusing and terrifying hours that passed from the moment the ship hit the iceberg until its survivors were picked up by the USS Carpathia a full day later.

With Irish Miscellany, author Dermot McEvoy lets you revel in the fun and fascinating explanations behind Irish traditions and folklore. He offers the answers to questions you’ve always had—or never knew you had—as he covers all aspects of Ireland. From Irish culture to ancient history to modern pastimes, this full-color book educates and entertains. Such facts include:

The true history of Halloween
Why the Celtic cross is such a staple icon of Ireland
A history of the Irish Gaelic language
Where to find megalithic art in Ireland and why it’s there
A history of the Tailteann Games
Historical monarchies that ruled Ireland in ancient times
The world’s first suburban commuter railway
And many more

This delightful book is the perfect gift for anyone planning a visit to Ireland, with an interest in Irish history, or with a drop of Irish blood.

Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

This guidebook contains: 18 walking, cycling or driving tours to help you discover the city's hidden treasures, star-rated so you can better organize your time; More than 250 restaurants and 70 hotels, with our favourites clearly indicated; More than 30 maps to help you get your bearings and make sure you don't miss a thing! Entire chapters devoted to entertainment (with 70 of the best nightspots) and shopping (including everything from hip second-hand stores to upscale boutiques)!

The age-old charm of Irish folklore gives special sparkle to this collection of eight tongue-in-cheek tales. Wicked old hags, clever leprechauns, courageous tailors, evil giants, and other characters come to life in such fanciful yarns as "Hudden and Dudden and Donald O'Neary," "Conal and Donal and Taig," "The Old Hag's Long Leather Bag," "The Field of Boliauns," "The Sprightly Tailor," “The Giant’s Stairs,” “The Bee, the Harp, the Mouse, and the Bum-Clock,” and “The Black Horse.” Reset in large, easy-to-read type, with six illustrations, these beloved stories from the Emerald Isle will delight readers of any age with their warmth, whimsy, and sly humor.

They were known as the Ascendancy, the dashing aristocratic elite that controlled Irish politics and society at the end of the eighteenth century—and at their pinnacle stood Caroline and Robert King, Lord and Lady Kingsborough of Mitchelstown Castle. Heirs to ancient estates and a vast fortune, Lord and Lady Kingsborough appeared to be blessed with everything but marital love—which only made the scandal that tore through their family more shocking. In 1798, at the height of a rebellion that was setting Ireland ablaze, Robert King was tried for the murder of his wife’s cousin—a crime born of passion that proved to have extraordinary political implications. In her brilliant new book, Janet Todd unfolds the fascinating story of how this powerful Anglo-Irish family became entwined with the downfall not only of their class, but of their very way of life.

Like Amanda Foreman’s bestselling Georgiana, Daughters of Ireland brings to life the world of a glittering elite in an age of international revolution. When her daughters, Margaret and Mary, were at their most impressionable, Lady Kingsborough hired the firebrand feminist Mary Wollstonecraft to be their governess, little realizing how radically this would alter both girls’ beliefs and characters. The tall, striking Margaret went on to provide crucial support to the United Irishmen in the days leading up to the Rebellion of 1798, while soft, pleasing Mary indulged in an illicit, and all but incestuous love affair that precipitated multiple tragedies.

As the Kingsboroughs imploded, the most powerful and colorful figures of the day were swept up in their drama—the dashing aristocrat turned revolutionary Lord Edward Fitzgerald; the liberal, cultivated Countess of Moira, a terrible snob despite her support of Irish revolutionaires; the notorious philanderer Colonel George King, whose sexual debauchery was matched only by his appalling cruelty; Britain’s cold calculating prime minister William Pitt and its mad ruler King George III.

With irresistible narrative drive and richly intimate historic detail, Daughters of Ireland an absolutely spellbinding work of history, biography, passion, and rebellion.


From the Hardcover edition.

First written down in the eighth century AD, these early Irish stories depict a far older world - part myth, part legend and part history. Rich with magic and achingly beautiful, they speak of a land of heroic battles, intense love and warrior ideals, in which the otherworld is explored and men mingle freely with the gods. From the vivid adventures of the great Celtic hero Cu Chulaind, to the stunning 'Exile of the Sons of Uisliu' - a tale of treachery, honour and romance - these are masterpieces of passion and vitality, and form the foundation for the Irish literary tradition: a mythic legacy that was a powerful influence on the work of Yeats, Synge and Joyce.

Having sold more than 40,000 copies of previous editions, this authoritative climbing guide has been completely revised, updated and redesigned for a whole new generation of mountaineers.

The original edition of Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies, published by RMB in 1991, started a scrambling craze in the Canadian Rockies. No longer was reaching the top of those breathtaking peaks limited only to technical climbers; strong hikers with a sense of adventure found that they too could reach the top of many famous and stunning peaks.

Armed with first-hand information, Alan Kane describes over 150 scrambles in a clear, concise format. This includes equipment needed, when to go, how to get there, where to park and what to expect as you work your way to the summit. Photos showing the ascent line complement descriptions that include historical trivia, origins of placenames and summit views. Routes range from off-trail hiking suitable for strong hikers to challenging routes at the low end of technical climbing where use of specific handholds is required on steep, airy terrain. Most ascents are day trips from a major road; many utilize a hiking trail on approach and include some of the most-photographed Rockies postcard peaks. The scramble areas begin in Waterton Park near the US border and continue north through Crowsnest, Kananaskis, Canmore and into the contiguous mountain parks of Banff, Yoho, Kootenay and Jasper. An overview of facilities, accommodation and climate is provided for each area. Specific hazards from rock quality to wildlife encounters are mentioned, including advice on scrambling safely. Guidebooks can be dry reading, but Kane’s snippets of humour make the book entertaining as well as useful.

Through the lens of three of the most devastating food crises in modern history—the Górta Mor of British-ruled Ireland, the great famine of British-ruled Bengal in 1943, and the string of famines that plagued Ethiopia during the 1970s and 1980s, Booker Prize–winning author Thomas Keneally vividly evokes the terrible cost of mass starvation at the level of the individual who starves and the nation that watches. Famine is widely misunderstood as a completely natural catastrophe. Keneally recounts that while the triggers—crop, pestilence, and drought—are natural, the political and ideological choices that prolong famine are man-made. Government neglect and individual venality, not food shortages, are historically the causes of sustained, widespread hunger.

In Ireland, British authorities ignored the existence of a food crisis while the famished fed on diseased cattle and human remains. In Bengal, where over four million starved to death, Field Marshal Archibald Wavell's reports of people dying in Calcutta's streets and demands for relief resulted in little more than a mocking cable from Winston Churchill asking, why, if food was so scarce, hadn't Gandhi died yet? In Ethiopia, Mengistu Haile Mariam arranged for 400,000 bottles of whisky to ship to Addis Ababa from Britain to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the revolution that put him in power, while one person died every twenty minutes in Korem. These three famines are stark examples of how throughout history, racial preconceptions, administrative neglect, and incompetence have been more lethal than the initiating blights or crop failures. Keneally's startling narrative history is a sobering warning to the authorities in charge of mercy in our time to stop making choices that feed famine instead of the starving.

If you're looking for a field guide to leprechauns, The Truth About the Irish is not the book for you. But if you can handle a frank and funny look into the minds and hearts of Irish people, you've been touched by that fabled Irish luck. Covering all things Irish from Blarney to Yeats, renowned literary and cultural critic Terry Eagleton separates the myths from the reality with his priceless blend of sidesplitting humor, caustic commentary, and the honest lowdown on the beloved and bewildering country of Ireland.

Create airy and delicate lace designs for table, bed, and wardrobe using the time-honored technique of Irish crochet. This handsome handicraft, known for its raised floral motifs and intricate background patterns, probably originated in the convents of Ireland, where diligent nuns prepared beautiful ornaments for use in church services. Today, this stunning form of lace-making has been adapted and simplified for dozens of day-to-day uses: decorating curtains, tablecloths, pillows, bedspreads, lingerie, collars, children's clothing, doilies, and more.
Rita Weiss, a noted needlework designer and bestselling author, has collected the finest, easily workable examples of Irish crochet from rare American thread company booklets of more than 50 years ago. Step-by-step instructions, stitch and hook charts, metric conversion charts, and 40 clear illustrations allow you to make magnificent accessories in these lovely patterns: My Wild Irish Rose, Popcorn, Rose of Sharon, Cinderella, More Than a Touch of Blarney, Beauty Rose, "Smilin' Through," Tournament of Roses, Wedding Ring, Dublin Beauty, Irish Springtime, and others. No skills beyond a familiarity with ordinary crochet technique are needed to create these beautiful patterns. In addition, expert tips on blocking and finishing make it certain that your final product will be nothing short of a work of art.
With this versatile, inexpensive guide, the beauty of Irish crochet — once thought too difficult to achieve by any but the most experienced needleworkers — is now within reach of even beginning crocheters.

 Synopsis: Farook Bulsara was a boy of Persian heritage who never quite fit in to his skin or his teeth.  It wasn’t until he became a young man that he discovered his talent and true nature, and was reborn as Freddie Mercury.  After a brilliant career, with the arenas empty and the lights out, on the night of November 24, 1991, Freddie is forced to surrender his celebrity and face the frailty of his own humanity.  As he succumbs to AIDS, the worldwide icon seeks redemption before a God unimpressed with celebrity. In his ultimate struggle to make sense of his grim fate, Mercury realizes that his fame, fortune, and talents are no longer enough to sustain him; that beyond the darkness of his fears, shines a light far brighter than the star he was on Earth.

"MERCURY is a heartfelt, witty and poignant script."- Billboard

 

"Messina's powerful one-man show focuses on the man rather than the music"-The New Yorker

 

"A look into the complex psyche of a rock and roll legend. It will rock you!"- Manhattan Spirit

 

"A compelling, well-written narrative...Shakespearean theatricality, sardonic humor and passionate intensity."- Backstage

 

"Diehard fans will enjoy learning more about Mercury's life...Messina's playwriting depicts his story and his struggle."- New York Blade

 

"Messina's one-man work shows the Freddie Mercury loved by millions but truly known by very few.  Fantastic theater.  The writing gives this show life."- Good Times Magazine

Ireland has long been a country of conflict. More than 400 years ago, the occupying English “planted” pre-Celtic Scots in the northern province of Ulster and divested the native Irish Celts of the land their ancestors owned for 2,000 years. This created a deep-seated enmity between the English and Irish, Protestant and Catholic—and it finally exploded in the Troubles.

Author Alan M. Wilson was on the front lines for the bloodbath that tore Northern Ireland apart from the late 1960s through the first years of the twenty-first century. Policing Ireland’s Twisted History reveals Wilson’s remarkable, true story of growing up in Belfast and serving in the Royal Ulster Constabulary as an inspector and as a member of an elite anti-terrorism unit. Wilson’s only goal was to help protect the innocent on both sides. Unfortunately, he became a target himself.

Brutally honest and unflinching, Wilson traces his experiences serving Ireland’s divided society for nearly ten years. From watching friends die to the tit-for-tat murders occurring on the streets to staring death in the eye more than once, Wilson reveals the deep, gut-wrenching search for the meaning of it all in the midst of the world’s longest-running terrorist situation.

A firsthand look at the Northern Ireland conflict, Policing Ireland’s Twisted History offers an eye-opening, intimate examination of this devastating struggle.

The Imperial War Museum holds a vast archive of interviews with soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians of most nationalities who saw action during WW2. As in the highly-acclaimed Forgotten Voices of the Great War, Max Arthur and his team of researchers spent hundreds of hours digging deep into this unique archive, uncovering tapes, many of which have not been listened to since they were created in the early 1970s. The result will be the first complete oral history of World War 2.

We hear at first from British, German and Commonwealth soldiers and civilians. Accounts of the impact of U.S. involvement after Pearl Harbour and the major effects it had on the war in Europe and the Far East is chronicled in startling detail, including compelling interviews from U.S. and British troops who fought against the Japanese. Continuing through from D-Day, to the Rhine Crossing and the dropping of the Atom Bomb in August 1945, this book is a unique testimony to one of the world's most dreadful conflicts. One of the hallmarks of Max Arthur's work is the way he involves those left behind on the home front as well as those working in factories or essential services. Their voices will not be neglected.

More than 1000 ripostes, paradoxes, and epigrams on sin, society, genius, wealth, men, women, religion, America, education, and smoking: "Work is the curse of the drinking classes," "I can resist everything except temptation," etcetera. Also excerpts from his trial testimony, where the tragedy implicit in Wilde's humor is nowhere more vivid.

The Great Irish Famine was one of the most devastating humanitarian disasters of the nineteenth century. In a period of only five years, Ireland lost approximately 25% of its population through a combination of death and emigration. How could such a tragedy have occurred at the heart of the vast, and resource-rich, British Empire?

Charity and the Great Hunger in Ireland explores this question by focusing on a particular, and lesser-known, aspect of the Famine: that being the extent to which people throughout the world mobilized to provide money, food and clothing to assist the starving Irish. This book considers how, helped by developments in transport and communications, newspapers throughout the world reported on the suffering in Ireland, prompting funds to be raised globally on an unprecedented scale. Donations came from as far away as Australia, China, India and South America and contributors emerged from across the various religious, ethnic, social and gender divides. Charity and the Great Hunger in Ireland traces the story of this international aid effort and uses it to reveal previously unconsidered elements in the history of the Famine in Ireland.

From the bestselling and PEN/Faulkner Award-winning author of Netherland, a fascinating, personal, and beautifully crafted family history.

Joseph O'Neill's grandfathers--one Turkish, one Irish--were both imprisoned for suspected subversion during the Second World War. The Irish grandfather, a handsome rogue from a family of small farmers, was an active member of the IRA. O'Neill's other grandfather, a debonair hotelier from the tiny and threatened Turkish Christian minority, was interned by the British in Palestine on suspicion of being an Axis spy.

With intellect, compassion, and grace, O'Neill sets the stories of these individuals against the history of the last century's most inhuman events.

Canada is packed with intriguing places for travel where heritage and landscape interact to create stories that fire our imagination. Scattered across the land are incredible tales of human life over the centuries. From the Majorville rock formation (dated as being older than Stonehenge), through the systems of walking trails developed by pre-contact Native Peoples, and the fur trade routes, to the more recent grand stories of the Chilkoot Gold Rush of 1897, Bob Henderson, the traveller, captures our living history in its relationship to the land – best expressed through the Norwegian quote "nature is the true home of culture."

The diversity of fascinating content includes the ancient James Bay landmark (the "Wonderful" Stone); the mountain treks of naturalist Mary Schaffer Warren; the west coast observations of George Vancouver; practices such as dog sledding, warm winter camping and canoeing that allow for heritage insights; the trails of Dundas, Ontario; the exploits of missionary Gabriel Sagard; the recluse Louis Gamache of Anticosti Island; the abandoned gravesites along the coast of Newfoundland – to name but a few.

As historian Michael Bliss once said, "We have to find a way to make history smell again." Author Bob Henderson brings the "fragrance of the past" into the present and invites us to imagine and participate.

"Like an enthused hummingbird too eager to land, Bob Henderson leads a wide-ranging tour of the vast garden of Canadian history and landscape. Once entrusted with the scent of intrigue we are invited to follow these stories and trails deeper, make them speak and inform our own travels and impressions. Here are stepping stones and touchstones, paths toward richer engagements via a storied and fabulous past."

— Alexandra & Garrett Conover, co-authors of The Snow Walker’s Companion

"I pulled off the river; a log cabin set back in the woods had caught my eye. Though very old it was in good shape — there was no lock on the door. A framed note beside it read, ’Leave as you found it.’ The interior was neat and tidy, a complete set of blackened pots hung on the walls, a small stack of kindling by the open door of a Findlay stove. ’A perfect place,’ I thought to myself. As I turned to take in the rest of the cabin I saw before me Canada/Yukon rivers, Labrador fiords, Prairie medicine wheels, Superior’s north shore, portage and trail - it was all there before me, across space and time. As I stood there ghosts emerged from the walls, trappers, cowboys, ill-fated explorers, lucky canoeists — all in the same room, all eager to tell their stories. Such is the nature of Bob Henderson’s wonderful book."

- Ian Tamblyn, songwriter

Forget the myth of the sweet Irish Colleen. Real Irish women were no cream-puff debs. From the ancient warrior queens Marrigan, Macha, and Badbh to the labor-movement maven Mother Jones, Irish women have backbones of steel. Wild Irish Roses is a fascinating look at wild Irish women throughout history; serious information imparted in Trina Robbins' trademark style, with verve and humor.

The women in Wild Irish Roses are not always nice girls or even good girls, but they are women who know how to get things done, whether on the battlefield or in the bedroom. These are women who preserved and handed down the old stories. They are women who fought in revolutions with either gun or pen, wrote books, starred in books others wrote, and stormed heaven itself.

Author Trina Robbins is an impeccable researcher whose knack for telling stories and embellishing them with engaging illustrations and photos, brings each of these Wild Irish Roses to life, including:
Maeve and six other warrior queensGrania and Deirdre, who ran away from kings for the love of younger menFive women who turned themselves into birds to get the job done rightSaint Brigit and the saintly Kathleen O'SheaCultural revivalist Maude Gonne and friendsIrish-American beauty roses, including Scarlett O'HaraAnd warriors in their own right, such as Mother Jones and company

Wild Irish Roses is a celebration of tough, independent, beautiful Irish women from myth to modernity. It's a book that is sure to entertain, inform, and inspire readers of every background to find the Irish rose in themselves--to discover what they want and have the courage to go out and get it.

Roman legions rang Celtic Europe's death-knell and orchestrated Celtic Britain's swansong, provoking Queen Boudicea's massive anti-Roman revolt which resulted in "the worst disaster to befall the Roman Empire" — all of which had a huge bearing on the rise of Celtic Ireland. This book presents Turoe's Celtic Royal complex, unprecedented for its size and layout, but akin to Belgic oppida (as named by Caesar) in SE England and NW Europe. It hosts the Turoe Stone, Europe's most celebrated La Tene-decorated stone. No one knew why this classic masterpiece of Celtic stone art was set on Turoe's summit in the West of Ireland. Here its hitherto unrecognized Royal Sanctuary trappings at the centre of a vast Belgic oppidum defensive system of linear embankments uniquely connected to the Celtic invasion of Ireland and its archaic history are unfolded. It is recorded in early dindshenchas (history of the famous places) and associated with the names of archaic kings and queens.

The first record of it is by the renowned 1st/2nd century Greek geographer, Ptolemy of Alexandria, who listed 2 capitals in Ireland, the only 2 in his day. One is Emain Macha near Armagh. The other was never definitively identified. He located it roughly in central Co. Galway where Turoe is. He named it REGIA E TERA (Te[mh]ra), the genuine early Celtic name for 'Capital at Turoe' (Cnoc Temhro). It had an acropolis and several necropoli, including those around Athenry cited in archaic texts in the Book of Leinster as ‘Releg na Rí lamh le Cruachain' where members of Turoe's Royal Household (Rígrád Temhróit) were interred, such as Queen Medb and her father, Eochaid Ferach Mhor whose palace, Rath Ferach Mhor, stood beside the Turoe Stone. Part of its sprawling urban-like complex flanking Turoe and Knocknadala (Assembly/­Parliament Hill) is placed under preservation order by The National Monuments Department. Ptolemy renders Knocknadala (early Cnoc na nDál) as NAG-NA-TA[L], "the most illustrious 'city' (polis) in all Britannia, and most considerable in size, located in the west of Ireland." The sole reference to a dense population in early Irish literature points to this area. Ancient roadways, Slí Mhór and Slí Dála, converged on Turoe/Knocknadala. Rót na Ri, Royal Road of the Kings, ran from Turoe to the great seaport of Ath Cliath Magh Rí in Galway Bay. Dindshenchas texts state that "Ath Cliath Magh Rí was the chief seaport of Ireland through which Ireland has most often been invaded." A large segment of the Celtic invasion force landed there and advanced on Turoe, the core of its primary settlement area, as recorded in the Dindshenchas of Cnoc na Dála. Continental and British Belgic tribes are remembered in townland names within this vast Turoe oppidum complex.

It was suppressed by pseudo-historians who set the Irish race on the cutting edge of woeful ignorance about its Celtic roots as Armagh's monastic conmen concocted scheming stews of sheer political propaganda to win the patronage of powerful warlords. The enforced Irish exile of King Dagobert II shows the depth of involvement of Armagh-linked Abbots in Frankish politics through whom Pepin's new national Over Kingship of the Franks profoundly impacted the genesis of Ireland's High King-ship/Tara/Patrick myth. As E. Breathnach noted "The culmination of the creation of the medieval myth surrounding Tara ensured Tara would be regarded from the late 10th/11th century as the monument of the Kingship of Ireland. Tara's potency as a political symbol was evoked to the extent that by the 17th century it was depicted as one of the institutions on which the Kingship of Ireland had rested from time immemorial" (Edel Breathnach, 'Cultural Identity of Tara' in Discovery Programme Reports').

Edgehill, 1642: Surveying the disastrous scene in the aftermath of the first battle of the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell realizes that war can no longer be made in the old, feudal way: there has to be system and discipline, and therefore - eventually - a standing professional army.

From the 'New Model Army' of Cromwell's distant vision, former soldier Allan Mallinson shows us the people and events that have shaped the army we know today. How Marlborough's momentous victory at Blenheim is linked to Wellington's at Waterloo; how the desperate fight at Rorke's Drift in 1879 underpinned the heroism of the airborne forces at Arnhem in 1944; and why Montgomery's momentous victory at El Alamein mattered long after the Second World War was over.

From the Army's origins at the battle of Edgehill to our current conflict in Afghanistan, this is history at its most relevant - and most dramatic.

The Luck of the Irish introduces you to blarney; leprechauns and fairies; Irish humor, proverbs, and toasts; and St. Patrick.

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) is deservedly famous for the brilliant plays and other works he wrote for adults. But he also was a wonderful writer for children, the author of two charming volumes of fairy tales. In this captivating collection you will find every one of the nine sensitive, unforgettable stories he wrote for young readers.
Included here are "The Happy Prince," a tale of a young nobleman who in his lifetime sought only pleasure, but in death, as a gold-encrusted statue, provides aid to the needy; "The Selfish Giant," in which children are prohibited from playing in the garden of an unfeeling colossus; and "The Star-Child," the tale of a beautiful boy whose ugly spirit causes his physical appearance to become equally grotesque. Also here are such favorites as "The Nightingale and the Rose," "The Birthday of Infants," "The Remarkable Rocket," "The Devoted Friend," "The Young King," and "The Fisherman and His Soul." Reprinted complete and unabridged, these enchanting tales will appeal to devotees of Wilde and fairy tale fans of all ages.

Distinguished by its intricate interlacings and elaborate spirals, Celtic art has provided needlecrafters with countless motifs for use in varied projects. This intriguing collection of charted designs by Ina Kliffen incorporates the fascinating shapes of mythical Celtic creatures.
Included are forty-three carefully devised color-coded charts depicting a variety of strange and mystifying beasts. Intertwined in the traditional snake-like weaves are eye-catching representations of fabulous fauna that will enhance any needlecrafter's work.
Complete instructions and easy-to-follow diagrams enable even beginners to embellish clothing, linens, cushion covers, and other domestic items with a menagerie of eye-catching creations. Ideal for cross-stitch, these unusual designs also work well in needlepoint and other counted-stitch techniques.

Drawing material from the Imperial War Museum's extensive aural archive, Joshua Levine brings together voices from both sides of the Blitz and the Battle of Britain to give us a unique, complete and compelling picture of this turbulent time.

In June 1940, British citizens prepared for an imminent German onslaught. Hitler's troops had overrun Holland, Belgium and France in quick succession, and the British people anticipated an invasion would soon be upon them. From July to October, they watched the Battle of Britain play out in the skies above them, aware that the result would decide their fate. Over the next nine months, the Blitz killed more than 43,000 civilians. For a year, the citizens of Britain were effectively front-line soldiers in a battle which united the country against a hated enemy.

We hear from the soldiers, airmen, fire-fighters, air-raid wardens and civilians, people in the air and on the ground, on both sides of the battle, giving us a thrilling account of Britain under siege. With first-hand testimonies from those involved in Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain, Black Saturday on 7th September 1940 when the Luftwaffe began the Blitz, to its climax on the 10th May 1941, this is the definitive oral history of a period when Britain came closer to being overwhelmed by the enemy than at any other time in modern history.

There's more to being Irish than kissing a Blarney Stone!

Few places on earth match Ireland's romantic attraction and historical legacy. Every year, millions of visitors flock to the ancient sites and burgeoning cities of this enchanted island to immerse themselves in its rich literary, musical, and political heritage.

The Everything Irish History & Heritage Book introduces readers to the people, places, and events that have shaped the past and given rise to the unique culture of the Irish people. From the Iron Age to the economic renaissance, this comprehensive account familiarizes readers with Ireland's history and acquaints them with the climate, food, language, and sports that make it truly unique.

Features exhaustive coverage of:
Celtic mythology and ancient folkloreThe Irish literary tradition--from The Book of Kells to UlyssesThe potato famine and the Great HungerThe Irish in America and the immigration experienceThe Troubles and the road to peaceReligion and family life
Packed with historical information and cultural insights, The Everything Irish History & Heritage Book is a must-read for anyone interested in the magic and mystery of the Emerald Isle.

The present state of the old world.. is running up like parchment in the fire, and wearing away.' So declaimed Gerrard Winstanley, charismatic leader of radical religious group the Diggers, in mid-seventeenth century England: one of the most turbulent periods in that country's history. As three civil wars divided and slaughtered families and communities, as failing harvests and land reforms forced many to the edge of starvation and beyond, and as longstanding institutions like the House of Lords, the Established Church and even the monarchy were unceremoniously dismantled, so a feverish sense of living on the cusp of a new age gripped the nation. Radical Religion in Cromwell's England is the first genuinely concise and accessible history of the fascinating ideas and movements which emerged during this volatile period. Names like the 'Ranters', 'Seekers', 'Diggers' and 'Levellers' convey something of the exoticism of these popular associations, which although loose-knit, and in some cases short-lived, impacted on every stratum of society. Some, like the Levellers, produced sophisticated political programmes not unlike the manifestos of present-day political parties. Others, like the Fifth Monarchists, pinned their hope for political change on a belief that the execution of Charles Stuart fulfilled a prophesy in the biblical Book of Daniel and heralded the arrival of Christ's kingdom. As Diggers strove to make the earth a 'common treasury', Quakers walked naked to symbolise humanity's inherent equality; as Muggletonians damned everyone who rejected their own take on the Book of Revelation, Ranters saw God as present in all things, even human excrement. Andrew Bradstock critically appraises each group and its ideas, taking into account the context in which they emerged, the factors which influenced them, and their significance both at the time and subsequently. The role of political, religious, economic and military factors in shaping radical opinion is explored in full, while the contribution of women - often overlooked - is also discussed, as is the influence of individuals not generally associated with these movements, such as John Milton, John Bunyan and Anne Wentworth. Drawing on the author's long study of the topic, as well as the latest scholarship, Radical Religion in Cromwell's England brings this remarkable era and its chief participants to vivid and colourful life.

On the morning of 21 November 1920, Jane Boyle walked to Sunday Mass in the church where she would be married five days later. That afternoon she went with her fiancé to watch Tipperary and Dublin play a Gaelic football match at Croke Park. Across the city fourteen men lay dead in their beds after a synchronised IRA attack designed to cripple British intelligence services in Ireland. Trucks of police and military rumbled through the city streets as hundreds of people clamoured at the metal gates of Dublin Castle seeking refuge. Some of them were headed for Croke Park.

Award-winning journalist and author Michael Foley recounts the extraordinary story of Bloody Sunday in Croke Park and the 90 seconds of shooting that changed Ireland forever. In a deeply intimate portrait he tells for the first time the stories of those killed, the police and military personnel who were in Croke Park that day, and the families left shattered in its aftermath, all against the backdrop of a fierce conflict that stretched from the streets of Dublin and the hedgerows of Tipperary to the halls of Westminster.

THE GREEN FLAG stands as the most comprehensive and illuminating history of Irish Nationalism yet published. For many years available as three separate volumes (THE MOST DISTRESSFUL COUNTRY, THE BOLD FENIAN MEN and OURSELVES ALONE), this outstanding history is now available as a single volume.