1 comments about Voices From Dickens' London: First-Hand Accounts of Life in the Great Metropolitan (Voices from).

1. London holds a fascination in peoples' minds matched by few other cities. Michael Paterson's book is a wonderful introduction to 19th Century London, a subject few books have dealt with. And who better to describe 'the great old city' than London's most famous chronicler, novelist Charles Dickens? Interweaving sections from various Dickens' novels with accounts from Londoners who lived in that period or visitors to the city, Paterson has opened a window into a time, a city and a people that fascinates, informs and sometimes appalls.
   
   The London of the mid-19th Century was the largest city on earth as well as the dirtiest and most disease- and crime-ridden place in the world. In a series of chapters covering 'The Place,' 'The People,' 'Shops and Shopping,' 'Transport and Travel,' 'Crime and Punishment,' etc., Paterson weaves the various accounts into a combination history and travelogue that is as educational as it is appalling. The growth of the great city came at a terrible cost to many of its residents as borne out in accounts by Henry Mayhew, George Salas and others. To say it was a brutal existence for most Londoners is an understatement.
   
   While the book is illustrated with various photographs and woodcuts, it is the spoken word that has the greatest impact. To be frank, the book needs to be savored a chapter at a time lest the detailed descriptions overwhelm the reader. Make no mistake about it - this book is a great read. It captures the sights, sounds and smells of a long-ago city as few books have.

1 comments about Joseph Chamberlain: Entrepreneur in Politics.

1. British industrialists were never considered "parliamentary material" prior to Joseph Chamberlain's election to Parliament from Birmingham. His years as Mayor, town councillor, and school board trustee were marked by tremendous reforms of all aspects of Birmingham: the schools, the workplace, sanitation, the local economy & government, and the town infrastructure all benefited from his business know-how and political skill. He built what was in fact the first political machine, the National Liberal Federation, in British history, and which delivered first Gladstone than Salisbury the Prime Ministry. A master of coalition politics, Chamberlain was also a destructive force. He shattered the Conservative & Liberal Parties, and never achieved his dream of becoming Prime Minister. However, serious legislation addressing land reform, the introduction of social insurance, the extension of the franchise, the rights of labor, and industrial welfare, all bore his mark, and might have taken longer to bring about had it not been for him. Initially a Liberal, he split with Gladstone over Irish Home Rule, formed the Liberal Unionist party, and from then until his death supported the Conservatives. This biography is unsurpassed in it's detail and impartiality. All aspects of Chamberlain's life are addressed: his family history; his marriages; his religious views; his gradual conversion from Liberal to Conservative, all are given considerable detail without sacrificing the joy of reading. This is biography at its best!

No comments about BYWATER.

1 comments about Growing Up Irish Catholic, and Surviving My Mom's Eleven Sisters.

1. This collection of stories form Pat Carey's childhood offer a good laugh and are well written. You don't need to be Catholic or from an extra large family to get the humor.

5 comments about U2: Faraway So Close.

1. This book allows you to do what every U2 fan has always wanted to do: go on tour with U2. It is told through the eyes of someone who is doing just that, in a plain, day to day format. Although the arrangement is a bit random, it lets you peek into the offstage life of the band. The pictures alone are worth the price of the book.



2. A book about U2 with pictures included seemed to me a chance to find out more about U2 than I ever wanted to know. In some cases that was true, but I came away from this book wanting to know more! I wanted to scream, "Where are more pictures? Where are more stories?" B.P. Fallon gives us a glimpse of life on the road for U2,and after reading this book I wish that I could have seen it through his eyes. It is a quirky diary, however, and the time sequences change enough to drive you batty. You wil be page flipping back and forth. But the craziness was worth it. While the book uncovers U2 on tour, the pictures provide more mystery than ever about the world's greatest band.



3. I can't see why every U2 fan wouldn't have this in their collection. The pictures in this book are amazing. It is by far the best behind-the-scenes photo's collected in one book for U2, if not any band. If you love the band (especially the 'Zoo TV' period, in which this book thoroughly chronicles) then grab this book.



4. A warning: If you are looking for an easy-to-read book to enjoy on a nice afternoon or before bed, this is not for you. While the content of "U2 Faraway So Close" is nothing short of absolutely fascinating, the book's layout is highly stylized and can be visually assaulting and rather difficult to read.
   
   BUT...
   
   If you want fabulous pictures and fun, often hilarious, anecdotes about the greatest band in the world (U2...duh!), track down a copy of "U2 Faraway So Close" and snatch that puppy up as fast as you can!
   
   "U2 Faraway So Close" takes you on the Zoo TV tour with U2, as seen through the eyes and camera lens of B. P. Fallon (before he got kicked off the tour, but that's a story you can learn more about in "U2 at the End of the World" by Bill Flanagan). Fallon shows us the band in concert, partying, relaxing, with friends. He captures a couple of great shots of Adam in his famous skirt, as well as some faboo pictures of Bono's wife (she's gorgeous!), The Edge's Morleigh (she's gorgeous too!), and Adam's then-fiancee Naomi Campbell (no comment from me on her). All the photos are accompanied by entertaining, sometimes roll-on-the-floor-laughing hilarious, stories from the tour, offering some juicy tidbits for people who just can't get enough U2.
   
   While its format doesn't lend itself too well to bedtime reading, "U2 Faraway So Close" does make a great coffeetable book, gift or obsession-feeder for U2 lovers. Go snag a copy and enjoy!



5. what can i say? um...yes i am a U2 fan. U2 fans like glossy covered books with the "four lads from dublin" inside and on the cover...books that put them up on the rock n' roll pedestal (is that even how you spell it?). so...what i'm saying is...well YOU KNOW WHAT I'M SAYING if yer a fan and to quote Bono (just cause i want to) "rock n' roll dooggie!!!"

No comments about Wee Guide to St. Margaret and Malcolm Canmore (Wee Guides).

2 comments about St. Margaret Queen of Scotland.

1. This book was first published in 1993, in time for the 900th anniversary celebrations of Margaret's death. Herein lies one of the major problems with this book as it accepts the official line of the organisers of the anniversary celebrations and does not seek to question some of the more mythical aspects of Margaret's life.

   The book is easy to read but unfortunately trots out the traditional stereotypes about Margaret's life without providing much analysis of the small yet available body of chronicle evidence. Many of the current debates, particularly those dealing with the true extent of her pious works as Queen of Scotland, are largely glossed over and sometimes the author seems to be caught up in the cult of personality that continues to surround Margaret.

   Wilson and Selby provide a useful starting point for those who want to know more about this elusive figure, however I would advise caution about accepting some of the myths about Margaret's family origins, birthplace and life which constitutes the proliferation of legends which are now being called into question by some notable academics.




2. Having read another reviewer's dismissive opinion of this book, I was prepared to be underwhelmed. Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised by this book, although my previous understanding was admittedly based on pamphlets and short hagiographic summaries.
   
   I do think it is hilarious that the author proposes that King Malcolm's first wife, Ingibiorg, must have been an undocumented daughter of King Malcolm's dead rival Thorfinn of Orkney (who co-ruled Scotland with MacBeth), rather than exploring the possibility that she was the widow of his rival (and, if so, much older than Malcolm). The author doesn't speculate on what could have provoked Margaret to argue for such a sweeping change to marital customs (banning levirate and other 'inheritance' marriages) - cited as one of the five great works for which she deserved to be sainted. I think waiting two years for an elderly wife to die, or worse, nursing an aged first wife after marrying Malcolm, could have provided such passion. I admit, it could have been the then-almost commonplace practice of murdering relatives to obtain property through marriage to widows, without reference to any interesting factoids about Malcolm's first marriage.
   
   Unless you are thoroughly steeped in cutting edge research into Saint Margaret's life, I think you would find this an interesting and informative book.

No comments about Forged In War Churchill Roosevelt and The.

No comments about Queen Margaret of Scotland.

1 comments about A Great Feast of Light: Growing Up Irish in the Television Age.

1. Coming from an Irish background, I'm always interested in what Irish life is like. This book starts out in the fifties and shows the dramatic effect of access to television on an Irish family. The outside world came to insular Ireland and nothing was ever the same. Excellent, well told. It doesn't pound on the metaphor, but shows how life did really change.