4 comments about Irish Rebel: John Devoy and America's Fight for Ireland's Freedom.

1. I hoped this book would confirm the above Synopsis and Kirkus and NY Times reviews which I already knew to be accurate as to Devoy, the subject. It is nicely written and contains much valuable and interesting detail. But, for reasons known only to the author, he selected nearly exclusively negative quotes to characterize Devoy and his tens of thousands of supporters of democracy for Ireland. It is on them, rather than on the genocidists opposing them, that the author pours the vocabulary of abuse. Only a psychology textbook could contain more synonyms for mental disorder than this book. It is full of "bitter; hate; hateful; hatred; grievance, old resentments; vengeance; murder; folly; ratholes of conspiracy; an Irish fight; a race of treacherous murderers; band of murderers; half-breed Jew; self-pity; divisive; slander; invective; irrational; acrimony; libel; firebrand; obsession; imbecile; foul; gross; vulgar; a murder society; destructive; decadence; raving lunatic; agrarian crime; wild tumult; fanatic; potatoes - neither man nor pig wanted more; perverse; turbulent; terrorists; violent; illicit; drunkenness and dishonesty; assassination; wretched quarrel; miserable; perfidy; stupid anger; vitriolic; contentious; treacherous; raged;" etc. Perhaps worst of all, the author indicates that it wasn't a republic (and all the benefits that flow therefrom) that Devoy et al struggled for, but for "a mystical, martyr-producing organism that could trace its bloody and tragic ancestry to Theobald Wolfe Tone." This grotesque slur that may well be explained by the author's execrable choice of sources: Cruise O'Brien, Edwards, O Grada, McCaffrey, et al. They constitute much of the "Potato Famine" school of Irish history which denies the existence and central role of the 75 British regiments that murdered 5.2 millions in the Irish Holocaust. Still; three stars is about right. It was worth the read if not the price. From it I learned that Devoy wrote an autobiography; "Recollections of an Irish Rebel" that I really want.



2. I wanted to take the opportunity to write after finishing the book this past week; it's a good start for anybody curious about the roots of the support--in money, arms, rhetoric, and/or direct assistance--that Irish Americans have long given for Irish freedom. Often, the zeal of the "exiled children in America", as we're referred to in the Irish Proclamation of Independence from 1916, has surpassed that of those Irish we've left behind back home. Golway's book gives you some of the reasons why this disparity may have emerged--the force of the Famine, deportation of many Fenians, the Civil War's effect in giving unwitting assistance to many Americans who returned to agitate in Ireland and abroad, and the economic success gained by a few Irish emigrants and even more the sacrifices of a few dollars of many many more Irish who did the grunt-work which fueled the fortunes of those few, no doubt. Today, many of these emigrants' descendants are criticized as "plastic Paddies" who know little about Ireland beyond a few ballads and sentimental slogans. Both their critics and their supporters among the Irish Americans themselves should study this book, which uses Devoy's long career as a basis for a complicated study of how factionalism, quarrels, and a somewhat clumsy mixture of idealism and pragmatism all combined to effect change back in Ireland. And it should also instruct those who still support the Irish struggle today--it shows the pettiness and begrudgery that has often plagued U.S. efforts at grassroots aid. Although at times in the later sections, I lost track of who was outwitting who in all of the internecine backstabbing among the various claimants of The Cause, this is not to discredit Golway's skill. He had an intricate story to narrate, and he keeps it fresh and even witty, without pandering to his readers. His own experience as a journalist, a career shared by Devoy, undoubtably enriches much of the ambiance behind this sometimes reticent figure, too. I often wonder how a biographer, faced with a subject who's written his or her autobiography already, can calculate a new angle from which to view the person. Golway manages to integrate Devoy's own words sparingly, and by filling in much of the context which Devoy would have kept mum about (or not known of), the author presents a surprisingly relevant case study of the dangers and the seductions of trying to achieve an ideal in a messy world of spies, politicians, revolutionaries, businessmen, and everyday folks. In a time when many Irish and non-Irish alike are taking a renewed and justified pride in this island's heritage, this book introduces you to the American contribution to the Irish situation. (I also was impressed by the author's taking the time to comment on his work in response to a superficial criticism posted; his graceful manner of answering his hasty critic shows real class.)



3. Golway tells the tale of John Devoy, greatest of the American Fenians, and a pivotal, if hitherto neglected, figure in the history of Irish nationalism. Devoy was an longlived agitator, fundraiser, journalist, convicted Irish revolutionary and American refugee who bankrolled Parnell, Patrick Pearse and Michael Collins, butted heads with the Ulster Presbyterian Woodrow Wilson and the egomaniacal Eamon de Valera, and sacrificed his personal happiness in the process. Golway's prose is sharp and terse, with a propulsive narrative drive. A fine work of history.



4. My first introduction to John Devoy came as a student. I was studying the response of Irish-American newspapers to the outbreak of World War One and Devoy was a highly influential editorialist whose opinions were frequently reprinted in various Irish journals throughout the USA. He was a determined opponent of Woodrow Wilson's policy to intervene in the European conflict on behalf of the Allied Powers, generally, and in alliance with Great Britain specifically. When public opinion turned against Imperial Germany, Devoy argued in favor of neutrality.
   
   Devoy was a tireless agitator and advocate for the cause of Irish independence. He was imprisoned as rebel and his sentence was commuted on the condition that he agree to live out the remainder of his days in exile. He had been arrested for his participation in the Irish Republican Brotherhood after British agents infilitrated the group as a means to disrupt the Fenian plan to invade British North America (Canada). It was thought that staging such an attack would provoke a war between the United States and Great Britain that would in turn serve to liberate Ireland. While Devoy was languishing in prison, Fenian troops were able to cross the border and enter the Province of Ontario from the State of New York. A brief skirmish followed and the invaders were quickly beaten and forced to withdraw.
   
   Following his release and exile, Devoy committed the remainder of his life to promoting "The Cause." He attended meetings, wrote editorials, raised funds and organized membership campaigns over and over again. He traveled throughout the United States and worked alongside or quarreled with almost every important Irishman of note during his lifetime.
   
   Terry Golway has done a commendable job of honoring the memory of an undeservedly forgotten Irish patriot who performed most of his labors in relative anonymity on a distant foreign shore.

No comments about Struggle for Empire: Kingship and Conflict Under Louis the German, 817-876.

1 comments about A Pity Youth Does Not Last: Reminiscences of the Last of the Great Blasket Island's Poets and Storytellers (Oxford Paperbacks).

1. It has been years since I read this book, yet it keeps coming to mind. The author's use of language is exquisite and touching. It is a tale of life in a time and place that can never be replicated. I have never seen the Blasket Islands, nor known anyone from there, yet I feel that I have been there and experienced it as fully as if I lived there in the islands' zenith, which, like the youth referred to in the title, surely could not last in the modern world.

No comments about Lime Street at Two.

No comments about Real Lace (Irish Studies).

2 comments about General and Madam de Lafayette: Partners in Liberty's Cause in the American and French Revolutions.

1. After reading both Unger and Kramer on the astounding life of General Lafayette, I was very curious about his wife. This book of letters and history concerning her life of privilege and partnership is a complement to what most people know about her famous husband. Both the American and French Revolutions were pivotal in their life together of sharing their wealth to the very end. Adrienne generously gave the peasants working her land the best circumstances of the day, while Lafayette at age 18 bought and outfitted a ship to help the colonies win freedom. Three daughters and a son were born while the General was going back and forth across the Atlantic to muster more help from the French for the new nation. Their only son was named George Washington Lafayette and he escaped being imprisoned due to his mother's clever arrangement. Before she joined her husband in prison voluntarily, she snuck her son out of France to be raised for several years by Martha and George Washington. Lafayette's two daughters also joined their father in prison. When Lafayette was not allowed to enter France, his wife pursued their family interests in war torn Paris and environs. She regained La Grange for Lafayette's retirement. He survived Adrienne by almost 30 years at this lovely chateaux and never remarried. She died at 50 due to her illness contracted at the prison where she decided to join her beloved husband. Many relatives were guillotined, so Adrienne arranged their burial site at Picpus Cemetery to be close to the thousands dumped in a mass grave. An American flag flys over their grave for they were both truely "Partners in Liberty's Cause." Lafayette took a triumphal tour of all the United States and returned to France with American soil to spread over their graves. Both equal partners and generous souls.



2. After all that's been written about Lafayette, this book was a complete surprise. It added much to read of his wife's devotion and abilities and their lifelong relationship. It also places them in history, and by reading their letters, you are introduced to them directly. This book is not only entertaining but scholarly. Should be in every college library.

4 comments about The Kennedys: America's Emerald Kings A Five-Generation History of the Ultimate Irish-Catholic Family.

1. this new kennedy's book is very great.
   there are a lot of picture and the texts are very complete.
   you can learn a lot about the kennedys.
   it's never boring.
   So read it!



2. While this is an excellent history of the Kennedy family, tracing its roots like few histories have done, this book is far more. The author neither shows a bias to adore this large, well-known clan nor does he show a disdain for them. He simply tells the story as it is and leaves the reader to his own conclusions.

   The main thrust of the book is the family's dealings with the Catholic church. We learn what many have suspected, that the Kennedy family paid off the churches leaders, providing them with much personal and institutional wealth, for the benefit of various Kennedy family members --- for special treatment and services.

   The book covers just about all family members who were helped by the Catholic hierarchy but, of course, it spends more time on JFK who benefited from payments made by his father on his behalf. But it goes on to the more recent affairs including marriage annulments of lesser family members.

   While this clan is of much less importance than it once was --- indeed it is of little importance --- this history and the new revelations add a good deal of knowledge for the student of politics and religion and leaves us with a distaste and distrust of both.

   Susanna K. Hutcheson
   Owner & Executive Copy Director
   Powerwriting.com LLC




3. Professor Maier has documented a side of the Kennedys that many readers are quite unfamiliar with: their ongoing commitment to their religious heritage. As Maier writes, Americans are more comfortable with Kennedy's as power operators and libertines. The essential Catholic nature of these men and women, however, either bores us or makes us uncomfortable. Some liberals don't appreciate the Kennedys as Catholics because they dislike Catholicism itself. Many conservatives deny that the Kennedy's are Catholic because, for such critics, morality means sexual prudery. Maier is able to strike the proper balance in portraying Joseph, Sr., John F. Kennedy and Edward as committed, believing albeit flawed Catholics. Robert is correctly drawn as the most conventionally devout of the Kennedy males. This should not be a revelation to readers, but in a sense, it is. And the author makes one more very important and routinely ignored point: It is very significant that Americans have been unwilling to nominate (let alone elect) a Roman Catholic to the Presidency since John F. Kennedy, over 40 years ago. This work ranks as one of the best, most carefully-documented and readable of the hundreds of books published about this family.



4. ...the author began to write about the latter-day Kennedys: old Ted Kennedy, his nephews, his nieces. Then, it seems all the careful research and non-biased authorship went out the window. I can only suppose, maybe because Ted is still alive and could have played hardball with the materials granted to the author, the author decides to give him a pass. How can you write a book about the Kennedy family and not discuss Chappaquidick's ramifications?
   
   But until that point, the book is excellent; plenty of actual letters from Rose, Joe, young Joe, Kathleen, Jack et al., are quoted (letters which reveal so much more of their feelings and their characters, rather than just an author stating an opinion about them -- this is great). The trauma that Jacqueline Kennedy endured after the assassination is finally explored in detail. Really, this part of the book is stunning, particularly in regard to what the Kennedys' faith meant to them (particularly Rose) and how it was practiced -- UNTIL the chapters regarding Teddy and the latter-day Kennedys. Then, I get the distinct feeling that the author is indicating it's OK that most of the latter-day members of the family have become the new "pick & choose" Catholics of today -- the type of so-called believers that want to manipulate and practice this faith THEIR way, not their Church's, way. In other words, if a Catholic belief doesn't suit their life choice, they know to make a slick excuse about the choices they make or the political positions they assume. For instance, Ted becomes pro-choice since about 1972 (but never before) --ironically, just when women really started speaking out and became a political force on this issue, and just about the time of Roe v. Wade. Was it really a belief in women's rights that changed him, or was it just a convenient time to sway the way the political wind was blowing?
   
   I can't quarrel with the quality of the writing, or the research, so this book deserves 3 solid stars. Maybe some of my disappointment in the book is with the current Kennedy family itself (and, in respect to the book, the author's failure to point out how the family has lost its way). It is disappointing, seeing the younger generation's campaigns, marriages and even some lives going bust, due to drugs, embarrassing scandals & so forth; seeing how the Catholic values have been degraded, when compared to the stringent yet strong inner core that Rose Kennedy, Eunice, and I think even JFK (despite all his affairs), had.
   
   Most of the younger generation (and Ted, too) seem to lack this core of strength and determination to achieve things not just for their own good but for the good of others, which I believe, for the most part, came from their Catholic faith. The author does a great job showing what the old faith as practiced by the Kennedys meant to them and how it informed the older generation's lives, but fails to point out that its loss and/or its current application as a sort of "only at my convenience" religion has left its mark on the current generation.

3 comments about Mattanza: The Ancient Sicilian Ritual of Bluefin Tuna Fishing.

1. This book is very well written; it's almost poetic with the lyrical descriptions and vivid images that Theresa Maggio creates with her words. The author also eloquently captures for her readers the conflicting emotions she experienced as a modern American woman viewing unfamiliar cultural practices and dealing with an ancient Sicilian way of life. This against the backdrop of loving the people (and one man in particular) and exploring her heritage as a grandchild of Sicilians. She writes with a sadness and shares a sense of loss with the people as old traditions fade away; the ancient way of fishing for instance - MATTANZA - the bluefin tuna fishing ritual that is dying out as modern fishing methods intrude.

   In the best traditions of good travelogues the book paints a sensitive and romantic portrait of traditional cultures; we are invited to feel a poignancy about the inevitable losses that changes through modernization brings. The author in describing her man says "he was a good man in a dying trade, a fisherman to the core of his soul. His boat, his nets, and the sea were his life."

   Writing style and attention to culture - the hallmarks of a good travelogue being present - what then is the problem with the book? The truth is that the cultural practice itself is not one that we develop much sympathy for. MATTANZA, although certainly not a glorification of death, and steeped as it is in religious symbolism, nevertheless is shown up as a bloody ritual, and more unfortunately for the book, a rather senseless one.

   Maggio describes the scene around the trap. "The net was drawn taught, and they skittered in front of us, half out of the water...The fish were as big as men...I remember the din, the thunder of falling water, and their frantic thrashing. They darted to the corners of the net, but there was no way out...when the thrashing calmed they were battered, bleeding and floating on their sides, but they were still alive...this killing went on for an hour, the blue square turned red. When the last fish was taken the currents cleared the square of the blood and milky water that clouded it." Not exactly a practice that has much to recommend it. Even if you wished to take a principled stand and say 'I can't pass judgement on other peoples cultural practices,' the book sets itself up for just this sort of criticism where, after the Mattanza, Maggio says "the tourists...were towed back to port." Now we see the reality. This ancient traditional cultural practice, steeped in religious symbolism, is not so precious afterall. It has allowed itself to be bastardized into a blood-sport tourist attraction in order to make a few dollars. This admission, and the failure of Maggio to contrast the traditional practices with even more exploitative, modern commercial fishing activities, leaves the spotlight firmly on MATTANZA; and unfortunately for the book wheras the writing style shines, the cultural practice it describes does not.




2. Maggio's words sent me to a time and place that my thoughts could not imagine without a guide to show the way. The startling contrast between the ritual of the tuna slaughter and life in my cozy home nestled by a roaring fire are apparent from the opening pages. A true adventure that reads like a fictitious novel of love for the life and life for the love of a bloody massacre few have witnessed. Sushi? Is it a non-fiction? Is it an advertisement for the gourmet market? Is it a traditon that will endure? Without Maggio's persistant journeys to the site of the tonnora and the substance of a writer without limits, this work would not have traveled to my hands and through my mind.
   Inspirational story-telling by an artist that paints through words and colors with the culture and rich tradition of a brutal ritual.
   Thank You Ms. Maggio for giving my dreams substance and a sicilian fantasy.
   jackie farrow



3. this was a great read. this woman can really write well.
   I loved her descriptions of these fisherman. Made me wish
   I wasn't married. I'd go over there and get me one!
   great descriptions!

1 comments about Arthur's Round: The Life of Brewing Legend Arthur Guinness.

1. This is an extremely thorough and detailed look at the origins of one of the most famous Irish families of the modern era, and one of the most well-established global brands; written by one of the members of the family to boot.
   
   Patrick Guinness has certainly done his research - digging through the family archives as well as reams of other original source material he confidently paints a complete picture of Arthur Guinness (the first Guinness to brew the stuff for which Guinness is now synonymous) and the times in which he lived.
   
   Starting with Arthurs's ancestors and putting right some common misconceptions about the Guinness family's origins, geographically, socio-economically and brewing(ly), he uses Arthur's story as an example of how many, at this point in Ireland's history, managed to find success in Dublin in spite of more humble beginnings.
   
   The story ends, largely, with Arthur's death (sorry if I've ruined the ending for any of you). Overall this is a meticulously well researched book which manages to tell many tales in one, the two primary ones being Arthur's story and the story of Ireland itself, throughout the period in question.
   
   The flip-side of that same coin, however, is that this is not a pleasant biographical read such as we might see published on some current titan of business. This is a historically heavyweight book, its amusing cover art notwithstanding, and I was surprised at how dry and academic it was in many places (I could have done with a Guinness or two while I was reading it). Patrick Guinness also used this opportunity to correct, and in some instances berate, some previous biographers' alleged mistakes, misconceptions, presumptions and blunders. At first his tone was amusing but by the end of the book it had grown somewhat tiresome.
   
   That said, I ploughed through the drier parts and am glad that I did - it's a fascinating read from all sides and I highly recommend it to anyone; almost as heartily as I recommend a pint of the black stuff itself.
   
   Slainte.

No comments about Young Victoria.