1 comments about Tommy Makem's Secret Ireland.

1. I ordered the book because of the author. I have long enjoyed his singing, and admired his song writing ability, so expected to enjoy the book. I was not disappointed. Makem gives us a tour around his favorite spots in Ireland, taking us to less familiar places. The travelogue is interspersed with anecdotes about his own experiences in these places. The book is well-written, enjoyable reading. Anticipating a trip to Ireland in the near future, I have just ordered my fourth copy of the book.

No comments about Pavie in the Borderlands: The Journey of Theodore Pavie to Louisiana and Texas, 1829-1830, Including Portions of His Souvenirs Atlantiques.

No comments about RECOMMENDED COUNTRY HOUSES SMALL HOTELS, INNS AND RESTAURANTS GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 2007 (Johansens Recommended Country Houses, Small Hotels and Traditional Inns: Great Britain and Ireland).

No comments about Aberystwyth Voices (Tempus Oral History).

5 comments about Scarlett: The Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind (G K Hall Large Print Book Series).

1. I have read the book Gone With the Wind once, and seen the movie twice, so, even though I am not as entitled to complain as some of the rest of you, this book was so ludicrous that I shall.
   
   First, riddle me this. If this is a sequel to Gone With the Wind, an American Novel about the antebellum South, the South during the Civil War and during reconstruction, how is it that most of it takes place in Ireland?
   
   And while we are on the subject, if most of the main characters from the previous novel are only mentioned in passing, and largely ignored in favour of new characters (in Ireland), then how is this a sequel?
   
   Also, most of the Irish people in the book are portrayed as poor, drunk, superstitious, and crazy, or some combination thereof. Also, they generally disport themselves as if they are the Lucky Charms leprechaun.
   Clearly, the author has watched Darby O' Gill and the Little People too many times.
   
   Actually, this book would make a fine sequel to Darby O'Gill and the Little People. As a sequel to Gone With the Wind, however, it is extremely lousy and generally awful.



2. this is a great book, it keep me from wanting to even eat until i finished



3. I enjoyed the film Scarlett and I found it a fabulous sequel to the MOVIE, but the book though I thought was good in the beginning, did not hold true to Scarlett.
   
   In the book, Scarlett leaves Wade and Ella to her sister, Suellen. Now at the time prior to the Civil War she made have done this. Yet after the Civil War and Rhett Butler she would have never left her children! She wished to be with them and play with them. I'm wondering if Alexandria Ripley even read Gone with the Wind for having this happen. Scarlett leave the children she created, the ones whom she AND Rhett love? I think not! Nevermind that Rhett would find it horrible to be with Scarlett when she so easily gave away her children to her sister.
   
   I can give you some pages of Gone with the wind which would show you the love she has for Wade and parts which bluntly state that she wishes to play with her children when the war is over, when she is not so busy. But Alas, instead of playing with her children, being with her children she knows she and Rhett would want...she instead has them stay with her sister. And Ella would not be so easy to stay, nor would Wade. Even though Scarlett was not the greatest of mothers, her chilren loved her. She is and forever will be their mother and they love her for that. They love their 'Uncle Rhett' and it just makes me angry that Alexandria Ripley would take away such a profound love. Separate the family that Scarlett would have kept together.
   
   Yet, only because Wade and Ella are not in the movie, this book as a movie is good. So as long as I do not read it I am glad that Alexandria Ripley wrote it because now we have a sequel to the movie.



4. The book was good until Scarlett went to Ireland where at that point it just went down hill-the book was outrageous and far fetched-I hated it. This book is only good for kindle or as a door stopper.



5. I thought this was a great book and a wonderful continuation of Margaret Mitchell's story. I hadn't ever ready Gone With The Wind until right before I read this story, so I was reading them back-to-back and couldn't do it. I had to wait a few weeks, read a few other books between them, to really appreciate Scarlett. Obviously the characters and the feeling of everything is a little different, because of the author's voice, but it's still a fun read. Scarlett still has a lot of spunk and Rhett is still one of the most romantic figures in literary history!

1 comments about Piracy and Privateering in the Golden Age Netherlands.

1. I suppose that it is mostly the fault of the movies, but we tend to think of pirates as being either British (Blackbeard) or French (Lafitte). It turns out thought that the Dutch, who were building an overseas empire that would rival that of the British also issued letters of marque (Dutch - commissie van retorsie) that gave their ships the right to act as privateers to attack the ships of eneny countries. And as was the custom with the British and French privateers, some of them found that their weren't enough enemy ships so they broadened their range to become outright pirates.
   
   In this book, Virginia Lunsford, a professor of history at the United States Naval Acadamy describes the story of Dutch piracy and privateering in an excellent bit of original research.
   
   One strange aspect of Dutch pirates is that a surprising number of them retired back to Holland after their career as a pirate and lived with a certain esteem and respect. This was in spite of the existence of laws that specifically outlawed piracy and prescribed hanging as the penalty.
   
   This book not only gives the history of Dutch piracy in narrative form, but has several appendicies that give specific detailed information on individual ships and the results of their cruises.
   
   This is a pioneering work covering a subject I've not seen covered before.

No comments about Conde Nast Johansens 2004 Recommended Hotels Great Britain & Ireland (Johansens Recommended Hotels: Great Britain and Ireland).

No comments about When I Was Young: The Islands (Voices from Lost Communities).

5 comments about Is Shane Macgowan Still Alive?.

1. I'd hoped for an entertaining romp through all things Irish. Instead, the book delivered a few random drinking stories. They're well-written and occasionally entertaining, but the book's premise is really just a starting point for a series of meandering adventures.



2. This account of a trip around Ireland never really reaches the heights it should. Although well written the problem is that the writer simply isn't that funny. Two things to remember: 1) this has nothing to do with Shane MacGowan, and 2) I reckon any reasonable writer could turn out this standard fare.



3. Me and my wife went to Ireland and took Tim Bradford's excellent and massively funny book with us. As travel books go, Tim's is unorthodox, packed with information while always a funny, bizarre and entertaining read. Thanks to Tim me and the missus, among many other things, went to tiny Doolin on the west coast for the "world's best pub walk" and a wonderful session in a wonderful Irish bar. Never did get to see Ted though!

   I've read, re-read and cross-referenced to this book so many times I soon will know it by heart. Bradford writes excellently and in a manner which makes "Is Shane..." a difficult book to put down at all. That, coupled with funny drawings, a view of the world firmly tongue-in-cheek and the most stupid scheme for selling a car ever made makes this book great for entertainment value, very helpful as an introduction to what Ireland and "irishry" is all about and, as was the case for me and my wife, essential if you're planning a tour of Ireland!

   Buy it today!




4. I'm a big fan of both Tim Bradford and Ireland, so when me and my wife went on our honeymoon there this book (sectioned, obviously, just next by "Bryson" for some free publicity, as Tim himself points out) was an absolute must.

   Bradford has a fantastic way with words which makes the few sections in the book when he drones on a bit entertaining, even if longish.

   Under the cover of going to Ireland to sell his girly car for a quick buck, Bradford takes us on a marvellous journey around this fantastic island. The highlight for me was the part on Doolin and "the greatest pub walk in the world". Well, we went to Doolin, took the pub walk as prescribed in the book, and although Ted McCormac was nowhere to be seen, went home both drunk and happy!

   The book is full of interesting references to things and sites of interest in Ireland which otherwise might pass the visitor by and as such works very well indeed as an unorthodox travel book. We certainly weren't preparing for a two-day round-trip in the Drogheda area, but having been enlightened by the historical wisdom of Tim we got a fantastic experience out of the Boyne valley with surrounding historic magnificencies, and that's merely one example.

   Add that to Bradford's magnificent self irony, sarcasm and talent for witty one-liners, and this book is one to buy. Nice work, Tim!




5. Tim Bradford, a cartoonist by trade for a weekly British football magazine, has a random encounter with Shane MacGowan outside a London tube station and is inspired to travel to Ireland in order to sell a car expecting to get a better return there than in England.
   
   What follows is an often very funny description of some offbeat places and the people who either inhabit or visit them across Ireland. Bradford writes amusingly for the most part but once in a while he goes off the deep end looking for a laugh.
   
   Overall a quick, mildly amusing travelogue. Not a guide, and the book has nothing to do with Shane MacGowan except for the opening setup.

No comments about Conde Nast Johansens 2005 Recommended Country Houses, Small Hotels & Inns: Great Britian & Ireland (Johansens Recommended Country Houses, Small Hotels and Traditional Inns: Great Britain and Ireland).