This is straight forward history of the conflicts between the northern and southern churches leading up to the Civil War. What is most interesting is that it destroys the popular myth that the churches were in the vanguard of the abolition movement. While there were some churches that were, they were the off shuts of the more established churches. It appears that the established churches were more interested in staying neutral and not creating conflict with their sourthern breathern then in fighting the evil of slavery.

The book has written in a scholarly manner and is very dry reading. But, for anyone who wishes to understand the role that the churches played, or didn't play, in the abolition movement the book is a good read.

In the October 28, 1985 entry of my personal journal there is a reference to my having read this book. That was over sixteen years ago, I do not own a copy of the book, and I do not have present access to it. The major impression that remains on my memory was the additional confirmation this scholarly book provided as to the importance of Evangelicalism and segments of Evangelical churches in the battle against slavery.

The deeply rooted history of Ireland and its manifestation in the "troubles" makes it impossible for anyone to write a purely objective analysis of cause and effect. Instead, those with genuine interest must read a selection of accounts, each with a different bias. Before The Dawn is definitely one to include. It is both a political justification for active republicanism and the account of the growth of republicanism into main stream politics. Gerry Adams is articulate and very intelligent. He is very coy about the IRA activities (not so, about the "Crown" - the RUC, British Army, Loyalists) but there is no hiding of desire for resolution of the conflict. At times the book is confusing as there are so many names thrown at you. Adams covers the Hunger strike with a deep emotional perspective. Its obviously an event which has had a significant impact on shaping his direction. I enjoyed it and learnt from it, but its not the definitive book!

Gerry Adams is a national hero to my people and this book is very accurate of the situation in my island. In response to the comments of fragmeister from Bournemouth, I think he is a typical ignorant English man, analysing the situation from a distance and making rash statements. I would love to see where he got his figures from because most of the people of Northern Ireland want to be freed from English oppression and nearly all the people from the South want the same. The British government forced the republican movement to be by being imperialist bullies in the past and holding on to land that simply isn't theirs. I could go on with this argument all day but I won't. Fragmeister, try living here and see what the British government have done to my people and you won't put down a man like Gerry Adams. This book is a good read, not great, but written by a hero and should be appreciated by all.

"Before the Dawn" is the autobiography of Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams. I feel that it is an essential book for anyone who is interested in the Irish conflict. Adams writes with great skill and his views and comments are intelligent and humoristic at times. I think any reader who enjoys biographys will find this one to be exciting and meaningful, even if they are not well informed about the situation in Ireland. My only regret is the fact that the book ends in the early eighties, thus, leaving the reader a bit frustrated and curious about the happenings of more recent times. All in all - an outstanding effort.

I got this guide after skimming it pretty extensively at a bookstore. I was impressed by the content, the nice user friendly format, and the graphics quality.

When I actually tried to use the information in the guide, however, I was deeply disappointed and angered, because (1) much of the information is hugely outdated even though the guide claims to be updated - for example, a restaurant that has been closed since 2001 is still highlighted in the guide in several places - tells you how dated the "best of" opinions written by local Napa luminaries are... and (2) the author and publisher didn't bother to verify that phone numbers were accurate, so I wound up calling wrong numbers, dead numbers, numbers for business offices of wineries only to find that I should have called the tasting room number, which these guys didn't bother to include...

in short, don't buy this book! judge this book by its "cover" and you will be fooled and disappointed.

This guide is very comprehensive-- great to help plan a trip to Wine Country. It gave us the scoop on activities, wineries, hotels, restaurants, etc. The maps are also good. The disappointment came when we tried to find dinner our first night in wine country. We literally went to 3 restaurants in a row that were recommended by the guide but were no longer in business. We wasted a lot of time driving around to find these places. In the end, we did find our 4th choice restaurant in town, and it was an excellent dinner. Moral of the story-- great guide, but can't hurt to call ahead!

Just returned from a trip to Sonoma and Mendocino counties. This book was an excellent guide and I really liked the maps detailing where everything was. Of course things change and places close or move - we only had one "surprise," when we went to Hidden Cellars and learned they'd been bought by Parducci and were now in that tasting room instead.

Otherwise, this book is terrific to have along. I recommend looking at websites on the internet before your trip - just type "Suffolk County wineries" (or whatever) in a search, and start studying! If a winery you want to visit is in the book, definitely read what they have to say. Just be aware that other wineries that are good (Gary Farrell) or great (the tiny but superb Nalle Winery) are not included in the book, and are really worth seeing. Use the guide to augment your research, but don't rely solely on this - or any other one - guide to give you complete info on a trip to the wine country.

This should make all the apologists for barbarism happy but those who don't find blowing up old men and shooting policemen in the back of the head to be joyous events while find this tract nauseating.

I agree with those who found this book not very informative. McFerran talked to far too few people, wasted about a quarter of the book retelling Irish history, and frankly rathered embarrassed me with his naive viewpoint. (How impressed he was that there were well-paved roads in Ireland, for instance.) He's certainly sincere and well-intentioned, but read Toolis, Coogan, Adams, Belfrage and many others for far more thorough interviews, detail, and analysis.

Prof. Doug McFarren's book is the travelogue of an ethics professor with an empirical bent of mind. It's not enough for him to judge the violence wrought by the IRA without learning about it first hand, first from American activists and then from as many who will talk to him in Ireland. Along the way he delivers some of the convoluted history of this troubled nation in dense, readable narrative that serves as good introduction to a complex topic. He also provides wonderful references to film and fiction that make this book a fine resource for the classroom -- especially for ethics professors who might want to devote a lesson to the morality of insurrection and civil strife.

This book was like the movie "Remains of the Day". "Huh?" You say?
Well, I enjoyed the little adventures John faced upon his arrival in
Boonville and they kept me interested throughout the book. However,
I kept waiting for the real story to start and then it ended - just
as I was surprised when the ending credits scrolled up on "Remains..".
I suppose having driven through Boonville many a time,
let me get into the book more then your average yutz.

I feel compelled to give this book 5 stars not because it is a perfect book--indeed, it does have faults--but because so many Boonville troglodytes have mercilessly and unfairly panned it. No doubt shocked by their depictions into crawling from their patchouli scented passion pits and wacky-tabacky caves over to the local library-welfare-line for their alotted fifteen minutes of free Internet, these Northern California acid casualties have seriously and pathetically skewed the rating on this book.

For the truth is that this book is genuinely funny and engagingly written. It needs the attention of an editor in places, but that is no fault of the writer, and even in the places where the author allows himself to rant he manages to do so in a still entertaining way. If you take the time to read the book objectively, the author's love for his characters readily shows through.

So for those of you who have never heard of Boonville, I say that this book will serve as an excellent introduction.

And for those of you from Boonville aghast at your depiction in the book, I say, "pound sand," because you are being a bunch of jerks. This is a work of fiction, and as such any similarity to persons living or dead is probably not entirely unintentionally intentional.

So rather than complain about it's artistic merits I would encourage you instead to think of the book as your one and only chance at immortality, the last twenty years of your drug hazed vegetarian lives recorded for future generations of meat eaters.

Get Some!!

Boonville is like Carl Hiaasen crossed with Updike's Rabbit stories. Hilarious! A page turner. Energy in each sentence. Dark in it's humor, the funniest passages ring absolutely true, dealing with the human condition and the big question of why we exist. I can't remember a better first novel, maybe Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth.

First and foremost, the introduction was very sad but made me keep reading. Although my sympathies lie more in the nationalist camp, through reading this book I was able to comprehend why the loyalists have done things like the Dublin and Monaghan bombings in '74. Taylor does a wonderful job of showing that in a conflict such as that in Northern Ireland, no one is innocent, and people feel forced to do things that they would never do under normal circumstances. I would have liked to have seen more about the loyalist splinter groups, as well as the UDA's connection to Combat 18, which is a British neo-Nazi group, but those are tiny little nit-picky details in a much wider conflict. Like his book on the IRA, Taylor has done massive amounts of research and interviews with this book. I feel sorry for the people who have died in this conflict in the past 33 years, and Taylor has shown me why I feel that way.

This is actually a very good book it shows the plight of both Nationalists and Unionists in Northern Ireland, but more importantly it shows how the Loyalist paramilitaries(the UDA and UVF) although not nearly as powerfull or as well trained as the Republican IRA and INLA, have never the less been able to kill over 900 hundred Catholic civilians. The book does a good job making a distinction between members of the UDA and UVF like Gusty Spence, who did not want to hurt Catholic civilians, and depraved killers like Johnny Adair and Billy Wright, who only killed innocent unarmed men and women. The one thing the book shows exceptionally well is how the UDA and UVF were Ultimately no match for the seasoned IRA(although they try to stoke thier inflated ego's by saying they were winning against the IRA when everyone agrees they were actually losing).

This book is blunt, painfully so in that it is chilling to hear people speak so openly about the atrocities they carried out in N. Ireland during the troubles. What other reviewers have failed to mention in their pro-nationalist writings, is the underlying feeling of alienation that the Loyalist people of Ulster are enduring. On one hand, republicans are relentless in their campaign of bombing and shooting, and on the other, the British Government, giving concession after concession to Sinn Fein/IRA. Add to that the Shankill bombing, Enniskillen, Warrenpoint etc, and one can understand the pent up hatred in the protestant population, manifesting into terrorism for some. This book tries to explain the rationale in the thinking of the people responsible for Loyalist violence, without condemning or condoning it. His insights in to how the escalation of the war by the new blood in the UDA and UVF ultimately brought about peace are controversial but probably right. Unionists are the majority and the IRA should accept that so that others don't have to pick up the gun to defend their way of life. A good read, it takes its place amongst the numerous books written on republican terrorism.

While van Renterghem does give his readers a heavy dose of neo-Paganism, and makes some overgeneralizations(for example: he suggests Coca Cola invented the red suit, but evidence exists that Santa in red was probably a part of the Christmas culture before the ad campaigns began; he suggests that Celtic and Nordic cultures are so similar that it is difficult to separate them, but in reality the two cultures are unique and independent of one another),his hypothesis is not without merit. Early church leaders did Christianize earlier pagan symbols and celebrations, and I thought the association of Santa with Odin (who did serve as a shaman in Nordic myths) eye-opening. In short, I found this book to be entertaining and a very easy read. Whether you like it or not, it will make you think, and for that I give it four stars.

A rather egregious example of political correctness and anti-Christian polemic. Still, if one is willing to wade through the cultural marxism it becomes a rather charming study of European preChristian folk traditions. Anyone interested in the history of Christmas traditions will find this a good read.

I loved this book! I would recomend it to anybody. It makes you think about things in different light then I have previouly looked at them before and I conider myelf a very open minded person. The reading is fairly easy. The information eems to much to be shoved in a 208 page book. Authors opinions sometimes clouds the facts and meddles them up a bit. But all in all a wonderful book! Great gift giving for anyone willing to open the mind some. Merry Xmas to all!

I think some of the Irish protest too much! As a South African working in Ireland I found the book a good source of information about Ireland, and especially the recent history of the country. It also confirmed a lot of things I had noticed myself, for instance that the Irish are lacking in a sense of tidiness. I have to agree, though, that it is not very engaging. I also found the author's use of conversations with normal people as evidence of trends or widely held views excessive and, at times, irritating.

Also, the book probably needs to be updated to take the effect of the Celtic Tiger on the Irish way of living into account. The country seems to be in the grip of materialism. The author also glosses over the issue of alcohol abuse. It seems to be a very real problem among students and young working people, but most Irish seem to view it as charming and part of their culture.

This book, perhaps uniquely, attempts to present a comprehensive study of modern Ireland, covering every live cultural and political issue in the country ranging from the conflict between Church and State, growing secularism in Ireland, Irish Gaelic versus English, town planning legislation, the increasing centralization of Irish government, taxation and welfare policies in Ireland, etc. But this book is fundamentally a work of journalism rather than cultural study, and derives most of its conclusions from interviews with people in Ireland rather than serious efforts on the author's part to immerse himself in Irish culture. It is also marred by embedded British prejudices: Ardagh, for example, claims that government in Ireland is far more centralized than in Britain, even though Britain (where local taxes are collected by the London government and then distributed to the local councils) is one of the most centralized countries in the world. Ardagh also compares Ireland to other European countries such as France and Germany but totally ignores North American contributions to Irish heritage--such as the diamond-shaped, yellow-background warning signs on Irish roads, or the role official bilingualism in Canada plays as a model for attempts to make Ireland a fully bilingual Gaelic/English-speaking country.

The language issue illustrates most of the shortcomings of this book. Ardagh dismisses Irish Gaelic as an unimportant feature of life in Ireland, and in so doing fails to observe nuances in how bilingualism functions, or rather fails to function, in Ireland: for instance, he fails to observe that (unlike in Canada) the Irish names of many government agencies and other organizations are often very free translations of the English names--for instance, 'Failte go hAontas mac Leinn' does NOT mean, 'Welcome to Queen's Student Union', as he seems to think. He contents himself with merely dismissing the Irish names of government agencies as "strange." He also fails to observe that while official bilingualism is in theory mandatory in the Republic, it is often not followed in practice even on government sites; and finally, that while in the Republic Irish is distinguished from English on road signs by a different typeface and capitalization rule, in Catholic districts of Northern Ireland it appears on some signs according to rules developed for bilingual signage in Wales (same face and capitalization for both languages). Ardagh is also insensitive to the role Irish Gaelic plays in the policing issue in Northern Ireland--he does not seem to understand, for instance, why a Northern Ireland police force with a bilingual name would be preferable to the current Royal Ulster Constabulary. He says Irish is a "difficult language," but seems not to have realized that much of the difficulty comes from the rules surrounding eclipsis and changes in consonant quality, which reflect a concern with how the language SOUNDS when it is spoken and are responsible for giving Irish its musical qualities. One gets the impression this book would have been much improved if Ardagh had bothered to look in an Irish grammar, or even purchased an Irish dictionary so as to check some supposedly "bilingual" signs.

Finally, this book is dead to the simple "poetry" of life in Ireland--for instance, Ardagh does not observe (as others could) that anti-clericalism has not taken root in Ireland in the same way it has in other Catholic societies, such as Mexico, because the Irish clergy has been careful to reserve the "best stories" unto itself--the telling of parables is a very common device in Irish homilies and in a country such as this, which is very sensitive both to narrative movement and the sheer sound of words, it is an extremely powerful one.

As an introduction to the economic problems facing Ireland (both N.I. and the Republic) I suppose this book is necessary--but otherwise it is a dreary, lifeless compilation.

Highly Recommended!

John Ardagh has written a number of highly praised books on modern European societies, and this book is as good as the others. Once you read an Ardagh book, you will walk away with a good understanding of what really makes a country tick. Please realize that this is not a history book (although it does provide the necessary historical background). If you need to know ANYTHING about modern Irish society, look no further. "Ireland and the Irish" is a complete and unbiased profile of a rapidly changing nation.

Yuck - this is the very last book of Catherine Coulter's I will ever read. This Viking triology was awful. I can't believe I actually read through them all. There was no creative and entertaining dialogue. The dialogue between the characters was stilted and boring. I can't begin to describe it. I have to agree with all the other reviewers who gave these books poor reviews.

If you want to read an author who can actually drag in to the story, try Judith McNaught or Kathleen Woodiwiss. With these authors, you get an in-depth story about the characters, their lives, their feelings & emotions, their growth, their surroundings, etc.

Catherine Coulter does not describe her characters' actions as they're speaking. One does not know if the character speaking is speaking in jest, anger, softly, harshly or whatever. What do the characters' faces reveal when they're speaking? Are they gesticulating? What is their tone? What do their eyes reveal? You get NONE of this from Catherine Coulter. Be honest, when you're speaking with someone, all these things matter in how you yourself will interpret the words being spoken to you.

Her characters' conversations are hard to follow. You get long long paragraphs of one person speaking. For instance, in each of these three Viking triologies, several instances occur where one person is telling off another. Come on, NO ONE interuppted? This person was just able to ramble on and on and on without ONE SINGLE PERSON interuppting??? Yeah, right, these Vikings, rough and ready to fight as Coulter TRIES to describe them, would willingly let a person continuing mouthing off without stopping?? Get a little creative, Coulter!!

On the romance part, it was hard for me to believe in any of this Viking triolgy that romance would spring up between woman-abusers, no sharing, violence. This wasn't romance, as one other reviewer, it was about hate and violence.

Coulter should read some authors who have more depth, to see what writing is really supposed to be.

My main complaint about Hawkfell Island was Rorik, the abusive hero. In this book, he's relegated to the background, but we learn that the oldest brother, Eric, is even worse than Rorik. Makes me wonder how awful the father was...

In comparison to his brothers, Merrick is a veritable saint. Even without the comparison, he's an appealing hero, save for one flaw: his devotion to the boy who will become his brother-in-law. I, too, found that relationship very disturbing. Coulter walks far too close to the edge of pedophilia for my tastes.

The heroine, Laren, is all right, but she's usually a bore, even if she is doing something so daring as escaping from a slave-trader, or being a skald. I also agree that the stories she told were boring, too long, and not as thoughtful and subtle as one would have expected of a skald.

After reading about 5 of Ms. Coulter's books, I've come to the conclusion that she doesn't really like her heroines, or at least not as much as she likes her heroes. Her descriptions and characters insights are much deeper for the men. The women are just...there...but somehow not there.

Despite quite low ratings I loved this book. It did entertain me. Merrik and Laren are ideal couple. Merrik is not like other heroes that are woman abusers. Merrik never poorly treats Laren he always keeps Laren safe even from his own brother, Erik. At first I felt that the relationship between Merrik and Laren's little brother Taby was disturbing but later Merrik shows that he loves Laren so much and he feels that Taby is his little brother. He proves that he loves Laren not because she is only Taby's sister. Their adventure is exciting. There are many intriques and twists. The tamest character could become the most dangerous murderer.
Catherine Coulter never disappoints me. Although this is not her best book but it's worth a try. Her wonderful sense of humor never let you read without laugting. You will enjoy this one as much as I did.

this book was so boring! I enjoy Ms Scott's writing but with this one I had to skim from the middle to the end in order to finish. The heroine was not a likable character. She thought she was better then him and she didn't seem to respect his feelings. I didn't understand why the hero loved her. The aunt got on my nerves with her nastiness. I would have liked to know what happened in her marriage to change her mind. There were so many lines to a much deeper plot that the author could have used and didn't. I expected more from this book.

I just finished reading this pretty thick book in just under 2 days and nights. That more or less means that I enjoyed it, because while I am a swift reader, this particular plot did keep moving very quickly and kept me interested.

I did read the background of the author and did feel though, that while she created a very believable character in Issac, I felt that the behaviours of Elizabeth were not keeping with a prim and proper lady of the late 1800's- and possibly the author could have portrayed her just a bit more realistically. She seemed more a free spirit who would have been better suited to the 1960's with the quick abandoment of her virtues and beliefs.

But overall I did enjoy this book- it produce that much wanted tugging at my heart strings at the appropriate climaxs of the book.

Thank you Ms. Scott for a wonderful read.

Theresa Scott's "Northern Nights" is a fascinating look at the driving forces within the human soul. When we first meet the heroine, Elizabeth,she looks for answers to life's questions in a book of etiquette written by Emily Cowperth. A young lady, on the cusp of womanhood, Elizabeth has not yet had life experiences that test her strength or her resilience. That changes when she meets the hero, a Haida warrior, Isaac. Believing that she is the wife of a man guilty of killing an important chief from the village of Isaac's mother, he kidnaps her as part of a plan for vengeance his uncle has hatched up. Isaac has lived his life under the cloud of slavery and is determined never to allow himself, or his family to face that degradation again. He agrees to help his uncle in exchange for stature in his uncle's tribe. Something at this point, only his uncle is capable of giving him.

Elizabeth and Isaac's adventures lead to love.... Elizabeth must learn to face life in all its aspects, rely on her own strength to go forward and grow into true womanhood. Isaac once again battles the moniker of slave and it is not until he can banish that mark from his life that he will be free to love or care for Elizabeth.

This is a story of honor and courage, one you that will bring out the reader's emotions. This book is a sterling example of the themes of mercy and compassion that run through Theresa Scott's work.