Book picks similar to
Cattle Lords and Clansmen: The Social Structure of Early Ireland by Nerys Thomas Patterson
celtic
history
irish
celtic-studies
The General: Irish Mob Boss
Paul Williams - 1995
His criminal record included assassination, kidnapping, bombings, and one of the world's largest art and gold heists! He was untouchable and fiercely loyal to his gang. Loved by the common man, his personal battle with the police made him a living legend. But Martin Cahill not only refused to respect the police, he refused to pay tribute to the IRA. And unlike the police who had to follow the letter of the law in their battle to bring down Ireland's most wanted, the IRA played by their own rules.
Thatcher’s Spy: My Life as an MI5 Agent Inside Sinn Féin
Willie Carlin - 2019
So began the dramatic extraction of Margaret Thatcher’s key undercover agent in Sinn Féin – Willie Carlin, aka Agent 3007. For 11 years the former British soldier worked alongside former IRA commander Martin McGuinness in the republican movement’s political wing in Derry. He was MI5’s man at McGuinness’ side and gave the British State unprecedented insight into the IRA leader’s strategic thinking. Carlin worked with McGuinness to develop Sinn Féin’s election strategy after the 1981 hunger strike, and the MI5 and later FRU agent’s reports on McGuinness, Adams and other republicans were read by the British Cabinet, including Margaret Thatcher herself. When Carlin’s cover was blown in mid-1985 thanks to one of his old MI5 handlers being jailed as a Soviet spy, Thatcher authorised the use of her jet to whisk him to safety. Incredibly, it was another British ‘super spy’ inside the IRA’s secretive counter-intelligence unit, the ‘nuttin’ squad’, who saved Carlin’s life. The Derry man is perhaps the only person alive thanks to the information provided by the ‘jewel in the crown’ of British military intelligence – Freddie Scappaticci, aka Stakeknife. In Thatcher’s Spy, the Cold War meets Northern Ireland’s Dirty War in the remarkable real-life story of a deep under-cover British intelligence agent, a man now doomed forever to look over his shoulder. . .
Citizen Hearst
W.A. Swanberg - 1961
His income was $15 million a year (when it meant something)--yet he teetered constantly on the brink of financial disaster. He was a paradox: conservative on some issues, a radical reformer on others (he advocated eight-hour work days and women's rights).He fanned the flames that led to our war with Spain (to boost his newspaper circulation, detractors said). He built a remarkable castle on the Pacific coast, now one of California's largest tourist attractions. He played politics, made movies, left his heirs a communications empire...but until this book no one had taken his measure."Engrossing! For reading pleasure no biography can top CITIZEN HEARST!" (The New York Times)
The Book of Druidry
Ross Nichols - 1990
The most comprehensive survey of Druidry available, from their earliest history to the current renaissance--including a study of the shaping of their ideas, their principal deities and myths, their learning and social organization, and more.
Simple Taoism: A Guide to Living in Balance
C. Alexander Simpkins - 1999
Divided into three parts, the book outlines:A clear explanation of Taoism and how to apply its best aspects to your daily life.Simple instructions for exercises to lead a fuller life—meditation, breathing, chi kung, and tai chi chuan.An informative discussion of key Taoist concepts, including wu-wei (nonaction), yin and yang, and Te (power virtue, life).
No Borders: Playing Rugby for Ireland - New 2018 Grand Slam Edition (Behind the Jersey Series)
Tom English - 2015
This is the ultimate history of Irish rugby - told, definitively, by the men who have been there and done it.
Everything Is Combustible
Richard Lloyd - 2017
Lloyd recounts the founding of Television, the band's rise alongside other bands and personalities in the 1970’s New York Music scene, and the legend-making of the unparalleled music venue CBGB. As the rock ‘n’ roll tales unfold, he accompanies them with insights into his approach to music and the electric guitar.Lloyd’s mid-career vignettes detail his solo years, including the backstory of critically praised records such as Alchemy and Field of Fire, his drug addiction and recovery, his 90s-era work, and touring adventures with artists such as Matthew Sweet, John Doe, and Robert Quine. Throughout the book is an undercurrent—Lloyd’s continually evolving spiritual-philosophical approach to life, emerging from the conscious digestion of the highs and the lows—both ends of the same stick.In Everything is Combustible, Richard Lloyd relates his life, both inner and outer, in the narrative style, digging beneath the events and revealing their meanings.Considered a foundational band of alternative rock, Television’s debut record, Marquee Moon, is widely viewed by critics and musicians as one of the greatest albums ever recorded. As one half of Television’s unique guitar sound, and a legendary solo artist in his own right, Richard Lloyd’s music has influenced a range of bands and artists from U2, Johnny Marr and Joy Division to R.E.M., Sonic Youth, Wilco and John Frusciante.
Everybody Loves a Good Drought
Palagummi Sainath - 1996
In the dry language of development reports and economic projections, the true misery of the 312 million who live below the poverty line, or the 26 million displaced by various projects, or the 13 million who suffer from tuberculosis gets overlooked. In this thoroughly researched study of the poorest of the poor, we get to see how they manage, what sustains them, and the efforts, often ludicrous, to do something for them. The people who figure in this book typify the lives and aspirations of a large section of Indian society, and their stories present us with the true face of development.
James Connolly
Lorcan Collins - 2012
Written in an entertaining, educational and assessible style, this biography is an accurate and well-researched portrayal of the man.
Celtic Spirituality: A Beginners Guide To Celtic Spirituality
Sarah Owen - 2015
This guide offers a comprehensive introduction to the rich religious tradition of the Celts. Contents include:• Historical and mythological roots of Celtic spirituality• Important Celtic holy days and their rituals• The powers of Celtic Goddesses and Gods• Easy guidelines for setting up a Celtic altar• Instructions for creating and using Celtic divination tools such as Runes and Ogham Sticks
Dementia Reimagined: Building a Life of Joy and Dignity from Beginning to End
Tia Powell - 2019
In the U.S., 10,000 baby boomers turn 65 every day; by the time a person reaches 85, their chances of having dementia approach 50 percent. And the truth is, there is no cure, and none coming soon, despite the perpetual promises by pharmaceutical companies that they are just one more expensive study away from a pill. Dr. Powell's goal is to move the conversation away from an exclusive focus on cure to a genuine appreciation of care--what we can do for those who have dementia, and how to keep life meaningful and even joyful.Reimagining Dementia is a moving combination of medicine and memoir, peeling back the untold history of dementia, from the story of Solomon Fuller, a black doctor whose research at the turn of the twentieth century anticipated important aspects of what we know about dementia today, to what has been gained and lost with the recent bonanza of funding for Alzheimer's at the expense of other forms of the disease. In demystifying dementia, Dr. Powell helps us understand it with clearer eyes, from the point of view of both physician and caregiver. Ultimately, she wants us all to know that dementia is not only about loss--it's also about the preservation of dignity and hope.
We Believe the Children: The Story of a Moral Panic
Richard Beck - 2015
These crimes, social workers and prosecutors said, had gone undetected for years, and they consisted of a brutality and sadism that defied all imagining. Children across the country painted a nightmarish picture of their abuse, some claiming they had been taken to graveyards, sometimes to kill animals, and sometimes to dig up bodies, which were removed from their coffins and stabbed. In some cases, investigators said that the abusers were filming the crimes on behalf of international child pornography rings. The dangers of babysitting services and day care centers became a national news media fixation, and legislatures took action to fend off the new threats facing the country's children. Of the many hundreds of people who were investigated in connection with day care and ritual abuse cases around the country, some 190 were formally charged with crimes, leading to more than 80 convictions.But, none of it happened. It was a decade-long outbreak of collective hysteria—on a par with the Salem witch trials.Using extensive archival research conducted in Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Minneapolis, and elsewhere, and drawing on dozens of interviews conducted with the hysteria's major figures, n+1 editor Richard Beck shows how a group of legislators, doctors, lawyers, and parents, most working with the best of intentions, set the stage for a cultural disaster. Psychiatrists and talk therapists turned dubious theories of trauma and recovered memory into a destructive new kind of psychotherapy. Social workers and detectives employed coercive interviewing techniques that led children to tell them what they wanted to hear. Local and national journalists fanned the flames by promoting the story's salacious aspects, while aggressive prosecutors sought to make their careers by unearthing an unspeakable evil where parents feared it most. Beck tracks the panic all the way to its decline at the end of the decade, as parents and prosecutors were finally forced to reckon with the total lack of physical evidence underpinning the story. Yet at the heart of We Believe the Children is the idea that the conditions that made this frenzy of accusations possible were very specific to their moment in American history. The climate of fear that surrounded these cases influenced a whole series of arguments about women, children, and sex that had been intensifying for some twenty years. At the root of these accusations were competing visions of society and what it was that threatened it most.
Pagan Portals - Your Faery Magic: Discover What It Means to Be Fey and Unlock Your Natural Power
Halo Quin - 2015
Once upon a time 'Fey' meant both the spirits of the natural world and the nature of those humans that were in touch with that magic in themselves; the seers, the spirit workers, the ones who walked between. This is your guide to finding that Fey magic which sings in your heart. Through this book you will meet your guide, visit faeryland, learn about the beings of the faery worlds and develop your own faery craft to work in harmony with the power and cycles of the earth by unlocking the nature of your Fey spirit. Time for you to become the Fey you truly are.
Law's Strangest Cases: Extraordinary But True Tales from over Five Centuries of Legal History
Peter J. Seddon - 2013
Youll be gripped by tales of murder, intrigue, crime, punishment and the pursuit of justice. Despite how unbelievable the stories banged up inside these pages may seem, Law's Strangest Cases promises to tell the truth, the whole truthand nothing but the truth about the most ludicrous criminal cases in legal history. Full of riotous and entertaining stories, this book is perfect for anyone who is doing time on a long stretch. Just dont try to steal it, or you may end up inside! Inside youll encounter: The only dead parrot ever to give evidence in a court of lawOne of the most indigestible dilemmas if youd been shipwrecked 2,000 miles from home, would you have eaten Parker the cabin boy?The doctor with the worst bedside manner of all timeThe murderess who collected money from her mummified victim for 21 years Word count: 45,000
The Darwin Economy: Liberty, Competition, and the Common Good
Robert H. Frank - 2011
Darwin, after all, was a naturalist, not an economist. But Robert Frank, New York Times economics columnist and best-selling author of The Economic Naturalist, predicts that within the next century Darwin will unseat Smith as the intellectual founder of economics. The reason, Frank argues, is that Darwin's understanding of competition describes economic reality far more accurately than Smith's. And the consequences of this fact are profound. Indeed, the failure to recognize that we live in Darwin's world rather than Smith's is putting us all at risk by preventing us from seeing that competition alone will not solve our problems.Smith's theory of the invisible hand, which says that competition channels self-interest for the common good, is probably the most widely cited argument today in favor of unbridled competition--and against regulation, taxation, and even government itself. But what if Smith's idea was almost an exception to the general rule of competition? That's what Frank argues, resting his case on Darwin's insight that individual and group interests often diverge sharply. Far from creating a perfect world, economic competition often leads to "arms races," encouraging behaviors that not only cause enormous harm to the group but also provide no lasting advantages for individuals, since any gains tend to be relative and mutually offsetting.The good news is that we have the ability to tame the Darwin economy. The best solution is not to prohibit harmful behaviors but to tax them. By doing so, we could make the economic pie larger, eliminate government debt, and provide better public services, all without requiring painful sacrifices from anyone. That's a bold claim, Frank concedes, but it follows directly from logic and evidence that most people already accept.