This well crafted novel by a master storyteller weaves the spellbinding tale of beautiful Katie Mulholland, who began life as the daughter of a miner. The life of a miner in class conscious, mid nineteenth century England was fraught with poverty, and Katie was forced to go into service at a tender age in order to help her family. Her story begins in 1860 which, at the age of fifteen, finds her working long, hard hours in a manor house, as a scullery maid for the Rosier family, who are members of the local gentry and owners of the mine for which her father works.

Due to her beauty she, unfortunately, catches the eye of her employer's handsome and evil son, Bernard Rosier, the heir to the Rosier Mining Company. All, however, goes well, until one night Bernard decides to slake his lust upon the unwilling and shocked Katie. It would be the beginning of a hateful obsession with Katie that would cast a long shadow and haunt both their lives.

Bernard's unspeakable act is the catalyst for a series of events, some quite shocking, that would ultimately have far reaching impact on the entire Mulholland family. Heavy with child, Katie is dismissed by her employer and gulled into a loveless marriage with William Bunting, the manager of the Rosier mines. Katie gives birth to a daughter, whom she names Sarah. After the birth, Bunting's cruelty to Katie goes into full swing. A murder, which would release her from the bonds of marriage, soon follows. This event, however, leads to a travesty of justice that would take the life of one near and dear to Katie.

With her remaining family, Katie leaves for greener pastures and begins what is to be a long and hard odyssey to a better life. What happens along life's path to Katie and those whom she loves and love her makes for a riveting story. It is a tale of great sorrow, hope, love, hatred, betrayal, and, ultimately, redemption. What happens to Katie and her progeny is a rags to riches story that will keep the reader turning the pages into the wee hours of the night.

Katie Mulholland is full of love, hope, poverty, tragedy, and most of all courageous triumph.

The novel's rags-to-riches story of Katie's remarkable life has something for every reader, and should amaze, enrage and delight any Catherine Cookson fan, from page one.

I was never one for reading novels, untill one day (twenty-five years ago) a dear friend happened to place a copy of "Katie Mullholland" into my hand. She said, "Read this, you will love it and you will not want to put it down." She was absolutely right, I was hooked! In the years since then I have sought and found almost all of Catherine Cookson novels, reading them over again and again, enjoying each and every book time after time. I say with pride that I have "Hooked," many more fans for the Great Dame, Catherine Cookson and they will tell you as I, that Catherine Cookson is a most captive and compelling author! You too will be as enthralled with any one of this lady's novels as I and many others have been. Thank you Catherine, you will be missed. May you rest in Peace. Thank you Amazon for carrying this author's books.

Richard Phinney and Scott Whitley have produced the best book on golf in Ireland to date. It's full of first accounts of the Emerald Isles' best courses as well as interesting stories about Irish characters in the world of golf. You'll read it more than once.

The best book ever written about Irish Golf. I read this book in preparation for a trip to Ireland last summer and took it along for the trip. The authors clearly love golf and do a great job in helping to explain why Irish golf is so special. If you only read one book on golf this year, let this one be it. However, after reading the book you might have an uncontrollable desire to make the trip yourself!

This book is a very helpful and unique guide to those who are planning a golfing vacation in Ireland. There is very little information like this in the usual travel books. The authors provide discriptions and history of the top 30 courses in Ireland in a very organized easy to read format. (There is information about 100 other courses as well) There is also some information on where to stay, eat, costs and other sites. Only one criticism, I wish there was more! I would like to know more about the nuts and bolts of getting around with golf clubs, some out of the way golf interests and information on unusual golf (not just the famous). However, I must say, I did appreciate the listing of golf tournaments that foreigners can play

As an anthropologist trained in Alaska, I recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand something more of what they see in Alaska than they can get from a tour guide. It will enhance your sensitivity to the power and mystery of Alaska and you'll see more than you would have if you hadn't read it.

A fresh direction for anthropological study that is from the "inside." The author lives "among" the people and learns from them, taking pains to distinguish the influence of "western" cultural values. The relationship between this "outsider" and the people who recieve him among them should be the model for all such explorations.

I really enjoyed Nelson's book and found it helpful in my research on the Koyukon people. This is ed in specifics. Nelson presents a sensitive and unbiased ethnography that is well written and enjoyable to read.

The book covers a variety of topics relating to bobwhites. Dr. Guthery does an excellent job of showing that many of the myths proposed about bobwhites are not backed up by any facts. The writing is not at a technical level, so the book is easily read and understood by a variety of audiences. A must for any quail enthusiest!

Wildlife managers, landowners, hunters and anyone else interested in ensuring bobwhites thrive on their property will find Dr. Fred Guthery's newest book, On Bobwhites, an invaluable resource.

The man known as "Mr. Bobwhite" has all the bases covered in his latest publishing endeavor. On Bobwhites provides a wealth of information in a single volume. If you could only have one book on the bobwhite quail, this should be that book. It is extremely well organized into four sections containing 55 short chapters, making it easy to check the table of contents and find reference to most any question on quail.

Wildlife managers, landowners, hunters and anyone else interested in ensuring bobwhites thrive on their property will find Dr. Fred Guthery's newest book, On Bobwhites, an invaluable resource.

The man known as "Mr. Bobwhite" has all the bases covered in his latest publishing endeavor. On Bobwhites provides a wealth of information in a single volume. If you could only have one book on the bobwhite quail, this should be that book. It is extremely well organized into four sections containing 55 short chapters, making it easy to check the table of contents and find reference to most any question on quail.

Almost certainly the most important book of my lifetime. "One Day In My Life" brings the horror and hell of Long Kesh back into the front lines. This short book will bring readers to their knees. As important as "Night" by Eli Weisel to the Holocaust, Bobby Sands is to the Irish troubles. Even if you're not involved or agree with the struggle of the I.R.A. in Northern Ireland, please read this book!
[...]

Book Review: One Day In My Life

OT 02/25/02 05:30

Feb 25, 2002 (M2 Best Books via COMTEX) --

'One Day in My Life' documents a day in late winter, 1979, in which Irish
Republican activist Bobby Sands endures the horrors and humiliations of life in Long
Kesh prison. Bobby Sands was one of many Blanket Men - so- called because they
refused to succumb to being classed as criminals, and so wore blankets instead of
prison uniform - who embarked on numerous protests in an attempt to sway the
attitudes and practices of the British authorities in Ireland.

Every page of this book, from front to back cover, is instilled with
contentious political ire. As this reviewer is a British citizen, I am perhaps
not best placed to fully evaluate the motivations and morality of an Irish
Republican. From the foreword by Gerry Adams onwards, the question invoked in
my mind time and time again was whether the treatment of Bobby Sands and his
fellow Blanket Men was a crime against human decency committed in my name, or a
terrible means to a justifiable end - that is to protect British citizens against the
threat of domestic terrorism. As Bobby Sands and three other men shared a sentence of
eighty-four years for being found in possession of a solitary hand gun, it seems that
the punishment meted out to Bobby Sands was inordinately huge.

Better men than I have raged in blind conviction for both sides of that
argument, and the one thing I am certain of in regard to that issue is that it
will not be answered in the course of a book review. With that in mind I
believe the best way to approach this book is by viewing it as a personal
account of one man's struggle to survive in a hellish existence.

Bobby Sands, alike with the rest of the Blanket-Men, could have extricated
himself from much of the hardship he endured if he were to renounce his claims
that he was a political prisoner and allow himself to be criminalised. This, he and

many others refused to do, and the courage they had in their own convictions -
irrespective of what exactly those beliefs were - is a staggering example of the
strength of man's will.

This document was written on toilet paper using a biro pen refill, and was
concealed within Bobby Sands' own body. During the course of the book it is
revealed that there was but one pencil and one pen refill which was passed man
to man around the entire block. The scarcity of toilet paper is also recounted. These
two facts alone - probably the two tamest indications of the quality of life inside
the H-blocks that could be found in 'One Day in My Life', illustrate the fact that
this book is a labour. Yet no matter how difficult and harrowing it becomes to read
the reader feels duty bound to continue as the very process of recording this
information must have been infinitely more torturous for the author.

The day recounted in 'One Day in My Life' is a squalid microcosm of everything
we fear about being incarcerated. Men are starved, routinely beaten, verbally
and physically abused, and made to live in enforced conditions of filth - with
human waste, mouldy food and congealed rubbish lining the walls and floors of
their unheated cells. Surely even the staunchest advocate of the Thatcherite
British government of the late 1970's would have to concede that the treatment
of the men in the H-blocks - be they political prisoners of war or merely
criminals - was an offence against human decency, in fact an offence against
humanity itself. The Blanket Men were not merely robbed of their liberty, they
were there to be broken by the authorities who knew that to break the will of
the Blanket Men would crush the spirits of their countless supporters in both
Ireland and the United Kingdom. But they would not be broken.

In the introduction to this book a quote from the original edition is
reprinted. Sean MacBride - co-founder of Amnesty International and Nobel Peace
Prize winner - states that 'the majority of ordinary decent people in England
are not really interested in what happens in Ireland'. That was also true of
this reviewer until I read 'One Day in My Life'.

Perhaps the worst aspect of Bobby Sands' recounting of his prison day is that
there is no respite for either him or the reader. The realisation that the day
he has recorded is in fact a typical one for the inmates of the H-block is a
terrible moment and one which makes it hard for the reader to detach this story of
human courage and survival from its political roots. For all Bobby Sands is left with
at the end of the day is the hope - in fact the unwavering belief - that as he says
'our day will come'.

The events which are documented in this book seem like they occurred in some
strange land in a dim and distant uncivilised age. In fact they occurred just
over two decades ago, and no doubt there are people today who are living the
same nightmare that Bobby Sands endured. Read this book as a humanitarian
warning of what crimes were and - are still are - being perpetrated by the
governments of the world in the names of their citizens.

CONCLUSION: 'One Day in My Life' is a seemingly hopeless tale which manages to
leave its lone moment of respite to the very last moment - when we have nothing left
to us but our humanity, and when even that is stolen away our will still remains...

This book brings home the tragedy of the Statelet of Northern Ireland. My main impression after reading it was that the British Government are guilty of appaling crimes and a total lack of respect for human rights. The people of Britain are disgusted with the justice systems of many 'barbaric' nations, this book shows that the British justice system is guilty of crimes which equal, if not surpass, those perpetrated by any other nation. It is difficult to read this book without shedding a tear, not only for Bobby Sands, but for the countless others who have fallen victim to British 'Justice'.

I read this excellent book over a year ago and am amazed at how often my thoughts return to visit. I find that many of the folkways described by this extraordianary observer are part of my own everyday life as American Scotch Irish over two centuries removed from roots in Ulster, Ireland. The descriptions of the kitchen hospitality, even the arrangement of the kitchen furniture are very familiar to me. The gifts of storytelling and musicmaking so vividly described are as frequently celebrated in my current mileau. Thanks for an excellent piece of research and writing.

For years anthropologists and folklorists have often "looked down" on the subjects of their studies, attempting to fit their subjects into preconceived boxes and categories. Unfortunately some anthropologists and sociologists continue to regard their "subjects" with condescension or even amusement. Henry Glassie's work is a much needed antidote to such practices. _Passing the Time in Ballymenone_ is a jewel. Henry Glassie regards the people of Ballymenone with respect and affection, allowing them to describe their ideas, life-ways, and values on their own terms, not his. Recognizing that theirs is a mindset and lifestyle that must be seen as an integrated whole, Glassie studies everything about Ballymenone from traditional songs to entertainment to religious beliefs to architecture, liberally quoting from the people who welcomed him into their homes over his extended stays. Some of his insights are pure brilliance, such as recognizing the way the poets and storytellers of a rural Irish district have adapted ancient Gaelic metrics to the English they use today. You will learn more about Ireland and its people in this one book than in a host of others. You may also find yourself re-evaluating your own lifestyle after encountering the wisdom of these tradition bearers. The book also serves as an excellent model for those who plan to work and study in folklore or anthropology.

This wonderful book allows the reader to experience a place and a people now gone. The "stars" of Ballymenone come alive again in story, song and the descriptions of their lives by Henry Glassie. Unlike most academic books, this one is written by a poet...lyrical, powerful and evocative prose by a writer with suberb descriptive powers and spiritual impact. My husband and I recently visited Ballymenone and spent the day searching for what we had read about...but the people described are mostly gone, the landscape altered, the old replaced by new. For anyone who loves Ireland and wants to understand its ways and its culture this book is a must.

Now in an updated second edition, genealogist Brian Mitchell's Pocket Guide To Irish Genealogy is a slim yet information-packed volume of information on reference sources to tracing ancestry in Ireland, including the 1901 and 1911 census to school registers, registry of deeds, estate records and much more. Of special note is the section dealing with Irish Genealogy and the Internet, and its guide to some of the most useful sites. A highly recommended, "user friendly" primer for beginning genealogists who wish to trace Irish ancestry, Brian Mitchell's Pocket Guide To Irish Genealogy also has much to commend it to experienced genealogists in need of a refresher for work with Irish genealogical research assignments.

Brian Mitchell's Pocket Guide To Irish Genealogy draws upon case studies, maps, charts, and his own expertise to present the aspiring genealogist with the basics of Irish genealogical research in a "reader friendly" sixty-page introduction. The nature and uses of all significant records sources in Ireland are listed and described, including civil and parish registers, gravestone inscriptions, wills, the Griffith's Valuation, Tithe Books, the 1901 and 1911 censuses, newspapers, hearth money rolls, the registry of deeds, estate records, ordinance survey memoirs and more. All major Irish record offices and heritages centers are listed along with their contact information, hours of operation, and major record holdings. Brian Mitchell's Pocket Guide To Irish Genealogy is an essential reference for any novice genealogist wishing to tap into Irish iresources.

In his Pocket Guide To Irish Genealogy, Brian Mitchell skillfully blends case studies, maps, charts, and his own mastery of the subject to convey the basics of Irish genealogical research -- all in less than sixty pages. Following introductory chapters on the background to research on the American side, Mitchell describes the nature and uses of all significant record sources in Ireland including, but not limited to: civil and parish registers, gravestone inscriptions, wills, the Griffith's Valuation, Tithe Books, the 1901 and 1911 censuses, newspapers, hearth money rolls, the registry of deeds, estate records, and ordnance survey memoirs. Mitchell also explains the differences between the various administrative divisions of Ireland. Pocket Guide To Irish Genealogy concludes with lists of all major Irish record offices and heritage centers, providing addresses and phone numbers, hours of operation, contact persons, and major record holdings. Pocket Guide To Irish Genealogy is an invaluable roadmap to genealogical research in Ireland and ideally suited for those new to this branch of genealogical research.

I received this book as a gift from a dear friend who knows just how much I love Ireland. She was right on the mark with "Eyewitness Travel Portrait of Ireland". This book has it all!

It starts out with basic info; finding Ireland on a map, it's history, landscape, wildlife and people. It then moves on to a region by region review of places to visit and the towns/sights to be seen. The book has a ton of information as well as beautiful photographs to give you a feeling of what you'd see. I especially liked that the hardback book I have is bigger and easier to view than it's soft cover counter part. I've seen the smaller version and, even though the information is the same, you lose a lot in trying to see those teeny, tiny pictures. Go for the big one if you have the room! There's not much difference between them in price.

If you plan on going to Ireland I can only suggest you suppliment this book with a guide like Frommer's that give you places to eat and stay as well as all the prices. "Travel Portrait" lists which places have fees but not exact amounts. It also lists which towns have market days, which sights require fees and offer tours, which ones are handicap accessible and what the open and close dates are for most places.

I love this book and you will, too. It is well worth owning!

Essentially a travel guide in a large format, this book makes an exceptional gift for anyone with a hint of Irish blood or an interest in the Emerald Isle. Beautiful images are married to very readable text and interesting sidebars and facts. Printed on glossy, coffee-table-book paper, the pictures really jump out, grab you, and drag into the incredible scenery and history of one of the most spellbinding islands on earth.

In Dorling Kindersley's unique and highly readable style, Protrait of Ireland takes the reader to Ireland through photgraphs and interesting facts. Perfect for all ages, Portrait of Ireland offers snippets of information enabling even the smallest attention span to glean valuable information about Ireland.

Aha! So there IS a portion of California, beyond San Francisco and the wine country worthy of a visitor's exploration. Ms. Weisbrod writes of her discoveries in an entertaining fashion. She interweaves history's passages with the rugged and winding terrain of today, storytelling at it's best. Which way to go? What to see? Where to stop? Where to stay? Whether you carry along "Scenic Byways of Northern California" as a guide to your next adventure, or savor the read from the cozy cushions of your armchair, you will enjoy owning it--and giving it as a gift!

Marie Weisbrod shares from her experiences traveling the history-rich northwest corner of California, visited by few modern Californians. This is an excellent guide for those interested in exploring quiet backroads, away from vacationing crowds.

Ms. Weisbrod has written a wonderful travel book that belongs in every vagabond's library. She has traveled extensively in the Siskiyou-Cascade region, which serves to make the area spring to life through her personal observations and lively retelling of historical events. I can't wait to see more from this gifted author.

I got this book almost by accident..I live in NYC and am pretty well aquainted with these shores but when a buddy sent me this book along with a invitation to spend ten days sea-kayaking along the Pacific I could not resist. I read the book from cover to cover before I left. I was impressed with how detailed it is and delighted that the author chose to share some of her discoveries with us. I would certainly reccomend this guide to kayakers like myself who want to venture into new, expertly charted waters.

Whether your kayaking is mostly of the armchair variety or whether you're heading out to sea right now, this book will be a great resource. It's chock full of details about trips in and around northern California, easy to read and up to the minute. Descriptions are enticing, with suggested launch, picnic, and camp sites given amid observations on wildlife and scenery. Trips run the gamut between pleasant paddles for the novice and huffing-puffing challenges for experienced sea kayackers. The book looks easy to use and is clearly laid out for quick checks on a particular cove or waterway as well as for browsing through the counties you have on your list for your next adventure.

A comprehensive guide - finally - has arrived for Northern California Sea Kayaking! I took this book out with me over the holidays, and discovered several nearby paddles. I really liked the skill levels and the elements described on each trip - made trip planning alot easier and the paddles so much more enjoyable! Plus the sections on Getting Ready were very instructive, and a wonderful section in the back about the kayaking community. Well written, good drive maps, and an essential guide for Northern Cal sea kayakers.