Book Description
When the Irish nationalist Michael Collins signed the Anglo-Irish Treaty in December 1921, he observed to Lord Birkenhead that he may have signed his own death warrant. In August 1922 that prophecy came true when Collins was ambushed, shot and killed by a compatriot, but his vision and legacy lived on. Tim Pat Coogan's biography presents the life of a man whose idealistic vigor and determination were matched by his political realism and organizational abilities. This is the classic biography of the man who created modern Ireland.
Customer Reviews:
Michael Collins rules!.......2007-09-26
Excellent book, very well written in the usual "Coogan" way, that is, skilfull, fluent and full of nice anecdotes. Gives an insightful portrait of one of Ireland's greatest men and my personal favourite. Eireann go brach!
A good picture of revolutionary Ireland.......2007-05-14
An informative humanizing biography that provides a good picture of revolutionary Ireland. More photogrpahs would have made for 5 stars.
Best book on Collins.......2006-07-14
I recommend this book to anyone who wants an intense indepth study of Collins and Ireland of his time. This is easy to read and full of interesting information about the man and those around him. Collins was a genius who shaped the fate of modern Ireland and did so with an acute sense of how far he wcould go to achieve what he wanted.
It really makes me wonder how much better off Ireland would have been if he had not best lost so early in his life.
Michael Collins: The Man who made Irelaand.......2005-08-17
This is an extarodinary book about an extraordinary man. It is well wriiten, it is exciting and easy to read. It gives a wonderful insight into the life and times of Ireland during this remarkable time
Excellent Book.......2005-04-05
Although the pages and the sophisticated writing style might intimidate one, if you stick to it and read the book to the end, you will NOT regret it. It was my first book in Irish History and I have learned so much from reading it. This book is amazing beyond words. If you buy it, you won't reget it.
Customer Reviews:
James Billington's classic from our time.......2006-05-21
This is one of the great history books of our time.
Billington provides a comprehensive account of the revolutionary obsession from the 18th until the 20th century. He examines in particular national and socialist revolution and the cast of sometimes bizarre characters, cults and conspiracies that peppered these movements.
Beautifully written, it is a joy to read. Billington treats his subject matter with empathy but is by no means a revolutionist himself.
Gibbon's "Decline aand Fall of the Roman Empire" is still being read today more than three centuries after it was penned. Billington's book will be a must read centuries from now too.
INSIDERS' VIEW!.......2006-05-18
This is another MUST read for ALL AMERICANS or any serious minded student of history,professional or not.Mr.Billington,who I believe is still head of the Library of Congress(though he MAY have recently retired)was appointted,to that position by Reagan, explores the role secret societies have played in revolutionary movements since the time of the AMERICAN/FRENCH revolution to the RUSSIAN revolution.It MAY change your view on "How the World Really Works.I stole that lasy phrase from the late Mr.Wanniski-a conservative.
Salutari Illuminati.......2003-02-04
Noone has mentioned the cousin to this book which is Carrol Quigly's "Tragedy and Hope". Dr Quigly went to Harvard and taught at Georgetown where he, according to Clinton in his inaugual address, became the mentor to future president Bill Clinton. Please read my review of Quigly's work where I reveal a third book that is just as essential as Billingtons and Quiglys...and that throws a curve even at the most well read and learned!
The firey embers of the Revolutionary Faith still haunt us.........2002-12-30
~Fire in the Minds of Men: Origins of the Revolutionary Faith~ is an intriguing intellectual history that traces the developments of the so called revolutionary faith. The tumultuous upheavals and violent revolutions of the twentieth century were spawned by revolutionary ideologies fomented in the nineteenth century. These secular ideologies became full-fledged secular surrogates for religious belief and likewise sought the overthrow of traditional authority whether political or religious with the subsequent creation of a new order. The contagious revolutionary fervor of the French Revolution, which was wrought from 1789 to 1791, had its origin in the utopian Rousseau and German Romanticism. Billington'a sweeping narrative begins amidst this fervor, which beset the eighteenth century.
Billington astutely observes that a flame of idealistic German Romanticism kindled the flames of the early revolutions. Groups like the Illuminati** (yes it did exist) led by the idealistic Adam Weishaupt clung to a Rousseauian vision of leading all humanity to moral perfection free from the trappings of all established political and religious authority. This group and other revolutionary secular sects sought to emulate the hierarchy and organization of the Jesuits. The Illuminati and its related groups were the revolutionaries who sought to bring about an end to the old order and liberate humanity into a blissful universal utopia of liberty, equality and fraternity. Billington interestingly devotes a full chapter on the occult organization of the early revolutionaries, which continued to inspire their latter day progeny. The new secular revolutionary of the time was enamored in occultic symbols, numerology, abstractions and rituals. Billington traces the developments of the revolutionary faith, which was consummated in the Revolution of 1789, throughout the nineteenth century.
Despite, various incarnations of revolutionary ideologies from anarchism to romantic utopian socialism to scientific socialism to syndicalism, a basic schism emerged in the revolutionary faith. Many of these ideologies didn't whither away, but rather metamorphisized and fused with one another. This schism played itself out in the ideological struggle between followers of Marx and Proudhon. Billington elaborates on this schism, and distinguishes between those who believed most in fraternity (and its idea that the nation was the vehicle of deliverance) and those who believed most in equality (and its idea that the social class was a vehicle of deliverance.) The chapter National vs. Social Revolution chronicles the revolutionary fracture that came about in the mid-1800's. What emerged from this schism were the totalitarian movements of the twentieth century. The heirs of the national revolutionary tradition, "fortified fraternity with equality" and gave birth to Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. National revolutionaries of the twentieth century found their fraternity in the abstractions of Volk (People) or the (Reich) Nation. The social revolutionaries, on the other hand, lofted equality above all but bound it to fraternity. They gave rise to Bolshevism and Communist movements. Ironically, as Billington notes, "The most violent and authoritarian movements in Germany and Russia each intensified one form of the revolutionary faith by adopting signficant elements of the other." Nazism was abbreviation for "national socialism" while Communism under Stalin came to be defined as "socialism in one country." Both of these revolutionary faiths whether of the national revolutionary tradition or the social revolutionary tradition were millenarian social religions. Both revolutionary factions wanted a new order to supplant the old traditional order. Likewise, both factions offered a salvific promise of a glorious future for an enlightened humanity, which would be paid for in the cleansing blood of revolutionaries and dissidents alike.
Billington devotes a chapter to revolutionary syndicalism and its various subsects and the 'social nationalism' and the fascist mutation that emerged. Mussolini was the heir of French syndicalists like Sorel and Valois and revolutionary Italian nationalists like Mazzini. Mussolini polished his brand of corporatist-syndicalist ideology turning syndicalism's rejection of state authority on its nose, but he embraced its organization, which sought to link trade union organization (syndicates) with mass action aimed at created a new order. Some scholars like Neev Sternhell have pointed that fascism represents a revision of Marxian socialism, rejecting its materialism and class struggle ethos in favor of an idealistic spiritual ideology made manifest in the pagan state while continually embracing an anti-liberal, anti-bourgeois, anti-parliamentary ideology like that of the Marxist.) Further bridging the nineteenth and twentieth century, Billington offers a chapter on 'Lenin's Path to Power,' which traces the revolutionary activities of he and his cohorts in bringing about the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.
In his introduction, Billington offers a optimistic view of the future and professes a solace and contentment since it seems that the moderation and temperance of clasical liberals like Lafayette seems to have won out over the extremists. After the French Revolution, even the revolutionaries grew tired and weary of the bloodshed and violence while ridding themselves of extremists like Robspierre, but will history repeat itself?
This is a compelling book and a must to understand the ideologies driving the totalitarianism and the blood soaked revolutions of the past century. I've hesistated to review this book until I read it thoroughly and reread to digest its major findings. It remains a invaluable work in understanding the totalitarian horrors, which plagued us during the twentieth century. The author James Billington boasts some pretty impressive credentials as a Librarian of Congress and international studies scholar. He demonstrates a remarkable expertise and interest in Russian history as well.
**(And yes, the Illuminati existed. No, contrary to pop culture conspiracy theories, it does not still exist. However, Billington leaves little doubt that it ignited a fire in the minds of men, which has undoubtedly influenced, changed and perhaps scarred our generation through the revolutionary fervor and the wasteland created by the social upheveals and wars of the past blood-soaked century. The Illuminati waned while other revolutionary extremists rallied to pick up its torch. The indeliable mark Illuminatism has left on history and the present time leaves little wonder that the gullible who hear of its eighteenth-century exploits are so apt to still believe it still exists.)
Book Description
Grace O'Malley commanded a dozen ships and the obedience of thousands of men. Her empire stretched from Connaught on the Irish coast to the cobalt aters of Africa. Through the daring of her piracy, Grace nearly bankrupted the English treasury-and her outright defiance brought embarrassment to Elizabeth I. Yet the lives of these two amazing women were inextricably intertwined-and their eventual meeting during the most brilliant and romantic era that Europe has ever known would shock the world.
Customer Reviews:
Major Disappointment.......2007-06-25
I struggled to finish this book contrary to my obsession with this time period and love of strong female figures in history. It was poorly written, I thought at first I had maybe strolled into the young adult section in the book store. It was more of a bad romance novel than a historical fiction.
THE PIRATE QUEEN Rules the High Seas!.......2007-03-08
Grace O'Malley led a long and adventurous life. Not always an easy one but one with never a dull moment. From the moment of her first marriage she would not be tamed into a life of a subservient wife. She had a mind of her own and wouldn't let any man, let alone Queen Elizabeth I of England, subdue her.
In Grace's career as a pirate she nearly bankrupted the English treasury, had a few husbands and lovers with very diverse backgrounds and heritages, made herself a fortune and was mother to four children. She also had a unique but amicable relationship with Queen Elizabeth I after much discussion between them concerning their lives and whatever else came to their minds.
This is an exciting, swashbuckling tale about a little known historical Irish persona in the 16th century. Her life is the stuff legends are made of and I only wish there were as many historical fictions novel about Grace O'Malley as there are about Elizabeth I, Queen of England. There are two historical fiction novels by Morgan Llywelyn concerning Grace O'Malley, I've read both and they are very excellent reads as well as this one.
UGh.......2007-02-06
I read this book over the summer in the course of researching Grace O'Malley and was rolling my eyes the whole time. Why take a fascinating historical figure and turn her life story into a boring romance novel? I don't understand.
I was also unable to finish the book despite my usual fascination with anything related to Queen Elizabeth or female pirates. Bleaugh.
Another "missing" woman of history..........2007-01-04
I became a fan after I read 'Warrior Queen' and had to go out and get this one. This book isn't as bloody and brutal as 'Warrior Queen' but it's still good. Having to tell the story of a great woman like this in only 356 pages is tough and there were some areas where I felt the author was jumping around to cover everything.
I wasn't as enthralled with the Queen of England part(s)of this book either, but since her and Grace were friends there probably wasn't anyway around it. This book will make you spend time online finding out more about Grace and her life, I know I will. I do like Mr. Gold's work because he does tell a good story and doesn't hold back on the brutality when the story calls for it. This book is definately worth your time.
Very Good!.......2006-07-09
I thought this book was very worth my money. The story is well written and believeable. Being that this is historical fiction, both characters, in my opinion, were portrayed accuratly, especially Queen Elizabeth I. The book is entertaining and realistic, there was no over-played romance or drama. I've actually read this book twice and loaned it to a friend, and so far she thinks it's great! I'm hoping for more of Alan Gold!
Book Description
CONSUMED IN FREEDOM'S FLAME is the exciting story of a fictional hero, Aran Roe O'Neill, and his resolute commitment to Ireland and its quest for independence. Together with a small group of other republicans, Aran fights for his nation's freedom during the early part of the twentieth century. The story weaves fact and fiction around the exploits of this youthful Irishman and his adventurous friends from Dublin's 1916 Easter Rising to the ensuing Irish war for independence. Theirs is the troubled and tormented account of Ireland's attempt to control its own destiny in the face of resolute British opposition and the intervention of Fate's cruel hand. The book provides both historical background and imaginative detail seen through the eyes of this romantically brave young man as he seeks to free his homeland from the bonds of British entanglement. Patrick Pearse, Michael Collins and other historical figures of the period are described in vivid detail as Aran joins them in the common pursuit of emancipation from the Strangers' colonial grasp.
Customer Reviews:
Irish literature.......2006-12-13
This book is a magnificant piece of literature; It is well researched and wonderfully written. It held my interest from beginning to end. As one with an Irish heritage I was captivated by the author's well written story line and factually based history. It is not a book to be read in a hurry or taken lightly. It is to be "eaten" and relished and then given a prominent place on my bookshelf where I keep books that have great meaning for me and will be picked up and reread again in the future. I have the honor and priviledge of knowing the author since childhood and am so pleased that I know how much the publishing of this book meant to him and his family. May this author write many, many more books to keep this Irish lass entralled in her heritage.
Consumed in Consumed in Freedom's Flame.......2005-03-21
Cathal Liam's intertwining of fact and fiction only serves to make this period in Irish history a most enjoyable read. Liam captures the passion of every Irishman's wish for freedom from British tyranny and translates it into an historic novel set during the Easter Uprising of 1916. His attention to detail and historic fact makes one almost forget that his main character is a fictional hero who moves through reality as if he were meant to be there.
Must try harder........2002-11-30
I thought this book was absolutely terrible. The main character is extremely handsome, intelligent, a crack shot and a brilliant strategist with women swooning all around him and historical figures such as Pádraig Pearse showing up to clap him on the back and tell him how great he is. In other words, dull and wooden. The book is dull and riddled with stage-Irishisms and inaccuracies. It reads like "Tintin's Fight For Irish Freedom." I've listened to many veterans of the War of Independence speak of their experiences, but I've never heard the British refered to as "Redcoats."
A powerful and provocative work of historical fiction........2002-03-24
Consumed In Freedom's Flame: A Novel Of Ireland's Struggle For Freedom 1916-1921 by Cathal Liam is a powerful and provocative work of historical fiction. Written from an Irish point of view, it encompasses rebellion against injustice and the inward-turning flames of slow destruction. Consumed In Freedom's Flame is profound and irresistible reading.
Fact, fiction find balance in 'Flame'.......2001-10-03
The Irish have always had more history than they knew what to do with. This fact is at its most obvious in their ongoing attempt to understand the seven-day uprising of April 1916 and the ensuing struggle against the British which ultimately led to the Irish Free State, a civil war and formation of the current Ireland. Essayist and poet Cathal Liam has entered the ranks of previous Irish fiction writers such as Morgan Llewelyn and Liam O'Flaherty by assembling a comprehensive and intelligent piece of historical fiction for the general reader, as well as for those who can recite "The Bold Fenian Men" at a moment's notice. THE KNOXVILLE NEWS-SENTINEL, July 22, 2001
Customer Reviews:
One of my favorites.......2007-04-26
I must have ready a dozen or so bios of Michael Collins in the past few years and this is one of my favorites. Some of them seem to spend so much time on Michael Collins, the administrator, that they don't pay enough attention to Michael Collins, the human being. If you have to read one, I recommend this one. If you want a more exhaustive bio, then read Tim Pat Coogan. My other favorite is by Frank O'Connor.
Collins the Thinker, Collins the Military Man.......2003-06-25
For anyone wishing to know more about the bombastic, bullish side of Michael Collins, look no further. James MacKay captures Collins' thoughts-- even the most flamboyant-- with style and verbal panache. It is clear that his work has been very heavily influenced by the biographies from Frank O'Connor and Tim Pat Coogan, but MacKay distinguishes himself by emphasizing Collins' personality and his military accomplishments. He describes Michael's physical stature (5'11" with a bulky build), Michael's nature (quick to laugh, quick to cry, quick to anger, and quick to make an apology), Michael's health (his bouts with pleurisy, Spanish flu, stomach and kidney problems), Michael's orderly manner (he hated pencil writing and signatures from rubber stamps), and Michael's many other contradictions. MacKay includes several b/w photos along with explorations of Michael's military brilliance, e.g. his ability to run an entire guerrilla war from the back of a bicycle. MacKay begins with Collins' boyhood and concludes with an epilogue regarding the aftermath of Collins' assassination. If you are curious about Michael Collins the man, I can strongly recommend MacKay's biography.
Michael Collins: The Man Behind the Legend.......2000-12-31
This biography was my introduction to the life and times of Michael Collins and it was a good one, though not as detailed and extensively annotated as Tim Pat Coogan's. The author is clearly an admirer of Collins but the portrayal appears to be objective and covers all the biographical bases in Collins' life--the Irish childhood and indoctrination with nationalist ideals from family and teachers; the years between 15-25 working in London; the participation in the Easter Rebellion and imprisonment in Wales; the return to Ireland and rise to leadership in the War of Independence; and the transformation to statesman in the Treaty negotiations. What Mackay particularly brings to the portrait of Collins is a warmth that allows the reader to see the real man behind the legend--the interactions with the men and women who shared his struggle or who opposed him, and the reaction of his countrymen to his leadership and to his untimely death during the bitter Civil War at the hands of former comrades who in many cases still revered him. Overall, an engrossing read.
Michael Collins: The Man Behind the Legend.......2000-12-31
This was the first biography of Collins I read and it is a good one, though not as exhaustively detailed and annotated as Tim Pat Coogan's. The author is clearly an admirer of Collins but it does not seem to slant his portrayal of the man and he covers all the biographical bases in Collins' life--the quintessentially Irish childhood and indoctrinization with nationalist ideals from family and teachers; the years between 15 and 25 working in London; the participation in the Easter Rebellion and imprisonment in Wales; the return to Ireland and his destiny as leader of the Anglo-Irish War of Independence; and the transformation into statesman in the Treaty negotiations. What Mackay particularly brings to the portrait of Collins is a warmth that allows the reader to see the real man beneath the legend--the interactions with the men and women who shared his struggle or who opposed it, and the reaction of his countrymen to his leadership. Overall, an engrossing read.
Book Description
Brendan Behan was an Irish playwright and novelist, as well as a youthful revolutionary. In 1939, at age 16, he was arrested in Liverpool with a suitcase full of high explosives.
BORSTAL BOY is the autobiographical record of Behan's experiences from that day through his imprisonment, trial, remand to reform school and final release. Schools for delinquents in England are called Borstal Institutions, and Behan's account of his years as a "Borstal Boy" is told in vigorous, dramatic prose.
Customer Reviews:
The more I know him, the more I regret that he's gone.......2006-09-07
There are several excellent reviews for this title, so I won't attempt to reinvent the wheel with mine.
The best I can say is that with each page of this incredible book, I find myself closer to a person I never thought I'd like, let alone truly love.
When all is said and done, Brendan Behan is not about The Cause or The Revolution or liberalism or conservatism or anything. Brendan is a human being, in it for Brendan and his best interests. But don't let this make you think that he is a selfish being. Quite the contrary... Brendan finds the humanity in others, far away from the propaganda and agendas he's been fed since infancy. And in that, Brendan finds the humanity in himself.
He's been gone now for... well, longer than I care to believe. But in this, his most powerful and insightful work, he speaks to an audience that is far from outdated, saying the things he feels and believes, with an honesty that most of us wish we had, but work far too hard to conceal. His candidness speaks to our deepest secrets, and opens up a self-awareness in those who wish to explore it.
I am an avid reader, 40 years and going... and I count this as my single favorite book. That is not a distinction given lightly.
Brendan Behan may not be here now, but his message of humanity and humor and growth is ageless. I can only hope that more people take a moment to read it.
A beacon of hope about the nature of mankind.......2005-02-19
This autobiographical account of Brendan Behan's arrest and imprisonment from 1939 until around 1943 in a British Borstal (youth correctional facility)is an outstanding piece of literature.
There are four primary strenghts to this great work.
First, the language is witty, charming, and creative. I found the mixture of Irish and British male adolescent working class slang to be musical and amusing. Behan had a wonderful sense of dialogue and the manner in which young men verbally duel with each other, striving for rank and dominance and friendship.
Second, the story is unique. A 17 year old IRA terrorist is arrested and sent to a youth facility full of adolescent petty criminals. The worlds of incarcerated vs. free; adult vs. adolescent; Catholic vs. Protestant; Irish vs. English: and criminal vs. political prisoner are just a few of the wonderful tensions and juxtapositions that Behan creates.
Third, is Behan's slow pace and ability to observe the most remote details, describe them uniquely, and then weave these streams of images together to create a world and to populate it with characters that ring true with every word.
Fourth, the story is a tremendous testament to the goodness of mankind. Underneath the tensions, the rivalry, the ideology, the story reveals the simple common kindness of mankind. Brendan Behan may have evoked this kindness through his own exceptional openness and acceptance of his fellowman or he may have observed this kindness through this insightful but possibly biased vision of the innate goodness of mankind; but, none the less, his faith in our sometimes distorted and crippled species shines through the autobiography like a beacon of hope.
I wish I could have given more than 5 stars to this superb work. Don't rush through this book. Let Behan take you into his experiences and his kind view of the world of man.
breath-takingly funny.......2002-10-31
I was epecting something a little more politically polemic or bleak, but this account is hysterically funny and inspired. Behan's writing is always vital, his grasp of dialogue perfect, but this novel enjoys a pacing brilliance I dared not hope from a playwright. Most dramatists have trouble with narrative prose because the rhythms are different, but not so with this account of his jail time as an adolescent in England.
Brilliant one-of-a-kind memoir.......2001-02-22
I'm an avid reader and can't believe I overlooked this book for so long. Perhaps I dismissed Behan as a professional Irishman, known more for his carousing than for his writing. What a mistake! This memoir is profound, profane, funny and, ultimately, humane. Read this book now; you're in for a treat.
tragicomedy about a young ira boy and his experiences.......1999-05-05
Borstal Boy makes me laugh out loud and also reminds me of my time in the British Royal Navy. One of the young Brendan Behan's fellow prisoners in the English young peoples' prison is a sailor named Charlie. The book shows some of the horrors of prison life but also a lot of the camaraderie that goes on whenever boys get together. Brendan Behan is very humorous, especially when writing about his court appearances, and when he's singing in prison. His descriptive language is brilliant, this from the first page, "A young one, with a blonde, Herrenvolk head and a B.B.C. accent shouted, 'I say, greb him, the bestud.' I have read this book at least four times, and will continue to be entertained by the wit and skill of the author. GREAT READ!!!
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The 1916 Poets
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press Reprint
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ASIN: 0313221006 |
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Selections from the work of Padraic H. Pearse, Thomas MacDonagh, and Joseph M. Plunkett all of whom were signers of the Irish Republican Proclamation and all of whom were executed because of their participation in the 1916 Easter Rebellion.
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Science and Polity in France: The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Years
Charles Coulston Gillispie
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
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Science and Polity in France: The End of the Old Regime
ASIN: 0691115419 |
Book Description
From the 1770s through the 1820s the French scientific community predominated in the world to a degree that no other scientific establishment did in any period prior to the Second World War. In his classic Science and Polity in France: The End of the Old Regime, Charles Gillispie analyzed the cultural, political, and technical factors that encouraged scientific productivity on the eve of the Revolution. In the present monumental and elegantly written sequel to that work, which Princeton is reissuing concurrently, he examines how the revolutionary and Napoleonic context contributed to modernization both of politics and science.
In politics, argues Gillispie, the central feature of this modernization was conversion of subjects of a monarchy into citizens of a republic in direct contact with a state enormously augmented in power. To the scientific community, attainment of professional status was what citizenship was to all Frenchmen in the republic proper, namely the license to self-governance and dignity within the respective contexts. Revolutionary circumstances set up a resonance between politics and science since practitioners of both were future oriented in their outlook and scornful of the past.
Among the creations of the First French Republic were institutions providing the earliest higher education in science. From them emerged rigorously trained people who constituted the founding generation in the disciplines of mathematical physics, positivistic biology, and clinical medicine. That scientists were able to achieve their ends was owing to the expertise they provided the revolutionary and imperial authorities in education, medicine, warfare, empire building, and industrial technology.
Customer Reviews:
Outstanding Scholarship.......2005-08-06
On the eve of the Revolution, France was the world's leader in scientific research and Paris was the scientific capital of the world. Under the Ancien Regime, a combination of fine educational institutions, largely sponsored by the Catholic Church and almost inadvertantly providing good training in mathematics and other important disciplines, and government support for institutions that supported science led to the broadest and deepest scientific community in Europe. Gillispie provides a careful and superbly documented chronological account of what happened to French science during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic period. This is not, strictly speaking, a conventional history of science. While Gillispie does discuss important scientific developments, his focus is on the institutional history of French science and the role played by the French scientific community is larger affairs. Given the relative generosity of the French state towards science, and the prominent role of French scientists in the Enlightenment movement that sought to supplant traditional social and political institutions, Gillispie is particularly interested in the relation between government and the scientific community during this turbulent period.
Gillispie covers the treatment of French science by the various revolutionary governments and by Napoleon's governments. The history of major scientific institutions is covered well, as is the treatment of educational policy. The careers of a number of important French scientists and mathematicians; Laviosier, Condorcet, Monge, Laplace, Berthollet, etc., are followed carefully. Gillispie pays particular attention to the role of scientists in politics and government. Several French scientists, including some who had benefited considerably from the policies of the Ancien Regime, played important roles in revolutionary and Napoleonic governments. Gillispie looks also at the major developments in French science, which he sees as evolving from a descriptive, "encyclopedic" mode to a more experimental, rigorous, and quantitative "positivist" mode. Examples include the development of comparative morphology by the great anatomist Cuvier and other important French biologists, the later emergence of physiology as a experimental science independent of medicine, the increasingly clinically oriented and empirical nature of medical training and practice, and the mathematization of physics. Despite all the political stress of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods, French governments continued their support of science and French predominance in science lasted for decades after 1815. This book is deep, broad, written well, and has excellent references.
A bonus is Gillispie's well considered and insightful comments on key features of the Revolution.
Customer Reviews:
Great, but needs a new title.......2005-10-22
This is a great book, but it certainly can do with a new title --Michael Collins is only mentioned a few times within the first 3/4ths of the book. Don't let this stop you from reading it, though. O'Conner's conversational style makes it an engaging read on the events leading up to the wretched free state and the war for independence.
And I must disagree with the reviewer who wouldn't recommend this as a 'starting point for studying the Irish rebellion.' It's great. Read it. If you want some more on the topic read Rebels by Peter de Rosa and Bloody Sunday by James Gleeson.
Irish history as it might be taught in a Pub.......2004-03-30
I didn't mean to read this book. I had bought it for someone else but it never quite got there. Ulick O'Connor begins by relating a little of his own family's history and then goes into what can only be called a chronological ramble about Irish history.
This is by no means a biography of Michael Collins. In fact very little of the book is spent on Michael Collins himself. It is however an engaging conversation on the history of Ireland in the early 1900's.
This conversational style is hard to follow. To get something out of this book you must read it as though you are listening to a witness describe to you what happened in those critical days and do it over a pint of Guinness. If you can read the book in that perspective you will find that you have been given a personal introduction to the many men and women that drove the Irish freedom movement to the front of the world stage.
The author writes in a style that feels very personal. Not so much history but a story. A tale of people that were and are important to the author. However, because its so personal it is not very balanced. This is a tale of Irish Repulicans told by an Irish Repulican. No love is lost on the British Government or the Ulster Unionists.
I cannot recommend this book as a starting point for studying the history of the Irish rebellions and the roots of the IRA and Sinn Fein. I can however recommend this book as an excellent addition to a well rounded education on the topic.
Great Starter Book.......2003-09-30
If you've wanted to know about Michael Collins but all you've ever seen was the movie (dramatization) this is a great primer book for his background. I think Tim Pat Coogan's book is better for an in depth analysis of Mr. Collins. I've just started that one but would recommend it as well.
Good, But Probably Mistitled.......2003-06-26
O'Connor's title suggests that this book is strictly a biography of Michael Collins focused on the years 1912 through 1922. In actuality, it covers a wide range of people and events and I cannot recommend it strictly as a Collins biography. However, as a history book that happens to have an emphasis on Collins, particularly in the latter part, I can recommend it. O'Connor has relied on materials from the library of General Richard Mulcahy (the IRA's chief of staff in Collins' time) and on interviews with Eamon de Valera, et al. For those reasons alone, I believe it is worth at least a cursory glance. Because of O'Connor's interest in and work for the Abbey Theatre, this book does emphasize literature and the arts in terms of how they fueled the independence movement. For someone interested in humanities as well as history, this would be one of O'Connor's advantages. This selection is divided only into numbered chapters rather than parts and that can be a bit irritating at times, especially because this is not a traditional biography. Chapter One actually begins by discussing Charles Stewart Parnell and the untimely end of his career. From there, the reader is taken quickly through the Irish political climate from the late 1800s to 1912. It is not until the last third of the book that the audience learns of specific ways Collins kept the republican struggle afloat in tough times. Therefore, this book's usefulness can only be determined by what you intend to use it for. If you are trying to accumulate materials for a general study of modern Irish history, this book is worth owning. If you are looking for a typical Collins biography, this wouldn't be the best starting point.
Nice book.......2003-02-28
When I got the book I thought it would be more on Michael Collins . Despite this I thought it was a good book that help put into to prespective the events and people around him.
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Michael Collins
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