More Books

LONDON, EDINBURGH & DUBLIN
More Books

1916, A Novel of the Irish Rebellion • Morgan Llywelyn LITERATURE • 1999 • PAPER • 544 PAGES • YOUNG ADULTS Llywelyn, the queen of Irish historical pulp fiction, tells a story of the Easter Rising of 1916. Her books, like those of James Michener, are reliably chockfull of history and true characters -- and are considerably hotter stuff than most history texts. She writes well, always, making this a good choice for light reading. (IRE123, $7.99)
The 39 Steps • Alfred Hitchcock 1935 • DVD One of Hitchcock's "wrong man" spy sagas, this classic film follows a Canadian tourist in London (Robert Donat) who becomes entangled in an underground epsionage plot that leads him to a remote mountain town in Scotland. Part of the Criterion Collection. (GBR493, $39.95)
84 Charing Cross Road • Helene Hanff LITERATURE • 1990 • PAPER • 97 PAGES A love triangle between a New York writer, the owner of a London bookstore and the books he sells. This tale of bibliophilia and charming amorousness, taking place in the 1950's and 60's, is revealed through the letters of the author and one Frank P. Doel. (GBR231, $13.00)
Accomplished Art, Gold and Gold-Working in Britain and Ireland during the Bronze Age • George Eogan ART & ARCHITECTURE • HARD COVER • 220 PAGES A survey of gold-making in the Bronze Age from the earliest insular gold objects to gold-working in an age of industrial expansion, transformations of the 13th-12th centuries BC, and the Late Bronze Age. With 44 figures, 29 illustrations and 19 color plates. (IRE152, $50.00)
Agatha Christie A to Z: The Essential Reference to Her Life and Writings • Dawn B. Sova MYSTERY • 1997 • HARD COVER • 304 PAGES A scholarly compendium of everything Christie, this handsome book is an encyclopedic guide to her life and work. It's also much fun, including such helpful categories as means of murder, characters and detectives. (GBR48, $55.00)
The Age of Shakespeare • Francois Laroque CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1993 • PAPER • 175 PAGES A volume in the outstanding "Discoveries" series, this pocket-size encyclopedia is an excellent introduction to Elizabethan England. It presents Shakespeare, his life, times and legacy in concise essays and hundreds of well-chosen illustrations. (GBR11, $12.95)
The Age of Shakespeare • Frank Kermode BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2005 • PAPER • 214 PAGES A remarkably concise, elegant overview of the world of Shakespeare in the Modern Library Chronicles series by the eminent British critic and scholar. Kermode, who also wrote Shakespeare's Language, has a particular interest in Shakespeare's "wild and whirling words" and sets them against the history and culture of Elizabethan England. (GBR522, $14.00)
Amongst Women • John McGahern LITERATURE • 1995 • PAPER • 184 PAGES McGahern, one of Ireland's finest living writers of fiction, has captured the changing spirit of the nation in this story of an embittered Republican farmer and his daughters, who will go on to shape a new country. (IRE58, $14.00)
Angela's Ashes • Frank McCourt BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1999 • PAPER • 364 PAGES • YOUNG ADULTS The Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir of an Irish childhood spent in abject poverty in the slums of Limerick, told with enormous wit, grace, and skill. (IRE18, $16.00)
The Aran Islands • J.M. Synge • Tim Robinson CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1992 • PAPER • 208 PAGES A much-loved turn-of-the-century account of the islands, drenched in the Celtic soul of Ireland. Synge ("The Playboy of the Modern World"), who went there to write, contrasts the rich communal life of the islands with the culture on mainland Ireland. (IRE26, $15.00)
Art of the Celts • Lloyd Robert Laing • Jennifer Laing ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1992 • PAPER • 216 PAGES A volume in the acclaimed "World of Art" series, this is a broad introduction to Celtic art, from the 5th century B.C. to 1200 A.D. (CLT02, $19.95)
As You Like It • Paul Werstine • Barbara Mowat • William Shakespeare LITERATURE • 1997 • PAPER • 320 PAGES Part of the New Folger Library Shakespeare Series, Shakespeare's full text with a scene by scene prose summary and critical analysis. (TTR06, $3.99)
At Swim, Two Boys • Jamie O'Neill LITERATURE • 2003 • PAPER • 572 PAGES A haunting tale of love set against the huge backdrop of Irish politics and the events leading up to the 1916 Easter uprising. It's a huge book, ten years in the making, noteworthy for its remarkable language, characters and ambition. O'Neill's two 16-year-old heroes, Jim Mack and Doyler Doyle, swim to the island, grow up and fall in love with each other, though not without some absorbing complications that mix fiction with real-life events. O'Neill, a Dubliner, also hauls in some pretty fine references to Ulysses (as well as slinging some mud on the Catholic church). (IRE120, $16.00)
Atlas of the Irish Rural Landscape • F.H.A Aalen NATURAL HISTORY • 1997 • HARD COVER • 364 PAGES A truly informative look at the geography and history of the Irish landscape. More than an atlas, this is an analysis of how the land has effected the economical, educational and education development of the country, and vice-versa. (IRE57, $62.95)
Aunt Dimity And the Deep Blue Sea • Nancy Atherton MYSTERY • 2007 • PAPER • 304 PAGES The newest addition to the Aunt Dimity series is sure to delight devoted fans and newcomers alike. A most cheerful and eccentric mystery set on a remote island off the shore of Scotland, where Lori Shepard gets drawn into a perilous whodunit, calling again on the supernatural counsel of Aunt Dimity. (SCT117, $7.99)
The Beggar's Opera • John Gay • T.O. Treadwell LITERATURE • 1987 • PAPER • 128 PAGES Written in 1728, John Gay's ballad opera is a satirical look at 18th-century London. It's the model for Brecht's Threepenny Opera. (GBR460, $11.00)
Being an Actor • Simon Callow BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2003 • PAPER • 256 PAGES A candid memoir of life on the stage. Callow has had a prolific theater career and has written extensively about his experience and his art. (TTR17, $19.00)
Beside the Ocean of Time • George M. Brown LITERATURE • 1994 • PAPER • 217 PAGES • COMING IN A gentle coming-of-age tale by the Bard of Orkney George Mackay Brown. His short novel invokes the prehistoric ruins, Norse history and long traditions of rural Orkney in graceful prose with lovely attention to detail and rich insight into place. Shortlisted for the Booker prize in 1994, Beside the Ocean of Time is told from the point of the young daydreamer Thorfinn Ragnarson, the son of a crofter. (SCT14, $19.95)
The Big Fellow • Frank O'Connor BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1998 • PAPER • 224 PAGES A reissue of the classic biography of the charismatic revolutionary Michael Collins, elegantly written and even-handed. (IRE31, $12.00)
Birds of a Feather • Jacqueline Winspear MYSTERY • 2005 • PAPER • 336 PAGES The second book in the series starring detective Maisie Dobbs and set in a London still feeling the effects of World War I. It's 1930, and Maisie has been hired to find a runaway heiress, which leads to a trail of intrigue and links to the Great War. (GBR665, $15.00)
Birds of Britain & Europe • Hermann Heinzel • Richard Fitter • John Parslow FIELD GUIDE • 1998 • PAPER • 384 PAGES • COMING IN This masterfully organized Collins Pocket Guide, featuring 3,000 color illustrations covers the birds of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Maps, text and illustrations for each species are organized together on facing pages for quick reference in the field. Heinzel contributed all the handsome watercolor illustrations. (EUR49, $27.50)
Birds of Europe • Lars Svensson FIELD GUIDE • 2010 • PAPER • 416 PAGES • FAVORITE This Princeton Field Guide features 3,500 illustrations by Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterstrom. Color plates depict every species -- and sometimes several different variants -- for 722 birds found from the Urals to the Atlantic, Scandinavia to the Middle East. (FG47, $29.95)
A Bit on the Side, Stories • William Trevor LITERATURE • 2005 • PAPER • 256 PAGES Twelve stories by the author of The Hill Bachelors. (IRE179, $15.00)
Blue Guide London • Ylva French GUIDEBOOK • 2002 • PAPER • 507 PAGES This popular guide focuses on the art, architecture, museums and galleries of London. With 25 illustrations, 14 maps and plans, and a 30-page color atlas section. 17th edition. (GBR229, $27.95)
A Book of Migrations, Some Passages in Ireland • Rebecca Solnit CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2010 • PAPER • 208 PAGES In this intriguing book, the American-born author (now an Irish citizen) introduces the country, its history and literature in a series of essays. Solnit, a wonderful writer, is a thoughtful questioner of the modern Irish identity. (IRE44, $16.95)
Bradt Guide Eccentric Britain • Benedict le Vay GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 384 PAGES From Longleat's Marquess of Bath and his 'set' of 62 'wifelets' to Biddeford's four acre Gnome Reserve, home to over a thousand of the little red-capped critters, and Chipping Campden's World Shin-kicking Championships, le Vay's book is an engaging and amusing read as well as being a practical travel guide. Lost for ideas? A calendar to the Eccentric Year is at hand - it's May so it must be the Randwick Wap religious cheese rolling festival. If you can wait a while August sees Tatton Park host the English Open Chainsaw Competition. Elsewhere, the guide details the Falkirk Wheel's triumph of eccentric engineering, which raises up to six boats at a time 155 feet from a canal to an aqueduct. However, if all this weirdness leaves you feeling a little jaded a trip to Salcombe, Devon and an encounter with Overbeck's Rejuvenator, just one of the items on display at the Electric Shock Museum, may ginger things up a bit... (GBR586, $24.99)
Braveheart • Mel Gibson HISTORY • 2002 • DVD The legend of William Wallace is brought to life in this Academy Award winning film starring Mel Gibson and Sophie Marceau. 177 minutes. (SCT91, $19.99)
Brigadoon • Vincente Minnelli CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2005 • DVD In this 1954 Cinescope musical, Gene Kelly and Van Johnson play two Americans who stumble upon an enchanted Scottish village where each night passes as though it were a hundred years. Cyd Charisse plays the lovely lass who steals Gene Kelly's heart. 108 minutes. In color. (SCT88, $19.97)
British Isles Map, Great Britain and Ireland • Michelin Travel Publications 2008 • MAP This colorful and accurate, regularly updated map shows both Great Britain and Ireland at a scale of 1:1,000,000. Featuring excellent road data. One Side. 40x50 inches. (GBR07, $11.95)
The British Isles, A History of Four Nations • Hugh Kearney HISTORY • 2006 • PAPER • 324 PAGES A survey of 2000 years of British history from the Celts to the Romans, the Normans, to the rise (and fall) of the empire. With a welcome focus on the interaction of the Celts, Normans and other cultures that have made their home in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. Highly recommended. (GBR88, $39.99)
Britons: Forging the Nations, 1707-1837 • Linda Colley HISTORY • 2009 • PAPER • 442 PAGES Winner of the 1992 Wolfson History Prize given in London for the best history accessible to general readers, this very interesting study of the formation of a national British identity recounts the joining of England, Scotland and Wales. This political, military and social history records how the ruling elite withstood threats from within and without from the Jacobites to the French, the path from Protestantism to profits via trade, war and empire, the making of the British ruling class, the women's sphere, and parliamentary reforms from the act of Union to the beginning of the Victorian Age. (GBR81, $22.00)
The Burning of Bridget Cleary, A True Story • Angela Bourke HISTORY • 2001 • PAPER • 279 PAGES The harrowing account of the turn-of-the-century murder of a young woman in rural Ireland and the subsequent trial of her husband. It's both a detailed social history and a riveting story that transports the reader to another time and place. The ditty "Are you a witch or are you a fairy or are you the wife of Micahel Cleary?" still reverberates in South Tipperary, where Cleary's greatest crime may have been that she was a vivacious, outspoken and beautiful woman. (IRE89, $16.00)
A Celtic Miscellany • Kenneth Hurlstone Jackson ANTHOLOGY • 1975 • PAPER • 352 PAGES A survey of Celtic literature through the ages from bardic elegies to heroic sagas. (IRE93, $16.00)
Celtic Myths and Legends • T.W. Rolleston LITERATURE • 1990 • PAPER • 457 PAGES The enchantment of the timeless world of the Celtic heroes, especially in Irish but also in Welsh myths and tales, is depicted in the legends of Arthur and many other traditional tales. Genealogical tables and a glossary complete this classic collection of the great Celtic myths first published in 1917. (GBR55, $12.95)
Celtic Prayers from Iona • J. Philip Newell RELIGION • 1997 • HARD COVER • 96 PAGES Inspired by the Gaelic prayers and poems of the 19th-century Scotsman Alexander Carmichael, Philip Newell and his wife developed this handsome hard cover book while wardens on the island. (SCT21, $14.95)
The Celts, First Masters of Europe • Chriatiane Eluere ARCHAEOLOGY • 1993 • PAPER • 175 PAGES • COMING IN A pocket-size encyclopedia of knowledge, this slim illustrated volume documents what we know of the art and archaeology of the Celts, taking the story from the fourth century B.C. to the arrival of the Romans. With over 100 maps and illustrations of sites and artifacts. Excellent. (CLT01, $15.95)
The Celts: A Very Short Introduction • Barry W Cunliffe HISTORY • 2003 • PAPER • 161 PAGES A concise, revealing social history of the Celts, by a reigning authority and popular writer. (CLT03, $11.95)
Charles Rennie Mackintosh • Alan Crawford ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1995 • PAPER • 216 PAGES A heavily illustrated, compact survey of the work of Scottish Art Nouveau designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh. An architect, decorator and painter, Mackintosh helped revolutionize art and design in 20th century Europe. This book in the acclaimed "World of Art" series examines his progress from the turn of the century through the 1920s. (SCT24, $19.95)
Checkmate • Dorothy Dunnett LITERATURE • 1997 • PAPER • 608 PAGES The sixth and final volume in the Lymond Chronicles finds Francis Crawford of Lymond in France, leading an army in battle against the English and trying to escape his past. (SCT94, $16.95)
The Children of Henry VIII • Alison Weir HISTORY • 1996 • PAPER • 363 PAGES This riveting account, both history and biography, examines the relationship of the four heirs left at Henry's death -- Prince Edward, "Bloody" Mary, Elizabeth, and Lady Jane Grey. Enlightening about the era and revealing in the portraits of the successors to Henry VIII, this is very enjoyable history. (GBR74, $16.00)
City Secrets London • Robert Kahn GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • HARD COVER • 250 PAGES City Secrets London collects dozens of recommendations of where to go and what to do. It's a connoisseur's guide to the city and its attractions, with personal recommendations by artists, designers, architects and personalities who have made their homes there. Each contributor provides a brief profile of a favorite haunt. With detailed maps. (GBR327, $19.95)
Clara's Grand Tour, Travels With a Rhinoceros in Eighteenth-century Europe • Glynis Ridley HISTORY • 2006 • PAPER • 240 PAGES The entertaining history of a most unusual eighteenth-century European celebrity. Clara the Indian rhinoceros was brought to Europe in 1741 by the Dutch sea captain Douwemout Van der Meer, and toured for seventeen years, to the delight of heads of state such as Louis XV and Frederick the Great. A marvelous and unique look at the introduction of Eastern wildlife into the Western world. (FRN536, $12.00)
Classic Irish Short Stories • Frank O'Connor LITERATURE • 1990 • PAPER • 352 PAGES A fine selection of stories from the first half of the 20th century, featuring the likes of James Joyce, Elizabeth Bowen and Frank O'Connor (who also edited the volume). (IRE140, $18.95)
The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats • W.B. Yeats • Richard Finneran LITERATURE • 1996 • PAPER • 544 PAGES This magnificent volume collects all of the poetry published during the lifetime of the great Irish poet William Butler Yeats, considered by many to be the finest of his generation. His poems, especially the later works, project a verbal brilliance that few have matched. The volume is also wonderfully evocative of the Irish character, regularly drawing on mythology, politics and history. Yeats had the unique habit of drafting his poems in prose, then laboriously sculpting them into the polished pieces you find here. They seem, finally -- effortless. With an introduction and commentary by editor Richard Finneran. (IRE34, $20.00)
Collins Complete Guide to British Wildlife • P. Sterry FIELD GUIDE • 2008 • PAPER • 384 PAGES A one-volume photographic guide to British wildlife, covering everything from fungi to mammals, including plants, insects, birds and fish. (GBR93, $34.95)
Companion Guide Edinburgh and the Borders Country • A.J. Youngson GUIDEBOOK • 2001 • PAPER • 420 PAGES An introduction to the history, culture and architecture of this grand city and its outlying areas. Youngson covers in rich, personable detail the Old Town, 18th-century New Town and the gardens, castles and abbeys of the border country. (SCT19, $34.95)
Companion Guide London • David Piper • Fionualla Jervis GUIDEBOOK • 2000 • PAPER • 450 PAGES A companionable, personable guide to the city, strong on history and culture. Oddly (for a guide), it's the sort of book that makes for leisurely and pleasurable reading. This eight edition was revised and updated by Fionualla Jervis. An Art Historian, Piper (1918-1990) was director of the National Portrait Gallery and the Ashmolean Museum. (GBR514, $34.95)
The Complete Jewish Guide to Britain and Ireland • Toni Kamins GUIDEBOOK • 2001 • PAPER • 148 PAGES A well research compact travel guide with a short overview of Jewish history and plenty of practical travel information on where to go and what to do. Organized geographically, the book includes synagogues, cemeteries, museums and other sites of Jewish interest (GBR366, $17.95)
Complete Plays of John M. Synge • J.M. Synge LITERATURE • 1960 • PAPER This collection of plays by Irish luminary J.M Synge, who was instrumental in shaping Irish theatre at the turn of the 20th-century, includes his most famous work, "Playboy of the Western World." (IRE122, $12.00)
The Complete Poems • John Keats • John Barnard LITERATURE • 1977 • PAPER • 731 PAGES A collection of every poem that John Keats ever wrote, in a portable paperback edition from "Penguin Classics." (GBR162, $17.00)
Complete Works of Oscar Wilde • Oscar Wilde LITERATURE • 1989 • PAPER • 1216 PAGES A one-volume edition of all the works of Wilde, including stories, plays, poems and essays. (IRE35, $25.00)
The Confession of Saint Patrick, And Letter to Coroticus • Saint Patrick • John Skinner • John O'Donohue BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1998 • PAPER The autobiography of the patron saint of Ireland, a short collection of his memories and ideas on the Christian faith written in the fifth century. This new translation also includes his "Letter to Coroticus," thus combining in one volume the two known works written by Patrick. (IRE102, $6.95)
A Conspiracy of Paper • David Liss LITERATURE • 2001 • PAPER • 480 PAGES Liss's novel of greed and murder is memorably set among the grimy streets and the financial institutions of 18th-century London. The pleasures of the book are its detailed portraits of the city and the double-dealings of the merchants, investors and thieves. (GBR518, $15.00)
The Course of Irish History • T.W. Moody • F.X. Martin HISTORY • 2002 • PAPER • 504 PAGES An collection of excellent essays on the history of Ireland from prehistory through the 1990s, written by 21 leading scholars. Arranged chronologically, this popular text is a well-balanced survey that includes Protestant and Catholic scholars from both Northern Ireland and the Republic. (IRE74, $18.95)
The Crofter and the Laird • John McPhee TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 1978 • PAPER • 159 PAGES • FAVORITE In this volume, McPhee returns for a year to his ancestral land, the island of Colonsay in the Scottish Hebrides, to tell the stories of people whose lives are deeply entrenched in their land. With his characteristic grace and admiration for his subjects, McPhee writes about this stark region where residents still live under an almost feudal system of farmers, crofter and lord. (SCT23, $16.00)
Cross Channel • Julian Barnes LITERATURE • 1997 • PAPER • 211 PAGES Each linked in some way with cross channel experiences, these ten short stories range in time from the late 17th century to the year 2015. The stories display the deliciously comic, complex and intellectual pyrotechnics, for which novelist Barnes is famous. (GBR56, $15.00)
Curious Scotland, Tales From a Hidden History • George Rosie HISTORY • 2006 • HARD COVER • 244 PAGES A journalist, playwright and raconteur, Rosie spins half-forgotten and neglected Scottish stories in this entertaining and unconventional history. (SCT116, $23.95)
The Diary of Samuel Pepys • Samuel Pepys • Richard Le Gallienne • Robert Louis Stevenson BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2001 • PAPER • 352 PAGES The perennially popular diary of Samuel Pepys (1633-1703), both an account of his life and portrait of the tumultuous 1660s in London. Pepys covers, among may other things in his nine-year-long diary, the coronation of Charles II, bubonic plague and the Great Fire. This volume is edited and much abridged by essayist and poet Richard Le Gallienne. The original is eight times as long. (GBR459, $15.95)
Directors on Directing, A Source Book to Modern Theater • Toby Cole • Helen Krich Chinoy ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1990 • PAPER • 479 PAGES A guide to the art of directing theatrical productions, composed of a variety of essays from professionals in the industry. (TTR03, $147.20)
The Disorderly Knights • Dorothy Dunnett LITERATURE • 1997 • PAPER • 528 PAGES The third volume in the Lymond Chronicles follows Francis Crawford of Lymond to Malta, where he has been sent to help the Knights of Hospitallers defend their island against the invading Turks. He soon finds, however, that the greatest danger to the Knights comes from within their own order. (SCT95, $17.00)
Don't Point That Thing at Me • Kyril Bonfiglioli MYSTERY • 2004 • PAPER • 198 PAGES Originally published in Britain in the 1970s, this comic thriller drew a cult following because of its protagonist, Charlie Mortdecai, a dapper assassin and playboy. Supposedly based loosely on Bonfiglioli himself, Mortdecai flaunts around London with his right-hand man Jock, causing large-scale mischief and drinking cocktails. (GBR589, $13.95)
Down and Out in Paris and London • George Orwell LITERATURE • 1972 • PAPER • 213 PAGES Orwell's first published work, this novel -- based, in part, on true experiences -- is a tale of the underclass in 1930's Paris and London. (GBR99, $14.00)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde • Robert Louis Stevenson LITERATURE • 2003 • PAPER • 144 PAGES Stevenson's gothic classic set in Edinburgh -- a great horror story and allegory for the dual nature of man. (SCT74, $3.95)
Dragonfly in Amber • Diana Gabaldon MYSTERY • 1993 • PAPER • 960 PAGES The second in a series of time-travel mysteries set in 18th century Scotland. (SCT102, $8.99)
The Dramatic Imagination, Reflections and Speculations on the Art of Theatre • Robert Edmond Jones ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1987 • PAPER • 157 PAGES A classic, heartfelt collection of essays on all aspects of the theater, from acting and directing to lighting and design. Jones's experience and wisdom are evident throughout, and the books stands as a source of inspiration and instruction for theater professionals and aficionados. (TTR02, $29.95)
Drums of Autumn • Diana Gabaldon MYSTERY • 1997 • PAPER • 1088 PAGES The fourth in a series of time-travel mysteries set in 18th century Scotland and South Carolina on the eve of the American Revolution. (SCT104, $8.99)
Dublin Map • Borch Maps 2004 • MAP A laminated, folded map of the city center of Dublin, at a scale of 1:12,000. Two Sides. 20 X 26 inches. (IRE96, $7.95)
Dublin, The Best Places to Eat, Drink, And Stay • Georgina Campbell GUIDEBOOK • 2005 • PAPER • 400 PAGES Campbell is the author of a whole series of guidebooks on where to eat, drink, and stay all around Ireland. Organized by city district, this compact and comprehensive guide includes maps and plenty of information on food, shopping and accommodations. (IRE163, $10.95)
Early Ireland, An Introduction to Irish Prehistory • Michael O'Kelly HISTORY • 1989 • PAPER • 392 PAGES An illustrated introduction to Irish prehistory, from the end of the Ice Age to the the first centuries of the Christian era. (IRE81, $82.00)
Easter Rising 1916, Birth of the Irish Republic • Michael McNally HISTORY • 2007 • PAPER • 96 PAGES An accessible examination of the six day uprising against British rule in the name of a new Irish Republic. With archival photographs, maps and color drawings throughout. One of Osprey's "Campaign" series. (IRE199, $19.95)
Emerald Fairways and Foam-Flecked Seas, A Golfer's Pilgrimage to the Courses of Ireland • James W. Finegan CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1996 • HARD COVER • 192 PAGES In this wonderful companion to Finegan's book on Scotland, Blasted Heaths and Blessed Greens, the author returns to his native Ireland to explore both golf and the Irish people. (IRE25, $52.00)
Emigrants and Exiles: Ireland and the Irish Exodus to North America • Kerby A. Miller HISTORY • 1988 • PAPER • 704 PAGES An epic account of the trans-Atlantic Irish emigration. Much of Miller's research is focused on the personal letters, journals and memoirs of Irish emigrants. (IRE83, $24.95)
Empire, The British Imperial Experience from 1765 to the Present • Denis Judd HISTORY • 1998 • PAPER • 478 PAGES This survey of British imperial history sums up the balance sheet of empire and the continuing debate over its meaning. Its epic theme is how the empire affected rulers and the ruled from the American Revolution to the present. Included are issues of gender, race, sexuality, and national identity in the confrontations between British missionaries and colonial subjects. (GBR80, $28.50)
The Empty Space • Peter Brook ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1997 • PAPER • 141 PAGES A highly influential -- and highly readable -- treatise on the state of modern theater, first published in 1968 but still appropriate today. Legendary English director Peter Brook divides dramatic productions into four categories -- the Deadly Theater, the Holy Theater, the Rough Theater, and the Immediate Theater -- so that he may address the importance and potential of the theatrical form. (TTR01, $12.99)
The Encyclopedia of Ireland • Brian Lalor CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2003 • HARD COVER • 1200 PAGES Organized alphabetically, this compendium of all things Irish covers life, culture, and history. A reference that is pleasurable to browse, it features full-color illustrations, maps, and an impressive range of entries, including biographies of artists, celebrities, writers, and politicians of Irish descent. (IRE137, $65.00)
The End of Hidden Ireland • Robert James Scally HISTORY • 1996 • PAPER • 288 PAGES A scholarly, imaginative re-creation of a difficult period in the history of the townland of Ballykilcline. Subtitled "Rebellion, Famine and Emigration, it's a sympathetic account of of the small farmers and labors of the irish midlands, a community devastated by the black famine years of the 1840s and ongoing emigration to America. (IRE63, $50.00)
Europe in Our Time, A History, 1945-1992 • Walter Laqueur HISTORY • 1993 • PAPER • 617 PAGES An update of the classic general history of Europe since World War II, this enormously readable book offers a great overview of the events that have shaped our modern world. (EUR14, $17.95)
Everything Irish: The History, Literature, Art, Music, People, and Places of Ireland from A-Z • James O�Malley • Lelia Ruckenstein CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2003 • PAPER • 480 PAGES A lively encyclopedic overview of Irish culture and history. (IRE154, $20.00)
Eyewitness Guide Great Britain • Eyewitness Guides GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 720 PAGES With its 1,400 photos, maps and excellent introductory chapters, this guide is both a general introduction to Great Britain and a region-by-region look at its attractions. Handsome, convenient and up-to-date, this is the guide to carry. (GBR01, $30.00)
Eyewitness Guide Ireland • Eyewitness Guides GUIDEBOOK • 2012 • PAPER • 416 PAGES This superb guide is a wonderfully illustrated introduction to the country, featuring photographs, maps and short background essays on history and culture. Organized geographically, it surveys the attractions of Ireland from Dublin's best pubs, to the Book of Kells and charming rural villages. Take it along. (IRE02, $25.00)
Eyewitness Guide Scotland • Eyewitness Guides GUIDEBOOK • 2012 • PAPER • 240 PAGES A compact illustrated travel guide featuring bright color photography, dozens of excellent maps, and a region-by-region synopsis of Scotland's attractions. With a 50-page section on where to stay and eat. (SCT40, $25.00)
Faberge in the Royal Collection • Caroline De Guitaut ART & ARCHITECTURE • 2003 • HARD COVER • 240 PAGES A handsome study of Faberge art and the British Royal Family. Includes essays on the history of the collection, royal collectors, and Faberge's enduring influence. With 220 illustrations, 200 in color. (RUS215, $50.00)
Far From the Shamrock Shore • Mick Moloney MUSIC • 2002 • CASETTE TAPE The Irish immigrant experience as expressed through song-by a popular ethnomusicologist, performer and founder of Irish Folkways. A music CD (IRE116, $17.98)
A Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe • Guy Mountfort FIELD GUIDE • 2001 • PAPER • 212 PAGES Every birder has their favorite field guide, but you can't go wrong with this classic in the Peterson series: compact, illustrated and convenient, covering 698 species. With range maps. (EUR15, $25.00)
The Fiery Cross • Diana Gabaldon MYSTERY • 2005 • PAPER • 1456 PAGES The fifth in a series of time-travel mysteries set in 18th century Scotland. (SCT100, $8.99)
Final Rounds, A Father, a Son, the Golf Journey of a Lifetime • James Dodson TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 1997 • PAPER • 272 PAGES Golf magazine columnist Dodson tells the heartfelt story of a trip with his father, during his father's final months, to the great courses of Scotland and England. With plenty of golf lore and legend, and the wise conclusion that golf is mostly about who you choose to play with. (GOL02, $16.00)
Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals of Golf • Ben Hogan SPORT • 1985 • PAPER • 127 PAGES A master of golf provides instruction on improving your game in this 1957 classic. (GOL11, $13.00)
Fodor's Exploring Scotland • Gilbert Summers GUIDEBOOK • 2007 • PAPER • 288 PAGES With its many photographs, great introductory chapters and practical travel information, this compact guide for visitors is an excellent overview of Scotland and its highlights. Most of the book is devoted to a region-by-region description of attractions, including Edinburgh, Glasgow, the highlands and islands. With excellent local maps. (SCT09, $22.00)
Fodor's See It Ireland • Fodor's GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 384 PAGES An inaugural volume in this new line of guides by Fodor's this book is notable for its especially vibrant presentation of the country. Each page displays full-color photos accompanied by much useful information on how to eat, sleep, shop, and sightsee in Ireland. (IRE138, $24.99)
Fodor's See It London • Fodors GUIDEBOOK • 2010 • PAPER • 336 PAGES An inaugural volume in this new line of guides by Fodor's this book is notable for its especially vibrant presentation of the city. Each page displays full-color photos accompanied by much useful information on how to eat, sleep, shop, and sightsee in London. (GBR502, $22.99)
Fodor's See It Scotland • Fodors GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 376 PAGES An inaugural volume in this new line of guides by Fodor's this book is notable for its especially vibrant presentation of the country. Each page displays full-color photos accompanied by much useful information on how to eat, sleep, shop, and sightsee in Scotland. (SCT80, $22.99)
Folktales of Ireland • Sean O'Sullivan LITERATURE • 1968 • PAPER • 321 PAGES No nation is better known for its folktales than Ireland. These are not myths and legends but a representative collection of fables and tales, often with a moral, by the chief archivist of the Folklore of Ireland Society including stories about animals and birds, kings and warriors, saints and sinners, magicians and witches, and people of the otherworld. (IRE24, $32.00)
Food Lovers' London • Jenny Linford GUIDEBOOK • 2005 • PAPER • 311 PAGES London's neighborhoods, specialty shops, restaurants and markets are covered in glorious detail in Jenny Linford's illustrated handbook. (GBR593, $16.95)
Footprint Scotland Highlands and Islands Handbook • Alan Murphy GUIDEBOOK • 2009 • HARD COVER • 495 PAGES A well organized comprehensive guide in the British series with helpful sketch maps throughout. (SCT62, $24.95)
Friends, Lovers, Chocolate • Alexander McCall Smith MYSTERY • 2006 • PAPER • 272 PAGES From the author of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series comes detective Isabel Dalhousie, the editor of the Review of Applied Ethics and host of the Sunday Philosophy Club at her home in Edinburgh. In book two of the series, Isabel looks after her niece's delicatessen, meets an eclectic cast of characters, and ponders the mysteries of chocolate. (SCT113, $14.00)
Frommer's London Day by Day • Frommer's GUIDEBOOK • 2008 • PAPER • 192 PAGES A compact shirt pocket guide, ideal for a short visit, featuring remarkably good suggestions for everything from food, hotels and neighborhoods to shopping. With a separate foldout map of the city center. (GBR646, $12.99)
The Game of Kings • Dorothy Dunnett LITERATURE • 1997 • PAPER • 560 PAGES The first volume in the sweeping Lymond Chronicles by a master of historical romance. Set in the 1500's in Edinborough, Scotland, Dunnett's story follows Francis Crawford of Lymand and his band of outlaws as they fight the English for the country they love. (SCT93, $17.00)
The Gate of Angels • Penelope Fitzgerald LITERATURE • 1998 • PAPER • 176 PAGES Fitzgerald's seriocomic novel, set in 1912, finds a young scientist from Cambridge and a nurse from London embroiled in a romance that challenges them both emotionally and intellectually. (GBR469, $13.95)
Georgiana, Dutchess of Devonshire • Amanda Foreman BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2001 • PAPER • 512 PAGES An entertaining biography of 18th-century aristocrat, society hostess and political pundit Georgiana Spencer, adapted into a film starring Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes. Much like her great-great-great-great niece Princess Diana, Georgiana was thrust into the public eye when she married into the aristocracy. She became wrapped up in scandal, gambling, and drugs but also emerged as an influential figure in politics. It's a well written and carefully researched portrait of an intriguing woman and her world. Foreman won the Whitbread prize for this, her debut book. (GBR520, $15.95)
The Ginger Man • J.P. Donleavy LITERATURE • 2009 • PAPER • 368 PAGES Donleavy captures the texture and spirit of Dublin in this rollicking, earthy tale of Sebastian Dangerfield, a young American out and about in the 1950s. Born in New York of Irish immigrant parents, Donleavy studied at Trinity College in the years after WWII. Originally published (after much difficulty and not without controversy) in 1955. (IRE169, $14.95)
Glasgow Map • A-Z MAP A convenient, folded and detailed city map of Glasgow at a scale of 1:19,000 in the excellent series by the Geographers' A-Z Map Company in Britain. One Side. 36x46 inches. (SCT99, $15.95)
Golfing in Ireland, The Most Complete Guide for Adventurous Golfers • Rob Armstrong GUIDEBOOK • 2007 • PAPER • 352 PAGES A guide to Ireland's hallowed links, including descriptions, scorecards, photographs and practical information. (IRE158, $19.95)
The Gothic Enterprise, A Guide to Understanding the Medieval Cathedral • Robert A. Scott ART & ARCHITECTURE • 2005 • PAPER • 294 PAGES Scott, whose interest in the history of cathedrals began when he first saw the magnificent Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Salisbury, England, takes his reader on a historical, architectural and sociological tour of the magnificent spires and stained-glass windows that dot the landscape of Europe. It's an accessible, personable overview. (EUR190, $21.95)
Great Britain and Ireland Map • HEMA Maps MAP A nicely detailed map showing both Great Britain and Ireland at a scale of 1:750,000. Two Sides. 56x39 inches. (GBR31, $10.95)
Great Britain and Ireland Map • HEMA Maps MAP A nicely detailed map showing both Great Britain and Ireland at a scale of 1:750,000. Two Sides. 56x39 inches. (GBR31, $10.95)
Great Britain Map • Ordnance Survey MAP The Brits are famously in love with geography, and this is their homegrown, excellent map of Great Britain, at a scale of 1:625,000. Two Sides. 38x50 inches. (GBR06, $14.95)
The Great Hunger: Ireland, 1845-1849 • Cecil Woodham-Smith HISTORY • 1995 • PAPER • 510 PAGES A masterful account of the Irish potato famine in which over one million people died. Woodham-Smith is especially good at describing the suffering of the Irish emigrants and in exposing the hostile Anglo-Irish relations of the time. (IRE76, $18.00)
Green Shadows, White Whale • Ray Bradbury BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2002 • PAPER • 237 PAGES Set in Dublin, this 1953 hymn to Ireland recounts Bradbury's hilarious experiences writing the Moby Dick screenplay with John Huston (who Bradbury refers to affectionately as the "Devil Himself"). Whether fact, fiction or thinly disguised memoir, Bradbury is one terrific guide to Ireland, the Irish, the ways of writers and movie makers -- and how to write the perfect sentence. It's dedicated to the staff of the Royal Hibernian Hotel. (IRE53, $13.99)
A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany • Aubrey Burl GUIDEBOOK • 2006 • PAPER • 276 PAGES An excellent guide to finding -- and understanding -- all the major sites, plus a few not-so-well known ones. It includes maps, black-and-white photographs, site diagrams, and a bibliography. (GBR102, $37.00)
A Hard Day's Night • Richard Lester 1964 • DVD The Beatles at their best. Not only a showcase for the antics of Fab Four, this film is also important contribution to the history of British cinema and the musical genre. A stylized portrait of spontaneity, it follows John, Paul, George and Ringo as they mess about on a train, run through the streets of London, play in an open field, and deal with the immense fame that has suddenly been thrust upon them. (GBR494, $29.99)
Henry Esmond • Wiliam Makepeace Thackeray LITERATURE • 2001 • PAPER • 544 PAGES This military romance, set in 18th-century England during the reign of Queen Anne, is one of the greatest historical novels ever written. Blending psychological drama and history, it is the story of a gentleman and officer wrestling with his allegiance to the old Tory-Catholic England until disillusionment forces him to come to terms with the Whig-Protestant future. Excellent on the history and the warfare of the time, this novel was instantly recognized as a masterpiece. (GBR85, $7.95)
Here Is Where We Meet • John Berger LITERATURE • 2006 • PAPER • 256 PAGES This novel weaves a portrait of several European countries through encounters with the dead, from the narrator's mother, whom he discovers on a park bench in Lisbon, to a childhood friend wandering a market in Krakow. "The dead don't stay where they are buried," the protagonist's mother tells him, and this becomes the mantra for this most unusual journey through Europe's history and people. (EUR189, $15.00)
The Hill Bachelors • William Trevor LITERATURE • 2001 • PAPER • 256 PAGES No one writes better short fiction than William Trevor. This collection of 12 stories captures the life and people of rural Ireland. (IRE42, $15.00)
The History and Topography of Ireland • John O'Meara • Gerald of Wales CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1984 • PAPER • 144 PAGES Arguably the most authoritative primary source for what is known about medieval Ireland, this lively history by a twelfth-century Norman describes the land's topography, natural resources, and inhabitants in vivid detail. (IRE92, $14.00)
A History of Scotland • J.D. Mackie HISTORY • 1978 • PAPER • 380 PAGES Mackie reveals how the Scots long pursued an independent line -- i-n religion, law, culture and foreign policy -- that helped them keep at bay the Romans, the French and the English in concise history, covering the nation from the Mesolithic to modern times, vividly written and fair. This second edition carries the national story forward to the 1970s. (SCT16, $18.00)
A History of the Theater • Glynne Wickham HISTORY • 1994 • PAPER • 288 PAGES A comprehensive, chronological tour of 3,000 years of dramatic history (including opera and ballet). With color photos throughout. (TTR14, $27.95)
I'll Know it When I See It, A Daughter's Search for Home In Ireland • Alice Carey BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2005 • PAPER • 310 PAGES In this touching memoir, Alice Carey recounts her upbringing as a maid's daughter among Broadway legends and then her move to Ireland in later years, where she and her husband renovate an old farmhouse. (IRE149, $14.95)
An Illustrated History of the First World War • John Keegan HISTORY • 2001 • HARD COVER • 448 PAGES • COMING IN An illustrated edition of Keegan's outstanding history of the Great War, considerably enhanced by his selection of almost 500 photographs, maps, drawings and illustrations. The visuals clarify and augment his wide-ranging narrative of the origins, battles and consequences of WWI. (WAR16, $50.00)
Imagined London, A Tour of the World's Greatest Fictional City • Anna Quindlen CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2004 • PAPER • 192 PAGES Best-selling author Anna Quindlen looks at London, evoking the Dickensian city of fog and alleyways and the shadowy streets of Sherlock Holmes. Here are some of the world's most recognizable figures, both real and fictional, on the streets which they made so famous. A volume in the National Geographic Directions series. (GBR482, $10.95)
In Search of England • H.V. Morton • James Morris TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2002 • PAPER • 274 PAGES The much-beloved, enduring account of Morton's ramblings through the English countryside in the early days of the motorcar. As in all of his many travel books, Morton charmingly mixes a deep appreciation of the art, culture, and especially, the history of a place with his own keen observations. First published in 1927 and now returned to print in a handsome paper edition with an introduction by Jan Morris. (GBR368, $16.00)
In the Name of the Father • Jim Sheridan 1994 • DVD Daniel Day-Lewis stars as Gerry Conlon, a man falsely accused of bombing a London pub in connection with the IRA. Conlon is imprisoned, along with his father (Pete Postlethwaite), and with the help of a British attorney (Emma Thompson), he fights for fourteen years to prove his innocence and save both himself and his father. (IRE134, $14.98)
Incognito Street, How Travel Made Me a Writer • Barbara Sjoholm TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2006 • PAPER • 256 PAGES Sjoholm (The Pirate Queen) departed for Europe at the age of 20 in 1970, with dreams of becoming a writer. In this memior, she explores her experiences in England and Spain, her struggle to find her writing voice, and her emerging political and sexual identity. (EUR244, $15.95)
An Innocent in Ireland, Curious Rambles and Singular Encounters • David W. McFadden TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 1995 • PAPER • 320 PAGES A Canadian poet and essayist embarks on an ambitious journey in the footsteps of H. V. Morton's 1930's route through Ireland. Soon abandoning his quest, McFadden finds himself simply walking the Irish countryside, exploring the modern day Irish character and history. Determinedly eccentric, McFadden has an ear for dialogue and a penchant for evocative descriptions of his encounters. (IRE22, $18.95)
An Innocent in Scotland, More Curious Rambles and Singular Encounters • David W. McFadden TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 1999 • PAPER • 346 PAGES A sequel to his rambles in Ireland, McFadden again taps local lore, personality and history in this most entertaining journey through Scotland. As more of an excuse to travel than a formula, the book is loosely modeled after Morton's 1920s "In Search of Scotland." (SCT28, $18.95)
Insight Compact Guide Scottish Highlands • Insight Guides GUIDEBOOK • 1998 • PAPER • 79 PAGES A brief introduction to the Scottish Highlands with color photos, maps and suggested routes. (SCT32, $7.95)
Insight Guide London • Insight Guides GUIDEBOOK • 2010 • PAPER • 352 PAGES A well illustrated overview of the city, its history and attractions, featuring a series of essays by experts, hundreds of photographs and excellent local maps. (GBR367, $19.99)
Insight Guide Scotland • Josephine Buchanan GUIDEBOOK • 2007 • PAPER • 346 PAGES A thoroughly illustrated guide combining hundreds of photographs, excellent color maps and brief essays on the culture, history and nature of Scotland. (SCT64, $23.95)
Insight Pocket Guide Dublin • Insight Guides GUIDEBOOK • 2006 • PAPER • 96 PAGES This slim, illustrated guide features a pullout map. (IRE187, $13.95)
Inventing Ireland, The Literature of the Modern Nation • Declan Kiberd CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1997 • PAPER • 736 PAGES This engaging, and often passionate, study of Ireland's modern literature is an introduction to the panorama of Irish culture during the last century. It may change the way you look at the works of Beckett, Joyce and Swift, and Irish literature as a whole. (IRE54, $40.50)
Ireland East Holiday Map • Ireland Ordnance Survey MAP A locally published, detailed map of the eastern part of Ireland at a scale of 1:250,000. One Side. 42x26 inches. (IRE117, $19.95)
Ireland in Mind • Alice Powers ANTHOLOGY • 2000 • PAPER • 288 PAGES Powers selects from three centuries of great writing about Ireland by writers, local and foreign, including Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf and Frank McCourt for this spirited anthology. Taken as a whole the anthology evokes the spirit of the country and character of the Irish people. (IRE71, $13.00)
Ireland in Prehistory • George Eogan • Michael Herity ARCHAEOLOGY • 1996 • PAPER • 320 PAGES An authoritative survey of prehistory Ireland from Stone Age beginnings through The Iron Age and the Celts. With 16 pages of black-and-white illustrations. (IRE151, $44.95)
Ireland Map • Michelin 2011 • MAP A colorful map of Ireland at a scale of 1:400,000, featuring insets of the road approaches to major cities, as well as an index to cities, towns, and villages. One Side. 41x35 inches. (IRE23, $11.95)
Ireland North Map • Ireland Ordnance Survey 2005 • MAP A locally published, detailed map of the northern part of Ireland at a scale of 1:250,000. One Side. 26x42 inches. (IRE48, $17.95)
Ireland, a Bicycle, and a Tin Whistle • David Wilson TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 1995 • PAPER • 176 PAGES Whether it's the author's adventures in crowded pubs or out in the wild, this travel account is a modest, humorous report on Ireland, its people, festivals and cultures -- with a particular focus on traditional music. Cartoons by Justin Palmer add to the fun. (IRE17, $19.95)
Ireland, A Concise History from the Twelfth Century to the Present Day • Paul Johnson HISTORY • 1996 • PAPER • 262 PAGES This best-selling author's look at the Emerald Isle through siege, rebellion, civil war, and independence is a stimulating and sometimes provocative history. He explores the land from its Gaelic roots to conquest by the British, rebellion and union, famine and the diaspora, freedom and partition. (IRE03, $15.95)
Ireland, A Novel • Frank Delaney LITERATURE • 2006 • PAPER • 576 PAGES In this hugely pleasurable tale Delaney wraps the history, myth and legend of Ireland around a quest. It's a hugely ambitious, subtly comic and enthralling story of the importance of tales and tradition. (IRE156, $14.99)
Ireland, A Social and Cultural History, 1922 to the Present • Terence K. Brown HISTORY • 1895 • PAPER • 302 PAGES A well written history of Ireland, emphasizing the relationship between the country's cultural influences and its politics, economics and church-state affairs. A popular college text. (IRE73, $23.95)
Irish Art, A Concise History • Bruce Arnold ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1989 • PAPER • 180 PAGES An illustrated introduction to the art of Ireland from ancient times to today, from the excellent World of Art series. With 179 illustration, 20 in color. (IRE143, $14.95)
The Irish Experience, a Concise History • Thomas E. Hachey • Lawrence John McCaffrey • Joseph M. Hernon, Jr. HISTORY • 1996 • PAPER • 303 PAGES A chronological review of the Irish historical experience, from the Celts to the modern conflict in Northern Ireland written for a North American audience. Originally published in 1988 and revised in 1996 for this second edition. (IRE87, $38.95)
Irish Journal • Heinrich Boll TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2011 • PAPER • 144 PAGES Insightful, witty and deeply human, German novelist Boll records his impressions of Ireland on a 1950s journey through the country with his family. He writes of his escalating difficulties exchanging money, his adventures in Irish pubs and his impressions of the people. (IRE12, $14.95)
A Journal of the Plague Year • Daniel Defoe LITERATURE • 1966 • PAPER • 256 PAGES In 1665, when Defoe was a child, plague struck London. His classic fictional account of that time, told in the guise of truth, makes historically vivid, realistic fiction -- the prototype of all accounts of great cities under siege in disease or war. (GBR87, $10.00)
A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides • Samuel Johnson • James Boswell TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 1984 • PAPER • 429 PAGES Written when Johnson was 63 and Boswell 32 in 1773 (when they had been friends for ten years), these travel journals were the result of a three-month trip to Scotland. Johnson observed Scotland, and Boswell observed Johnson. Witty and entertaining, these travel classics complement each other as Johnson describes the customs, education, religion, agriculture, and trade of the Scots, and Boswell records Johnson's behavior and conversation. (SCT07, $18.00)
Just Enough Jeeves • P.G. Wodehouse LITERATURE • 2010 • PAPER • 556 PAGES Irresistible comic masterpieces -- two novels and a story collection -- from the author Christopher Hitchens calls "the gold standard of English wit." (GBR519, $18.95)
Karen Brown's Ireland, Exceptional Places to Stay & Itineraries • June Brown GUIDEBOOK • 2010 • PAPER • 210 PAGES A survey of inns, castles and other lodging of character, along with suggested itineraries and highlights of each region. (IRE88, $19.95)
Kidnapped • Robert Louis Stevenson LITERATURE • 2007 • PAPER • 240 PAGES Set in 18th-century Scotland after the Jacobite Rebellion, this is a story of attempted murder, shipwreck, and kidnapping as told by a young Whig who has been deceived by his missing uncle. With great feeling for the Scottish landscape, history, and the local atmosphere, this classic tale of the conflict between Lowlanders and Highlanders mirrors the split sympathies of the author himself. (SCT02, $9.00)
King Arthur and His Knights • Eugene Vinaver LITERATURE • 1975 • PAPER • 231 PAGES This volume includes English Arthurian fiction directly attributable to Malory's original tales -- including thoroughly readable accounts of the exploits of King Arthur, Merlin, Sir Lancelot, Gawain and the Green Knight, and the legend of the Holy Grail. (GBR90, $19.99)
Kingdom by the Sea • Paul Theroux TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2006 • PAPER • 361 PAGES Before decamping after a decade in London, Theroux traveled around the British Isles on a coastal journey in 1982 -- and chatted up the natives in his inimitable, humorous, opinionated, perceptive way. This insightful book displays Theroux's occasional ill temper along with his celebrated ability to combine social history and the good old-fashioned traveler's tale. (GBR09, $14.95)
Knopf Mapguide Edinburgh • Knopf Guides GUIDEBOOK • 2008 • PAPER • 48 PAGES A handy set of full color, ingeniously folded maps, each indicating favorite sites, shops, restaurants and attractions. (SCT105, $9.95)
Knopf Mapguide London • Knopf Guides GUIDEBOOK • 2008 • PAPER A handy set of full color, ingeniously folded maps, each indicating favorite sites, shops, restaurants and attractions. (GBR691, $10.95)
The Last of the Celts • Marcus Tanner HISTORY • 2006 • PAPER • 398 PAGES Welsh journalist Tanner mixes anecdote, interview and research in this lively account of encounters with far-flung Celts from Scotland, Wales and Belfast to Brittany, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and Trelew. (GBR527, $25.00)
Letters from London • Julian Barnes CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1995 • PAPER • 320 PAGES This sparkling collection of essays by the brilliant novelist Julian Barnes hones in on the social complexity and political reality of modern day England. Originally published in the "New Yorker," these always-on-target essays range from Thatcherite Britain to the foibles of the royals. A dedicated francophile, he also meditates at length on the historic cross-channel animosity. (GBR14, $16.95)
The Lie of the Land: Irish Identities • Fintan O'Toole CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1998 • PAPER • 172 PAGES O'Toole's essays -- informed by an appreciation of history and the arts -- reveal through interviews a complex nation in the midst of change. This book collects some of his best writing over the last two decades, an elegantly written, witty and insightful portrait. (IRE60, $14.00)
The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit • Charles Dickens LITERATURE • 2000 • PAPER • 864 PAGES This satirical novel, his sixth, is one of Dicken's few that leaves Mother England for a extended (and caustic) foray onto American shores. Not surprisingly, it followed the author's first voyage to America. (GBR462, $14.00)
Life in A Medieval Castle • Francis Gies CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1989 • PAPER • 272 PAGES This illustrated book evokes life in the 13th century. From lord to servant, it describes the daily life of the inhabitants at Chepstow in Wales. (GBR109, $14.99)
Life of St. Columba • Adomnan of Iona • Richard Sharpe BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1995 • PAPER • 395 PAGES An early account of the life of St. Columba (521-97), the 6th-century abbot who established the monastery on Iona. Written by Adomnan of Iona at the turn of the 8th century, it introduces the profoundly spiritual man as well as his famous abbey. A Penguin Classic. (IRE103, $17.00)
The Life of Walter Scott, A Critical Biography • John Sutherland BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1998 • PAPER • 386 PAGES Sutherland's discerning biography digs beneath the myth to illuminate the life of Sir Walter Scott as not only a literary figure but also a social critic, and Scot. (SCT92, $47.95)
A Literary Guide to Dublin • Vivien Igoe GUIDEBOOK • 2000 • PAPER • 384 PAGES A guide to the famous writers of Dublin -- both longtime residents and travelers who were inspired by the city -- and the locations associated with them. Included, of course, is a list of notable pubs. (IRE139, $19.95)
Local Hero • Bill Forsyth CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2004 • DVD 111 minutes. (SCT90, $9.97)
Loch Assynt, Lochinver and Kylesku Map • Ordnance Survey MAP A detailed (1:50,000) regional map in the Landranger series by the British Ordnance Survey. It covers an area, including Loch Assynt, of 25 miles by 25 miles. One Side. 35x40 inches. (SCT86, $19.95)
London Map • Borch Maps 2009 • MAP This sixth edition laminated folded map of London includes London proper at 1:15 000, Kew Gardens & Richmond (1:35 000), Central Sights (1:11 000), Greater London (1:375 000) along with Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Public Transport London. With hotels, museums, monuments, markets, public transport, top sights and points of interest, useful statistics, and conversion charts. Two Sides. 20x26 inches. (GBR114, $8.95)
London Map (Editions Falk) • Falk Maps MAP A single-sided folded map of London at a scale of 1:15,000 (published by Falk but not featuring the patent Falk fold!). Two Sides. 26x39 inches. (GBR347, $12.95)
London Rediscovered • Louise Nicholson • Richard Turpin ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1998 • HARD COVER • 208 PAGES This intriguing photo-essay on the city, its history, art and architecture combines Louis Nicholson's lively text and color photographs by Richard Turpin. Organized geographically, the book is an inviting, informative tour of the city. (GBR513, $45.00)
The London Scene, Six Essays • Virginia Woolf LITERATURE • 2006 • HARD COVER • 96 PAGES The great Virginia Woolf, here writing for the British Good Housekeeping magazine in the 1930s when she was already a leading light, makes a congenial guide to her hometown in these essays, loosely organized as a series of walking tours. Her focus is on London's lterary scene, including Keats, Carlyle and a whole lot of dead poets. (GBR693, $16.95)
London, A Cultural History • Richard Tames HISTORY • 2007 • PAPER • 256 PAGES A description of twenty centuries of London culture, society, and history. From the Cityscape series. (GBR639, $21.95)
London, A History • A.N. Wilson HISTORY • 2006 • PAPER • 240 PAGES A brief, evocative meditation on the rich and varied history of England's capital city by the prolific British writer, critic and historian. Wilson examines London through several lenses, using humor and insight to discuss art, architecture, politics and culture. (GBR480, $14.00)
London, A Social History • Roy Porter HISTORY • 1998 • PAPER • 448 PAGES A short, illustrated history of London, chronicling the city from its origins as an outpost of the Roman Empire through medieval hub, Renaissance center and imperial capital. A professor of history at University College, Porter is a marvelous guide. (GBR59, $20.95)
Lonely Planet Ireland • Fionn Davenport GUIDEBOOK • 2012 • PAPER • 764 PAGES This 10th edition of the practical guide in the popular series features 88 all new maps, 3D diagrams of iconic sites and comprehensive coverage. (IRE121, $24.99)
Lonely Planet London • Steve Fallon GUIDEBOOK • 2009 • PAPER • 420 PAGES A comprehensive, practical guide. (GBR253, $19.99)
Lonely Planet Scotland • Tom Smallman • Graeme Cornwallis GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 496 PAGES In its hallmark style, this practical guide to Scotland by Lonely Planet features maps, a good overview of culture, history and nature and much nuts-and-bolts information on excursions, accommodations and sightseeing. With a section of color photos and 50 maps. (SCT37, $22.99)
Lorna Doone • R.D. Blackmore LITERATURE • 2009 • PAPER • 680 PAGES A classic originally published in 1869, this historical novel is set at the time of the Monmouth Rebellion in the 17th century during the reign of Charles II. A yeoman farmer living in Exmoor plans to rescue and marry a young aristocrat whose family killed his father. (GBR83, $13.95)
Lost Balls: Great Holes, Tough Shots and Bad Lies • Charles Lindsay • John Updike SPORT • 2005 • HARD COVER • 128 PAGES A lighthearted collection of photographs of the world's great golf courses and many ways one can lose a ball. With a forward by John Updike. (GOL04, $29.99)
The Luck of the Irish, Our Life in County Clare • Niall Williams • Christine Breen BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1995 • HARD COVER • 234 PAGES The fourth book (all with cute titles) of life in rural Ireland from an Irish-American family, this one was written after nearly ten years living on a farm. It focuses on the economic realities -- Niall and his wife get part-time jobs -- and day-to-day life in Ireland. (IRE32, $20.00)
Macbeth • William Shakespeare LITERATURE • 1998 • PAPER • 214 PAGES This edition of the Bard's tragedy is heavily footnoted, providing lots of commentary on the immortal text. Set in Scotland. (SCT75, $5.95)
Maisie Dobbs • Jacqueline Winspear MYSTERY • 2004 • PAPER • 320 PAGES In 1929, after serving as a nurse in World War I, Maisie comes back to London to set up her own detective agency. (GBR664, $15.00)
Mammals of Europe • Priscilla Barrett • David W. MacDonald FIELD GUIDE • 2002 • PAPER • 320 PAGES Published by Princeton, this is a field guide to land and marine mammals throughout Europe, both endemic and introduced. With more than 600 color illustrations of over 200 mammals, it's a comprehensive handbook, with detailed descriptions, range maps and commentary on behavior. (FG61, $38.50)
Mary Queen of Scots • Antonia Fraser BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1993 • PAPER • 613 PAGES Claimant to the thrones of two nations by her royal birth, Mary lost her head by scandalizing her world with a foolish passion. Betrayed by those she trusted, she lost the power game to her cousin Elizabeth I. This richly readable biography, the story of a legend who was loved even en route to her death, illuminates Mary's age as well as the figure herself. (SCT01, $20.00)
Michelin Green Guide Scotland • Michelin Travel Publications GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 384 PAGES With the same focus on driving tours, detailed maps and the Michelin star system, the venerable Green Guides are even better -- organized regionally, in color and with an overview of history, art and culture. (SCT36, $21.99)
Michelin the Green Guide Ireland • Michelin Travel Publications GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 512 PAGES With the same focus on driving tours, detailed maps and the Michelin star system, the venerable Green Guides are even better -- organized regionally, in color and with an overview of history, art and culture.. (IRE201, $21.99)
Modern Ireland, 1600-1972 • R.F. Foster HISTORY • 1990 • PAPER • 688 PAGES Highly regarded historian R.F. Foster balances scholarly research with his own masterful analysis of Ireland's history over the past four centuries. Foster's perceptive narration through Ireland's key events and most complex issues will engage academic and general readers alike. (IRE67, $20.00)
Most Beautiful Villages of Ireland • Hugh Palmer • Christopher Fitz-Simon CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2011 • PAPER • 200 PAGES This handsome oversize picture book is an illustrated portrait of Ireland, its landscape, architecture and people. Hundreds of color photographs accompany lively essays by Christopher Fitz-Simon. Part of a popular series, it also contains maps and a travel guide. (IRE136, $26.95)
The Most Beautiful Villages of Scotland • Hugh Palmer CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2004 • HARD COVER • 208 PAGES This handsome oversize picture book is an illustrated portrait of Scotland, its landscape, architecture and people. With hundreds of color photographs and lively essays by Hugh Palmer. Part of a popular series, it also contains maps and a travel guide. (SCT81, $40.00)
The Mother Tongue, English and How it Got That Way • Bill Bryson CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1996 • PAPER • 270 PAGES An indispensable guide to the language that divides us, this book is a humorous and informative history of the English language that showcases Bryson's wry wit. He traces the development of the English language and its oddities from the Neolithic to present. Excellent. (GBR15, $14.99)
Murder Unprompted • Simon Brett MYSTERY • 2000 • PAPER • 164 PAGES Getting a leading role on London's West End can be murder, at least that's the notion raised in this back-stage mystery featuring actor/amateur detective Charles Paris. (GBR406, $11.95)
The Music Lesson • Katherine Weber LITERATURE • 2000 • PAPER • 178 PAGES Ruminations on 17th-century Dutch art and the politics of the I.R.A may seem like strange bedfellows, but Weber pulls them together beautifully in this novel. Told through fictional diary entries, protagonist Patricia Nolan explains the chain of events that have led her to stash a stolen Vermeer in her remote Irish cottage. (NTH67, $14.00)
Mythologies • W.B. Yeats LITERATURE • 1998 • PAPER • 384 PAGES This collection of three classic legends by the great Irish poet includes "The Celtic Twilight", "The Secret Rose" and "Stories of Red Hanrahan." (IRE38, $17.00)
National Geographic London • Louise Nicholson GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 272 PAGES An overview of the city -- its history, neighborhoods and attractions -- by an acclaimed guidebook author. With hundreds of color photographs, it's a handsome companion volume for travels in London. (GBR330, $22.95)
Natives And Exotics • Jane Alison LITERATURE • 2006 • PAPER • 256 PAGES Transplanted halfway around the globe in 1970, nine-year-old Alice, the child of diplomats, is ravished by the beauty of Ecuador, a country her parents are helping to despoil. Forty years earlier, Alice's newlywed grandmother Violet confronts troubling traces of her country's past as she makes a home in the wilds of Australia. And before that, in early nineteenth-century Scotland, Violet's great-great-grandfather George flees the violence of the Clearances for the Portuguese Azores, unaware that he will have a hand in destroying the earthly paradise there. (PGL52, $16.95)
Nature's Museums, Victorian Science and the Architecture of Display • Carla Yanni HISTORY • 2000 • PAPER • 224 PAGES A scholarly history of the construction of buildings for the display of natural history, focusing on Victorian-era museums in Oxford, Edinburgh and London. With 103 black-and-white illustrations, including site plans. (GBR376, $58.00)
News from Nowhere and Other Writings • William Morris LITERATURE • 1994 • PAPER • 480 PAGES English designer and socialist William Morris's utopian fantasy is short on plot, but long on ideas and evocative descriptions of 19th-century London. A Penguin classic, originally published in 1890. (GBR600, $17.00)
No Laughing Matter • Peter Guttridge MYSTERY • 2004 • PAPER • 277 PAGES The first book in the popular Nick Madrid series. A naked woman falls -- or is pushed -- from atop a hotel during the gentle journalist's trip to the Montreal Just For Laughs festival. To solve the mystery, Madrid, a self-deprecating, yoga-loving British journalist, must search the streets of Edinburgh and the secrets of Hollywood. (CND256, $13.00)
Notes from a Small Island • Bill Bryson CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1997 • PAPER • 324 PAGES This is a farewell walking tour of England by an American expatriate who has decided to return home after two decades. It is full of rich conversations, humorous anecdotes and amusing interactions with the natives who often astonish him (and the reader) with their observations and attitudes. A good-natured tour de force through the country's foibles as well as its charms, this is a congenial companion for any trip to the sceptered isle. (GBR16, $14.99)
O Come Ye Back to Ireland, Our First Year in County Clare • Niall Williams • Christine Breen BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1989 • PAPER • 233 PAGES The first of four engaging chronicles of life on a farm in rural County Clare by an Irish-American couple who realized their lifelong dream of returning to Ireland. They settled in Kilmihil on Ireland's west coast, a far cry from New York City. (IRE16, $12.00)
Off in a Boat, Hebridean Voyage • Neil Miller Gunn TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 1990 • PAPER • 348 PAGES A classic tale of a 1930s voyage through the Hebrides by the well regarded Scottish novelist, (who quit his dull job with the civil service, sold his house, bought a useless boat, and tooled around the Inner Hebrides. Gunn captures the romance and exhilaration of a small boat voy age, interweaving his own adventures with Norse and Celtic tales. (GBR66, $18.95)
Oliver Twist • Charles Dickens LITERATURE • 2002 • PAPER • 362 PAGES A Dickens' favorite, featuring his most popular orphan hero. (GBR461, $3.50)
Opened Ground, Selected Poems 1966-1996 • Seamus Heaney LITERATURE • 1999 • PAPER • 464 PAGES The definitive collection of poetry by Irish Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney. Chronicling his best work from the last 30 years, this volume is an invaluable piece of modern Irish literature, and a wonderful display of the evolution of an artist's style. Includes poems from The Haw Lantern, Seeing Things, North, Death of a Naturalist and other collections. (IRE65, $19.00)
Orkneyinga Saga, The History of the Earls of Orkney • Hermann Palssom • Paul Edwards LITERATURE • 1981 • PAPER • 253 PAGES A fusion of myth and legend, circa A.D. 1200, by an unnamed Icelandic author. This medieval chronicle, with its center of action among the Orkney Islands, is a rich source of knowledge on the northern isles. Describing the conquest of the islands by Norwegian kings during the Viking expansion of the ninth century, it's an account of war and the struggle for supremacy by Sigurd the Powerful, St. Magnus the Martyr, and Hralf, the conqueror of Norway. This modern translation is very readable. (VIK07, $16.00)
Oscar Wilde • Richard Ellman BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1988 • PAPER • 680 PAGES Considered the definitive biography of Wilde, this Pulitzer Prize-winning book has been much celebrated since its original publication in 1988. Elliman paints a vivid picture both of Wilde's flamboyant life and of his tremendous literary accomplishments. (IRE33, $24.00)
Outlander • Diana Gabaldon MYSTERY • 1996 • PAPER • 896 PAGES Clare Randall is sent back in time from 1945 to 1743 in Scotland, where she falls in love with Scottish warrior James Fraser. (SCT101, $8.99)
The Oxford Illustrated History of Ireland • R.F. Foster HISTORY • 2001 • PAPER • 346 PAGES A handsomely illustrated, comprehensive history of Ireland, written by a team of scholars. With 200 illustrations, many in color. (IRE82, $29.95)
Pagan Celtic Ireland, The Enigma of the Irish Iron Age • Barry Raftery ARCHAEOLOGY • 1993 • PAPER • 232 PAGES An illustrated, authoritative overview of Iron Age Ireland, its culture and history. Barry Raftery draws on archaeological evidence in creating a portrait. (IRE153, $29.95)
Passing the Time in Ballymenone: Culture and History of an Ulster Community • Henry Glassie CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1995 • PAPER • 852 PAGES A lyrical study of the people of Ballymenone in Northern Ireland. With depth and an anthropologist's awareness, Glassie reveals the farming community's folklore, traditions, language and way of life. (IRE84, $41.50)
Pauline Frommer's London: Spend less see more • Jason Cochran GUIDEBOOK • 2008 • PAPER • 384 PAGES A family-friendly, quirky practical guide by the daughter of travel guru Arthur Frommer. Her motto: "Spend Less, See More." (GBR690, $16.99)
Pawn in Frankincense • Dorothy Dunnett LITERATURE • 1997 • PAPER • 512 PAGES In the fourth volume of the Chronicles of Lymond, the exiled Scottish nobleman Francis Crawford, under the guise of a mission for the Sultan, searches for his son in the Ottoman Empire. (SCT97, $17.00)
The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry • Peter Fallon ANTHOLOGY • 1991 • PAPER • 462 PAGES An anthology of modern poetry, including selections from modern masters Seamus Heaney, Paul Durcan and John Montague. (IRE49, $17.00)
Pilgrimage in Ireland • Peter Harbison HISTORY • 1995 • PAPER • 256 PAGES The medieval Irish pilgrimage (and the monuments associated with it) is the subject of this book, a clear examination of the early Christian world in Ireland. (IRE78, $19.95)
Pimsleur Quick & Simple Irish • Pimsleur Language Method LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS • 2005 • AUDIO CD Four audio CDs with eight 30-minute lessons in basic Irish, covering elementary vocabulary and phrases used in travel and everyday situations. The Pimsleur method emphasizes the use of listening skills without reading materials (so there isn't a book to follow along). It's advertised as "Totally audio: hear it, learn it, speak it." (IRE160, $19.95)
The Pirate Queen, In Search of Grace O'Malley and Other Legendary Women of the Sea • Barbara Sjoholm HISTORY • 2004 • PAPER • 355 PAGES Tales of plucky female pirates and explorers in the North Atlantic. Long interested in women and seafaring, Sjoholm journeyed from Ireland out to the Shetland and Faroe islands, Iceland and Norway collecting folk-tales, stories and historical accounts of these remarkable seafaring heroines. (IRE135, $16.95)
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists • Gideon Defoe LITERATURE • 2004 • HARD COVER • 144 PAGES In this madcap novel, the Pirate Captain and his motley crew conspire to attack the Beagle, believing it to be a gold-laden ship belonging to the Bank of England. When they are confronted, instead, with Darwin and his collection of monkeys, they agree to help rescue Darwin's brother from the sinister Bishop of Oxford. Defoe's tale is more fantasy than fact, but it might entince you to learn more about Darwin's life. Both children (ages 12 and up) and adults will enjoy the book's Monty Pythonesque humor. (GBR585, $15.95)
The Playboy of the Western World and Other Plays • J.M. Synge LITERATURE • 1998 • PAPER • 240 PAGES Considered indecent at the time, this bitter comedy by the Irish playwright incited riots when it was first performed in 1907. Rich in earthy detail, it's set among the local folk on the coast of County Mayo. This volume also includes In the Shadow of the Glen and Riders to the Sea. (IRE130, $9.95)
Polly, The True Story Behind Whiskey Galore • Roger Hutchinson HISTORY • 1998 • PAPER • 155 PAGES A history of the famous wreck of the S.S. Politician in the outer Hebrides in 1941. The ship was full of whiskey, the locals seized it, and the subsequent wrangling pitted the Hebrideans against the ship's owners. It's the event that is the basis for the novel and film Whisky Galore. (GBR65, $18.00)
Portrait of Scotland • Colin Baxter CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2000 • PAPER • 96 PAGES An excellent short introduction to the beauty and mystery of the Scottish highlands and islands, featuring stunning color photographs by Colin Baxter. (SCT87, $16.95)
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man • James Joyce LITERATURE • 1992 • PAPER • 247 PAGES This autobiographical novel, a literary classic, depicts the Irish Catholic boyhood and intellectual awakening its young hero, Stephen Dedalus. It follows Dedalus from his impressionable youth to deep religious conflict at school in Dublin to college where he challenges the conventions of his upbringing and the understanding of faith. (IRE11, $14.00)
The Princes in the Tower • Alison Weir HISTORY • 1992 • PAPER • 287 PAGES This fascinating historical who-dun-it probes the enduring murder mystery involving the boy king, Edward V, and his brother Richard, Duke of York. Reconstructing the chain of events -- including rivalry, ambition, intrigue and the power struggle that led to Richard III's securing the throne -- it also provides a solution to the puzzle. (GBR75, $16.00)
The Professor and the Madman • Simon Winchester HISTORY • 2005 • PAPER • 242 PAGES Subtitled "A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary," this is the bizarre true story behind the birth of the enormous dictionary and two men -- one a scholarly editor, the other a mentally ill, convicted murderer -- who contributed to its creation. In part it's a fascinating and powerful dual biography of very different men who shared a similar love of language. It is also an inside look at the massive 70 year process of assembling the world's most famous dictionary. (GBR178, $14.99)
Pygmalion • George Bernard Shaw LITERATURE • 2003 • PAPER • 176 PAGES George Bernard Shaw's renowned adaptation of Ovid's classic myth, set in 19th-century London. Shaw's play features Professor Henry Higgins, who tries to transform east-ender Eliza Doolittle into a proper English lady. Unlike Ovid's Galatea, Higgins' independent-minded love interest does not acquiesce. Later adapted for musical theatre and the screen as My Fair Lady. (GBR534, $10.00)
Queen Elizabeth I • J.E. Neale BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1992 • PAPER • 424 PAGES This classic biography, which has received both scholarly and popular acclaim, covers every aspect of the life and rule of this strong-minded, independent woman in an age of masculine power. (GBR76, $16.95)
Queens' Play • Dorothy Dunnett LITERATURE • 1997 • PAPER • 448 PAGES In the second volume of the Lymond Chronicles, Francis Crawford of Lymond is chosen to escort the young Mary Queen of Scots from their native country to the courts of France. To protect the little girl at the center of so much political intrigue, Crawford must use all his skill and cunning. (SCT98, $16.95)
The Reader's Companion to Ireland • Alan Ryan ANTHOLOGY • 1999 • PAPER • 352 PAGES Divided geographically, this collection of satisfying long stories and excerpts gathers classic and modern travel writing on the Emerald Isle -- a wonderful introduction to Ireland as seen by Eric Newby, Jan Morris, Heinrich Boll, Paul Theroux and other visitors. Each has been selected with great care, and introduced by Alan Ryan. (IRE41, $23.95)
Reading in the Dark • Seamus Deane LITERATURE • 1998 • PAPER • 256 PAGES Combining the intimacy of a memoir and the suspense of a detective story, this novel follows a young Catholic boy growing up in a Northern Ireland of the 1950's, dealing with a family full of secrets and a city full of hatred. (IRE59, $15.00)
The Redress of Poetry • Seamus Heaney LITERATURE • 1996 • PAPER Based on a series of lectures given at Oxford, Ireland's great poet and Nobel Laureate celebrates such diverse luminaries as Christopher Marlowe, Oscar Wilde, Dylan Thomas and Elizabeth Bishop. For those that are interested, Heaney has written dozens of books, including a 1998 selection of poetry called Opened Ground. (IRE51, $21.00)
Richard III • Paul Werstine • Barbara Mowat • William Shakespeare LITERATURE • 1996 • PAPER • 369 PAGES A volume in the New Folger Library Shakespeare Series, this edition of Richard III features annotations and critical analysis. (TTR07, $4.99)
Rick Steves' Ireland • Rick Steves GUIDEBOOK • 2010 • PAPER • 536 PAGES A personable, practical guide in the growing series by travel guru Rick Steves. (IRE155, $22.95)
Right Attitude To Rain, An Isabel Dalhousie Mystery • Alexander McCall Smith MYSTERY • 2007 • PAPER • 320 PAGES From the author of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series comes detective Isabel Dalhousie, the editor of the Review of Applied Ethics and host of the Sunday Philosophy Club at her home in Edinburgh. In this third installment in the series, the mystery unfolds when suspicious Texan visitors arrive in Scotland. (SCT112, $21.95)
The Ringed Castle • Dorothy Dunnett LITERATURE • 1997 • PAPER • 544 PAGES In the fifth volume of the Lymond Chronicles, Francis Crawford of Lymond becomes an advisor to the tsar of Russia, Ivan the Terrible. As Francis struggles to modernize the court at Muscovy, there are those in England making their own plans for him. (SCT96, $18.95)
The Rise and Fall of the British Empire • Lawrence James HISTORY • 1996 • PAPER • 704 PAGES An epic history of the empire's achievements from 1600 to the present, Lawrence spices the book with quotes from private letters and diaries -- and good writing. He captures the mission and destiny that drove adventurers and explorers to travel the world in the name of God and king. From the imperial adventures of Drake to Lawrence of Arabia, the impact of the empire on natives, colonials, and the British at home, the lure of wealth tempered by moral misgivings, British sea power, the American War of Independence. (GBR72, $24.99)
Rivers of Ireland, An Angler's Guide • Peter O'Reilly GUIDEBOOK • 1999 • PAPER • 335 PAGES A comprehensive guide to how, where and when to fish in Ireland. O'Reilly, an officer at Ireland's Central Fisheries Board, knows his territory. Fourth edition. (IRE118, $34.95)
Rob Roy • Michael Caton-Jones HISTORY • 2002 • DVD In 1713 Scotland, Highlander Rob Roy is forced to borrow money from a local aristocrat to help his clan. When the money is stolen, he must use all his courage and cunning to survive. 139 minutes. (SCT89, $14.94)
The Romance of Tristan and Iseult • Joseph Bedier • Hillaire Belloc LITERATURE • 1994 • PAPER • 205 PAGES This chivalric myth -- of Arthurian fame -- features a Cornish knight and an Irish princess who are under a spell of love. It's Joseph Bedier's translation (Belloc rendered Bedier's French into English in the early 1900s). (GBR246, $13.00)
Rough Guide Bristol, Bath & Somerset • Rough Guide GUIDEBOOK • 2012 • PAPER • 312 PAGES A comprehensive regional guide featuring excellent local maps, travel information and suggested routes. (GBR42, $18.99)
Rough Guide Scotland • Rough Guide GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 888 PAGES A comprehensive, authoritative guide focusing on where to go and what to do from Dumphries and Edinburgh to Stornoway, Kirkwall and Lerwick. (SCT60, $23.99)
Rough Guide Walks in London & Southeast England • Helena H. Smith • Judith Bamber GUIDEBOOK • 2008 • PAPER • 288 PAGES A handy, compact guide to 30 walks in London and surrounding villages ranging from an easy 5 km stroll to a two-day, 50-kilometer trek. Each walk features a small strip map showing topography. (GBR564, $18.99)
Round Ireland in Low Gear • Eric Newby TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2011 • PAPER • 328 PAGES This time much closer to home and traveling on a bicycle, far-ranging British travel writer Newby applies his usual charm and wit to his neighbors on the Emerald Isle, with suitable commentary on ancient history, hermits, and the lack of dry accommodations. He and Wanda elect to set out in the dead of the winter (so, perhaps, they should have expected less than perfect weather!) (IRE29, $18.95)
Round Ireland With a Fridge • Tony Hawks TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2001 • PAPER • 256 PAGES Smug English comics beware. Hawks accepts a drunken bet that he could circumnavigate Ireland in one month with a refrigerator, an escapade inspired by his one and only previous visit to the country. Not surprisingly, the English author, musician and comic discovers that the Irish aren't as ridiculous as he had previously thought, but instead are a warm, generous people. He captures the spirit of the country in this deeply silly, entertaining book. The stunt inspired a media circus, including a daily radio broadcast. It was a mini-fridge. (IRE70, $14.95)
A Rum Affair, A True Story of Botanical Fraud • Karl Sabbagh SCIENCE • 2001 • PAPER • 296 PAGES One might be put off by a book sold as " A True Story of Botanical Fraud," but nevertheless, this intriguing tale of bogus scientific claims and fierce debates is captivating. The plot centers around whether some mysterious plants, said to be found on the Scottish Isle of Rum, even exist. (SCT57, $15.00)
Rum, Nature's Island • Magnus Magnusson GUIDEBOOK • 2000 • PAPER • 160 PAGES A general overview of the Scottish Isle of Rum, covering history, culture, geography, nature and practical travel information. Focusing primarily on the ecology of the island, it was published in cooperation with Scottish Natural Heritage. (SCT56, $14.95)
Samuel Beckett, The Last Modernist • Anthony Cronin BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1997 • PAPER • 672 PAGES A biography of the famously difficult Nobel Laureate Beckett, from his membership in Joyce's circle in Dublin and Paris, to his modernist plays and essays, to his death in 1989. Cronin, a Dublin acquaintance of Beckett's, concentrates on the man as an artist, and his impact on 20th-century thought and literature. (IRE36, $21.95)
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Major Works • H.J. Jackson • Samuel Taylor Coleridge LITERATURE • 2000 • PAPER • 734 PAGES A collection of the greatest writing of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, including "Kubla Khan" and "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Many of his critical pieces, letters and other writings are also included. (GBR198, $18.95)
Saturday • Ian McEwan LITERATURE • 2006 • PAPER • 304 PAGES McEwan's nuanced novel follows in exquisite detail a day in the life of London neurosurgeon. (GBR687, $15.95)
Scotland Map M 501 • Michelin Travel Publications 2003 • MAP A clear, colorful map of Scotland at a scale of 1:400,000, with shaded relief showing topographical features. One Side. 62x40 inches. (SCT12, $8.95)
Scotland's Golf Courses • Robert Price GUIDEBOOK • 2003 • PAPER • 240 PAGES A guide to more than 500 golf courses in Scotland -- the birthplace of the sport and still a favorite destination for dedicated duffers. (SCT72, $25.00)
Scotland, A Short History • Christopher Harvie HISTORY • 2002 • PAPER • 200 PAGES A brief history, through the formation of the recent Scottish Parliament, by a leading Scottish scholar and writer. (SCT77, $19.99)
Scotland, The Story of a Nation • Magnus Magnusson HISTORY • 2003 • PAPER • 752 PAGES A vivid survey of the history of Scotland, rich in personality and incident, by a master storyteller. (SCT54, $22.50)
Scottish Art • Murdo MacDonald ART & ARCHITECTURE • 2000 • PAPER • 224 PAGES A generously illustrated volume in the "World of Art" Series introducing the individuals and themes that have distinguished Scottish art through the ages. With 183 illustrations, 55 in color. (SCT48, $14.95)
The Scottish Empire • Michael Fry HISTORY • 2003 • PAPER • 608 PAGES A provocative history of Scottish dabbling in imperial adventures. The author, a Glaswegian journalist, scholar and politician, tackles (with glee) contradictory impulses and dramatic events in the history of this nation in the making. In tracing Scots derring-do from prehistory to modern times, Fry doesn't shy away from barbarian episodes -- or the humdrum reality of life back home. (SCT67, $29.95)
Scottish Literature • Douglas Gifford • Sarah Dunnigan • Allan Macgillivray LITERATURE • 2002 • PAPER • 1040 PAGES An overview Scotland's literature, organized chronologically in six sections, from medieval times to today. Not exactly an anthology, this volume is a comprehensive critical history and analysis of Scottish literature compiled by a group of experts. (SCT71, $52.00)
The Scottish Nation: A History, 1700-2007 • T. M. Devine HISTORY • 2008 • PAPER • 768 PAGES • COMING IN A well received history by a respected historian. Devine focuses on Scotland's relationship with England, its status as a colonized country and its sense of autonomy and pride. It's more or less bookended by the Act of Union of 1707 and the first meeting of the new Scottish parliament in 1999. Devine is University Research Professor and Director of the Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Aberdeen. (SCT43, $20.00)
Seamanship, A Voyage Along the Wild Coasts of the British Isles • Adam Nicolson TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2007 • PAPER • 192 PAGES A stylish writer with a romantic streak, Nicolson offers a direct, engrossing account of a coastal voyage from Cornwall, along the western coast of Ireland, out to the Faeroes and to Orkney in this brief hymn to the sea. He recruits his sailor-friend George; buys a nice, squat wooden boat (the Auk) for the six-month voyage; and drags along a television crew to pay for the trip. Nicolson is the author of the superb Sea Room, Life in the Hebrides. (GBR561, $13.95)
The Secret Agent • Joseph Conrad LITERATURE • 1983 • PAPER • 237 PAGES This classic spy story, based on an anarchist plot to bomb Greenwich, is a chillingly prophetic examination of terrorism predating the espionage thriller. It's a fine portrait of turn-of-the-century London, featuring idealistic revolutionaries, ruthless ideologues, and an undercover counter-revolutionary mole with the mission of provoking violence to destroy the group he has infiltrated. (GBR86, $5.95)
Secret London, Exploring the Hidden City, With Original Walks And Unusual Places to Visit • Andrew Duncan GUIDEBOOK • 2006 • PAPER • 192 PAGES Includes walks through hidden and little known places as well as London landmarks. (GBR642, $17.95)
The Secret of Roan Inish • John Sayles 1995 • DVD • FAMILY Director John Sayles adapted Rosalie Fry's book "Secret of the Ron Mor Skerry" for this film about a young girl who is sent to live with her grandparents on the Irish coast across from Roan Inish, the island where her ancestors once lived. She soon discovers the myth of the selkies, seals with the ability to turn into humans, and her investigations of the myth lead to more discoveries about her family's history. (IRE133, $24.95)
September • Rosamunde Pilcher LITERATURE • 1991 • PAPER • 613 PAGES This novel about relationships and secrets within families and between neighbors reads like a literary soap opera. (SCT110, $8.99)
The Seven Sisters • Margaret Drabble LITERATURE • 2003 • PAPER • 320 PAGES Sparks fly in this lovely novel by Margaret Drabble when Candida not only leaves her husband and moves into gritty London but also organizes a trip to Naples with her aging girlfriends to see the city that Virgil describes in the Aeneid. The novel takes the form of a diary with half set in London and half in Naples. (ITL572, $18.95)
Shakespeare • David Bevington BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2002 • PAPER • 256 PAGES A biography structured around "The Seven Ages of Man" speech from "As You Like It." Shakespeare Scholar David Bevington examines the enduring popularity of the Bard's writing, while using each life stage as a lens from which to analyze his works. (TTR04, $19.95)
Shakespeare's English Kings, History, Chronicle and Drama • Peter Saccio CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1998 • PAPER • 304 PAGES A history and guide to the English kings depicted in the plays of Shakespeare, including the Richards, Henrys and Edwards. The text is designed to elucidate the how the details of the monarch's lives influenced the Bard's works. (TTR09, $19.95)
Shakespeare's Political Drama, The History Plays and the Roman Plays • Alexander Leggatt CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1990 • PAPER • 288 PAGES Leggatt examines the depiction of state and public power in the English and Roman histories. (TTR08, $41.95)
The Shetland Bus, A WWII Epic of Escape, Survival and Adventure • David Howarth HISTORY • 2008 • PAPER • 236 PAGES David Howarth, author of "We Die Alone," tells another little-known story of courage and survival during World War II. This time he writes of the "Shetland Bus," a fleet of fishing boats that made regular journeys across treacherous waters from the Shetland Islands to Norway, in order to bring relief and fortifications to Norwegians weathering Nazi attacks. Howarth, who was second in command at the Shetland base, knows the story first-hand, and brings out the ferocity of the storms and battles endured by a few hundred brave men. (NOR26, $16.95)
A Short History of Irish Literature • Seamus Deane HISTORY • 1994 • PAPER From its Gaelic origins to its contemporary achievements, this book follows the evolution of Irish literature. An excellent overview to the country's rich literary history. (IRE55, $17.50)
Silver Linings, Travels Around Northern Ireland • Martin Fletcher TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2001 • PAPER • 320 PAGES A journalist for the Times of London, Martin Fletcher went to Northern Ireland to cover peace talks and stayed for two years, interviewing locals and getting a feel for the spirit of the region. This is his account of these travels, as well as of the people, politics and traditions of Northern Ireland, infused throughout with the author's good humor and insightful reporting. (IRE146, $16.95)
Sir James Wordie, Polar Crusader: Exploring the Arctic and Antarctic • Michael Smith BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2004 • HARD COVER • 371 PAGES The first biography of Sir James Wordie, whose many polar adventures took him from the Heroic Age of Shackleton and Scott to the modern era. Chief Scientist on Shackleton's Endurance expedition, in later life he was instrumental in planning the first climbing of Mount Everest in 1953 and played a key role in Vivian Fuchs's ground-breaking first crossing of the Antarctic continent between 1955 and 1958. (SCT109, $35.00)
The Six Wives of Henry VIII • Alison Weir HISTORY • 2000 • PAPER • 644 PAGES This compelling biography is rich in detail about England's most infamous monarch in matters concerning women. Meticulously researched, it brings both the women and their era alive. This is just one of many, many volumes on British royal history by the acclaimed author. (GBR21, $16.95)
South East England Map, including London • Ordnance Survey MAP The map the locals depend on for traveling in the south of England, including London. Cambridge and Oxford. Nicely detailed at a scale 1:250,000. One Side. 37x50 inches. (GBR27, $14.95)
Southern Scotland & Northumberland Map • Ordnance Survey MAP A fine locally grown map of southern Scotland, including Oban, Dundee, Stranraer, Carlisle and Edinburgh, at a scale 1:250,000. One Side. 37x50 inches. (SCT34, $14.95)
The Story of Britain • Roy Strong HISTORY • 2002 • PAPER • 596 PAGES A beautifully illustrated and rousing history of Britain from prehistory until the 1990s -- a balanced, well written overview of a huge subject. (GBR71, $49.95)
The Story of Lucy Gault • William Trevor LITERATURE • 2003 • PAPER • 240 PAGES A tragedy is born of accident, guilt, religious strife and misunderstanding in another wonderful novel from Trevor -- this one set in 1920s County Cork. If the mark of an affecting novel is that it leaves readers mourning its outcome, then this is a most affecting book. (IRE119, $15.00)
The Story of Scotland • Nigel Tranter HISTORY • 2000 • PAPER • 266 PAGES Tranter, a beloved novelist and storyteller, deftly weaves Scots history with anecdote, myth, folklore, personality and incident in this lively tale. (SCT76, $16.95)
Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads, The Culture and Evolution of Natural History Museums • Stephen T. Asma HISTORY • 2003 • PAPER • 302 PAGES An entertaining cultural history of the natural science museum and its transformation from cabinet of curiosities to center of research. The author, who interviewed curators and designers in Paris, London, New York and Chicago, pays particular attention to the question of evolution. With 73 photographs and illustrations. (SCI58, $39.99)
Sun Dancing, A Vision of Medieval Ireland • Geoffrey Moorhouse LITERATURE • 2009 • PAPER • 280 PAGES This wonderfully inspired book carries the reader back 1000 years to Ireland's early monastic tradition. Combing scholarship and historical fiction, Moorehouse traces the influence of Vikings, Romans and Anglo-Normans on Irish culture through an imagined story of life at the monastery on Skellig Michael. The second half of the book is a more traditional history of monastic traditions in Ireland, organized thematically. (IRE13, $22.95)
The Sunday Philosophy Club • Alexander McCall Smith MYSTERY • 2005 • PAPER • 256 PAGES The first book in McCall-Smith's Sunday Philosophy Club series, set in Edinburgh and starring detective Isabel Dalhousie, the editor of the Review of Applied Ethics. It all starts when a man falls to his death outside a concert hall. (SCT114, $14.00)
The Tain, Translated from the Irish epic Tain Bo Cuailnge • Thomas Kinsella • Louis Le Brocquy LITERATURE • 1983 • PAPER • 320 PAGES An English translation of the heroic tale of Cuchulainn, the 8th-century defender of Ulster. Based on two Medieval texts, this authoritative translation of the Irish epic is also nicely illustrated with 31 black-and-white drawings. The action described includes cattle raids, rival armies, local royalty and superhuman efforts of our hero, the Hound of Ulster. Kinsella is an Irish poet and translator who also edited "The New Oxford Book of Irish Verse." (IRE100, $19.95)
A Tale of Two Cities • Charles Dickens LITERATURE • 2003 • PAPER • 371 PAGES Dickens' famous tale of love and intrigue, set against the backdrop of the French Revolution in Paris and London. (GBR100, $8.00)
Tales of the Seal People, Scottish Folk Tales • Chad McCail • Duncan Williamson LITERATURE • 1992 • HARD COVER • 160 PAGES A collection of Scottish folk tales featuring Silkies -- the seal people who can take human shape. (SCT18, $24.95)
The Teapots Are Out and Other Eccentric Tales from Ireland • John B. Keane LITERATURE • 2004 • PAPER • 192 PAGES A collection of 17 sentimental, sad, outrageous and just plain fun stories by the prolific North Kerry saloon-keeper, balladeer, playwright and novelist. Keane, who died in 2002, had an eye (and ear) for Irish rural life. Keane's pub in Listowel is a literary landmark. (IRE144, $13.95)
The Thames • Jonathan Schneer HISTORY • 2005 • HARD COVER • 384 PAGES Schneer places the Thames at the center of the great events of British history in this engaging, anecdotal and evocative history. Beginning in prehistoric times, and covering everything from the Magna Carta, to Turner's paintings, and the German Blitz, Schneer emphasizes how the British people have "made" the Thames. Schneer has taught at Yale and the Georgia Institute of Technology. (GBR570, $35.00)
The Theory of the Modern Stage • Eric Bentley REFERENCE • 1997 • PAPER • 496 PAGES Bentley's classic anthology of the people, practices, and methods central to modern theater by key playwrights and their interpreters. (TTR15, $18.99)
Time Out Dublin • Sam Le Quesne GUIDEBOOK • 2008 • PAPER • 256 PAGES An up-to-date guide on what to do and where to go by the people who publish Time Out Magazine. (IRE198, $19.95)
Time Out Edinburgh • Will Fulford-Jones GUIDEBOOK • 2010 • PAPER • 320 PAGES An up-to-date guide on what to do and where to go by the people who publish Time Out Magazine. (SCT118, $19.95)
Time Out London • Ruth Jarvis GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 416 PAGES An up-to-date guide on what to do and where to go by the people who publish Time Out Magazine. (GBR597, $19.95)
Time Out London Eating and Drinking Guide • Cathy Phillips FOOD • 2008 • PAPER • 432 PAGES The indispensable directory of 1,500 restaurants and pubs in London, published annually. With maps, a rating system, descriptions and color photographs. (GBR647, $20.00)
Time Out London Walks, 30 Walks by London Writers • Time Out GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 304 PAGES A personable guide to a wide variety of London excursions. Featuring contributions from Graham Norton, Thomas Pakenham and Margaret Drabble, this handy guide is chock full of color photographs, illustrations, practical information and good maps. (GBR595, $19.95)
Tir a'Mhurain, The Outer Hebrides of Scotland • Paul Strand • Catherine Duncan • Basil Davidson CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2002 • HARD COVER • 128 PAGES • COMING IN The great American photographer Paul Strand spent three months in the Hebrides (on the isle of Uist) in 1954, capturing the region's striking landscapes and residents on film. This exhibition catalog, published by Aperture, handsomely reproduces 105 of Strand's duotone images. Basil Davidson provides the atmospheric, elegiac commentary. (SCT58, $40.00)
To School Through the Fields, An Irish Country Childhood • Alice Taylor BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1994 • PAPER • 151 PAGES Taylor's heartfelt memoir of growing up on a farm surrounded by family and friends. Taylor, a popular memoirist and novelist, was born in 1938 near Newmarket in County Cork. First published in 1988, this is the first of four warmly affectionate memoirs. Taylor's family runs the post office in Innishannon. (IRE141, $14.99)
To the Lighthouse • Virginia Woolf LITERATURE • 1989 • PAPER • 209 PAGES Childhood, distilled. Woolf drew on memories of family holidays in Cornwall to write this wonderful, clear-sighted novel, in which the Ramsay family goes on holiday in the Hebrides. First published in 1927 -- and full of light and air, comings and goings, fulfillment and unfulfillment -- it's a modernist classic which is also, quite simply, a pleasure. (SCT41, $13.95)
Tom Jones • Henry Fielding LITERATURE • 2005 • PAPER • 975 PAGES This great comic adventure novel, whose hero is thought to be illegitimate, was so shocking in its time that it was held responsible by some for two earthquakes that hit London soon after its publication in the 18th century. Even Dr. Johnson warned against its ribaldry! Tom's adventures in overcoming the obstacles separating him from his beloved take him galloping over the English countryside, providing a perfect landscape painting of his era. (GBR84, $16.50)
The Traditional Shops & Restaurants of London, A Guide to Century-old Establishments And New Classics • Eugenia Bell CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2007 • PAPER • 256 PAGES A survey of more than fifty centenarian London establishments, including hatters, eel-and-pie stands, and umbrella makers. (GBR692, $16.95)
Trainspotting • Irvine Welsh LITERATURE • 1996 • PAPER • 344 PAGES You may have seen the movie, but Irvine Welsh's novel is a far darker, albeit moving, tale of junkies set in a bleak version of Edinburgh. It has a fine sense of place, plenty of dirty words, and loads of black humor, all delivered in a thick Scottish accent. It also has glossary of slang terms for the uninitiated, just in case you didn't know what "nondy" means. (SCT85, $14.95)
Translations • Brian Friel LITERATURE • 1995 • PAPER • 70 PAGES The fine play about Ireland, England, and the meaning of language. The action is set in 1833 an Irish-speaking community in County Donegal. (IRE127, $13.00)
The Translator • Leila Aboulela LITERATURE • 2006 • PAPER • 208 PAGES Sammar, a young Sudanese widow and devout Muslim working as a translator at a Scottish university, falls in love with her Scottish superviser. In lyrical yet understated prose, Aboulela deftly explores faith and bridging cultural gaps. (MDE112, $12.00)
A Traveller's Companion to Dublin • Thomas Pakenham ANTHOLOGY • 2003 • PAPER • 352 PAGES A splendid introduction to the city. (IRE129, $16.95)
A Traveller's Companion to Edinburgh • David Daiches ANTHOLOGY • 2004 • PAPER • 229 PAGES A splendid introduction to the city. (SCT108, $16.95)
A Traveller's Companion to London • Thomas Wright • Peter Ackroyd ANTHOLOGY • 2004 • PAPER • 410 PAGES A splendid introduction to the city. (GBR641, $16.95)
A Traveller's History of England • Christopher Daniell HISTORY • 2008 • PAPER • 320 PAGES This is a good compact history of England. It covers the sweep of English history from the Roman occupation to the Anglo-Saxon, Viking, and Norman invasions, through the power struggles of the medieval kings, the Reformation, Renaissance, Industrial Revolution, and the establishment of the empire and its transformation into the British Commonwealth. It continues through the world wars, the welfare state, and membership in the European Economic Community. A gazetteer highlights places of historical interest. With maps and line drawings. (GBR38, $14.95)
A Traveller's History of Ireland • Peter Neville HISTORY • 2009 • PAPER • 288 PAGES From the Celts to the Norman invasions and modern-day Ireland, this short history is highly recommended for those who would like a brief overview of the Emerald Isle through the centuries. (GBR39, $14.95)
A Traveller's History of London • Richard Tames HISTORY • 2007 • PAPER • 320 PAGES The story of London, from the Romans to Tony Blair, tailored to the traveler. This short history points to many of the city's historical sights, both the famous and the not-so. (GBR232, $14.95)
A Traveller's History of Oxford • Richard Tames HISTORY • 2003 • PAPER • 224 PAGES A compact history of Oxford from settlement to the present, including its importance in medieval England, founding of the different colleges and brief period as Royalist capital. Tames (who was educated at Cambridge) also discusses the architecture of the colleges and includes biographies of illustrious alumni. With suggested walking tours, day trips and chronology. (GBR374, $14.95)
A Traveller's History of Scotland • Andrew Fisher HISTORY • 2009 • PAPER • 256 PAGES This brief history of Scotland through the 1990s is wide-ranging, accessible and necessarily condensed. With a useful chronology, a list of monarchs and a historical gazetteer, this book marches confidently through the centuries. Fisher, a proud Scotsman himself, focuses on the vitality and resilience of the nation. (GBR40, $14.95)
Ulysses, The Gabler Edition • James Joyce LITERATURE • 1986 • PAPER • 649 PAGES This landmark work in the history of literature is by turns a day in the life of Leopold Bloom, a reimagining of Homer's Odyssey, and a dazzling tour of turn-of-the-century Dublin. Emeritus Professor of English at Dartmouth, whose 24 lectures on Ulysses have been recorded for The Great Courses series, recommends this 1986 edition, as edited by Walter Gabler and a three-member advisory academic committee established by the Joyce estate. (IRE131, $21.00)
The Victorians • A.N. Wilson HISTORY • 2004 • PAPER • 724 PAGES Wilson's dazzling, panoramic history of the Victorians -- the horrifying disparity in wealth (think of Dickens) and British imperial endeavors -- which runs to 724 pages, is nonetheless well worth the effort. He tackles the personalities, obsessions and follies of an age with drama, humor and telling detail. With 32 pages of illustrations, some in color. (GBR396, $24.95)
Vikings, The North Atlantic Saga • William Fitzhugh • Elisabeth Ward HISTORY • 2000 • PAPER • 432 PAGES Published in conjunction with a Smithsonian exhibit, this excellent book explores the culture and history of the Vikings, and especially their well documented voyages to North America. Featuring 400 color photographs, the book also includes lively essays on Viking art, religion, daily life and colonies. It's especially good on Viking expansion and settlements in North America. (VIK11, $34.95)
The Vintage Book of Contemporary Irish Fiction • Dermot Bolger LITERATURE • 1995 • PAPER A wide-ranging and highly readable collection of late 20th century fiction by 50 Irish writers. This is a varied and up-to-the-minute look at modern Irish literature. Contributors include John Banville, Samuel Beckett, Roddy Doyle, Neil Jordan and William Trevor. (IRE61, $16.95)
Voyager • Diana Gabaldon MYSTERY • 1994 • PAPER • 1072 PAGES The third in a series of time-travel mysteries set in 18th century Scotland. (SCT103, $8.99)
Wallpaper City Guide London • Wallpaper Magazine GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER A stylish, thin (it fits in your back pocket) city guide compiled by the design magazine Wallpaper's local reporters. Well-organized, with chapter tabs, many photographs and of-the-moment recommendations. (GBR666, $9.95)
Waverly • Sir Walter Scott LITERATURE • 2009 • PAPER • 464 PAGES A portrait of the highlands and lowlands of the Scotland, Scott's stirring first novel culminates with the bloody defeat of Bonnie Prince Charles at Culloden Moors -- today one of Scotland's most evocative historic sites. Culloden was not only the site of the last battle on mainland Britain, it also marked the end of the Jacobite Rebellion and the Stuart Dynasty's aspirations to the English throne. (SCT119, $12.95)
The Way We Live Now • Anthony Trollope LITERATURE • 1999 • PAPER • 1024 PAGES A great masterpiece of storytelling, and a very sharp portrayal of the social, business, and political life in London in the late 19th century. The plot centers on a charismatic financier (the Donald Trump of his day?), and his -- and everyone else's -- desperate desire for social advancement. Along the way, the reader is treated to a marvelous view of London life. (GBR258, $12.95)
When Summer's in the Meadow • Christine Breen • Niall Williams BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1990 • PAPER • 224 PAGES The second in a series of popular books about the rural life in County Clare. This time the couple turns to building a family, as they recount the adoption of their daughter. Follows "O Come Ye Back to Ireland" (IRE16). (IRE126, $12.00)
White Teeth, A Novel • Zadie Smith LITERATURE • 2001 • PAPER • 464 PAGES A rollicking, remarkably assured first novel of three families in 1990s London, deftly balancing multiple story lines with wit and skill. Smith has a keen sense of the English experience (working and intellectual class) as well as that of the modern immigrant to London (including Jamaicans and Bangladeshi). (GBR463, $15.95)
Wild Decembers • Edna O'Brien LITERATURE • 2001 • PAPER • 272 PAGES A haunting novel of clan enmities and forbidden love in rural Ireland. Few writers have as sure a sense of place as Edna O'Brien, whose lyrical prose builds inevitably toward final tragedy. (IRE94, $13.95)
Wild Mountain Thyme • Rosamunde Pilcher LITERATURE • 1996 • PAPER • 294 PAGES When a former lover shows up on her doorstep with his two year old son in hand, Victoria Bradshaw's life is changed completely. The unlikely trio travel to Scotland together. (SCT111, $7.99)
Wildflowers of Britain and Europe • Margaret and Roland Spohn FIELD GUIDE • 2008 • PAPER • 320 PAGES This indispensable guide to the Wild Flowers of Britain and Europe in Black's Nature Guide series covers 450 species, each beautifully illustrated with detailed paintings and clear photographs. The images not only show you what the plant looks like in its habitat, but also focus in on specific features such as the leaves or flower head, to aid identification. (EUR46, $21.95)
Will in the World, How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare • Stephen Greenblatt BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2005 • PAPER • 430 PAGES This engrossing, vivid portrait makes inspired connections between Shakespeare's life and work, and the Elizabethan world that surrounded him. (GBR521, $15.95)
William Wallace, Brave Heart • James MacKay BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1996 • PAPER • 288 PAGES MacKay separates myth from legend in this rich account of one of Scotland's greatest heroes. He delves into medieval Scotland, setting the life of William Wallace in its historical context. (SCT30, $16.99)
Wine Country Europe, Touring, Tasting, And Buying At European Regional Wineries • Ornella D'Alessio • Marco Santini FOOD • 2005 • HARD COVER • 324 PAGES Part how-to, part guidebook, part picture book, this charming coffee table treat covers sprawling French vineyards as well as lesser-known hidden treasures in Austria and Hungary. The authors, both Italian journalists and wine connoisseurs, provide helpful tips alongside the hundreds of magnificent color photographs. (EUR191, $35.00)
Winston Spencer Churchill, The Last Lion: Alone, 1932-1940 • William Manchester BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1989 • PAPER • 684 PAGES This second volume in the fascinating three-part biography of Winston Churchill further illuminates the character of one of the largest human beings of our time. War clouds had once again gathered, and the storm of World War II was beginning. (GBR78, $23.00)
Winston Spencer Churchill, The Last Lion: Visions of Glory, 1874-1932 • William Manchester BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1983 • PAPER • 973 PAGES This impressive volume, which covers the first 58 years of the monumental figure who guided England from the pinnacle of world empire through the catastrophe of World War II, ends in 1932. It's an engrossing account of the man and his times, and is the first of several volumes by the popular historian William Manchester. (GBR18, $25.00)
Winter Tales • George MacKay Brown LITERATURE • 2006 • PAPER • 240 PAGES These twelve short stories capture the characters and atmosphere of George Mackay Brown's native Orkney. (SCT115, $11.95)
A Year at Kew • Rupert Smith • Alan Titchmarsh NATURAL HISTORY • 2004 • HARD COVER • 192 PAGES Arranged by month, this photographic portrait of the seasons at London's Kew Gardens was published in conjunction with a BBC television series. Essays cover maintenance and design of the park, along with the care and collection of plants and scientific research. (GBR572, $30.00)
Year of the King, An Actor's Diary and Sketchbook • Antony Sher BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1992 • PAPER • 249 PAGES A year in the life of a Royal Shakespeare Company actor. Antony Sher recalls the extensive preparation for his acclaimed performance as Richard III. He also reminisces about his childhood in South Africa. Includes the author's sketches and cartoons. (TTR16, $17.95)

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