A rare gallery of human curiosities -- William Trevor

As well as being a practical guide it's an exhilarating read... It is a delightful thing: anybody contemplaing crossing to Ireland for pleasure shouldn't think of going without consulting it. OBSERVER

This volume delves into Ireland’s forgotten history bringing to light some of the most colorful characters and intriguing episodes of the country’s long history. Ireland is approximately the size of the state of Indiana, yet this small country boasts an extensive, rich, and fascinating history. Ireland’s Forgotten Past is an alternative history that covers 13,000 years in 36 stories that are often left out of history books. Among the characters in these absorbing accounts are a pair of ill- fated prehistoric chieftains, a psychopathic Viking, a gallant Norman knight, a dazzling English traitor, an ingenious tailor, an outstanding war-horse, a brothel queen, an insanely prolific sculptor, and a randy prince. This volume offers a succinct account of the Stone Age and Bronze Age, as well as insights into the Bell-Beakers, the Romans, and the Knights Templar. Historian Turtle Bunbury writes a gently off-beat take on monumental events like the Wars of the Roses, the Tudor Conquest and the Battle of the Boyne, as well as the Home Rule campaign and the Great War. Ireland’s Forgotten Past adds color to the existing histories of the country by focusing on the unique characters and intriguing events. This volume will delight anyone interested in the rich untold history of Ireland.

Artie Cohen is a good-looking New York City cop with a taste for women and jazz and no intention of looking back to the past he left behind twenty-five years earlier in Moscow. In Red Hot Blues, he is faced with a case that leaves him no choice but to confront that past. When a former KGB general is shot dead on live TV, Artie is compelled to take the case; the general was a friend of his father's. Artie doesn't have to go far until he is led into the heart of the Brighton Beach mafia, where the most lethal weapon on the street is rumored to be an elusive substance known as Red Mercury - an atomic weapon that has the terrifying advantage of being pocket-sized. Artie stumbles upon a radioactive trail of atomic smuggling that leads all the way back to Moscow. For Artie to solve this case, he must reclaim his past and return to the home he left behind. It is in Moscow that he finds love, tragedy, and the truth.

Throughout the long history of England there have been eccentrics from all walks of life but none more so than those attached to the church. The aristocrat and squirarchy have also been strangely drawn to this calling. The sense of infallibility peculiar to the English has been the hallmark of their eccentricity.