Editorial Review

In 1975, four teenagers from Mount Temple School in Dublin gathered in a crowded kitchen to discuss forming a band. The drum kit just about fit into the room, the lead guitarist was playing a homemade guitar, the bassist could barely play at all and nobody wanted to sing. Over thirty years later, Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. are still together, bound by intense loyalty, passionate idealism and a relentless belief in the power of rock and roll to change the world.

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Reviews (10)

U2 from the Band Members.
I can't express enough how GLAD I am to own this book. The photographs are exceptional and personal, and the band members open and up front about their (very) humble beginnings, all the way to stardom... which doesn't impress them much. It is the perfect Time for this book. The Band's willingness to put together this volume is a gift to the millions of us who have been touched by the greatest rock band in all the history of rock 'n' roll.

A gift to the world!
I would like to thank U2 for giving us this book. It really made me feel part of their history together. I've been a U2 fan for more than half of my life and looking at those amazing pictures, reading their own words is priceless. If you like U2 is the perfect thing for you to have; if you don't, after reading this book you will.
The Beatles Anthology Book Done U2 Style
If anyone here owns the Beatles Anthology companion book to the TV series/CD's, this isn't much different. The story is "written" by the band, quotes culled from over 150 hours of interviews done for Neil McCormick. Every phase of the band's career, from it's earliest days straight through to "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" is told solely through quotes from each band member, making this is as definitive, brutally honest, unflinching and uncompromising a book on the band as we'll ever see. These aren't moments plagiarized from magazine articles or other books, but personal recollections.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Composers & Musicians - Rock    6. Entertainment & Performing Arts - General    7. Ireland    8. Personal Memoirs    9. Rock Music    10. Rock groups    11. U2 (Musical group)    12. Biography & Autobiography / Entertainment & Performing Arts   

Reviews (8)

Fake memoir
This story was probably constructed from a number of real memoirs, other sources like films, and Jung's and the author's imagination.Helmut Jung may have been a soldier on the Eastern Front but what he claims to have seen there owes more to imagination - perhaps the author's - than reality.Units composed of seven foot Mongols? (p. 297).Really. In the fifty or so books I have read about the German-Russian war nobody else noticed such units. In the same chapter, a description of the capture of a group of female Russian soldiers appears to have been lifted from the film version of 'Cross of Iron'.There are numerous other elements traceable to other sources throughout ths ridiculous book. Avoid wasting money on this 'memoir'.You will learn nothing about the real experience of combatants on the Eastern Front that you haven't already read elsewhere.

A Work of Fiction
I agree with some of the other reviewers that this is most likely a work of fiction.There is no real information given about the supposed author, Helmut Jung, other than his "incredible" wartime exploits. There are too many mistakes in the book about Jung's training and service to believe this is anything more than a piece of fiction put together by the American writer...it doesn't read or feel right.Save your money and buy "Black Edelweiss" for a real biography of a German soldier.

The Jekyll and Hyde of german wwii memoirs
First of all, this book is 464 pages long, apart from a small paragraph about Mr. Jung at the end there is nothing else, you get what you pay for, 464 pages of reading material. There are also no photos. Now, this memoir is a rollercoaster of emotions, paradoxes, anomalities, irregularities and some simply senseless and hard to believe asseverations by Mr. Jung and the author, who should have at least researched a little bit more, edited a bit better and should have gotten himself a good grammar dictionary, unless that is, he chose to leave the book as it is to keep the element of reality present. At times Mr. Jung sounds so real and truthful you can't help but pity him at others you could swear he is a jew posing as a german soldier. Now I don't blame Mr. Jung for his mental lapses (most people don't remember what they did 2 weeks ago) so after so many years one can understand his memory lapses. However mistaking the 6th army for the 10th at Stalingrad is preposterous to say the least. His asseveration that the SS went around shooting wounded german soldiers from penal batallions is simply hard to believe. During the actions of our Blue division in Russia we had a squad of men assigned to follow up behind the main body of troops checking the russian dead behind us and making sure they stayed very dead, for these vermin were treacherous and they would fake death in order to shoot us in the back. The Waffen SS had a similar way of dealing with russians (read Blood Red Snow). Also we were forbidden from building fires at night no matter how cold it might be (this was a sure way to have snipers pick everyone off one by one, have our positions identified by artillery spotters), yet he claims they would build this huge fires and huddle around at night! The war in the east was a metaphysical encounter of extreme ideoligies, the far right on our side and the far left on theirs. We alone had the sole opportunity of stoppping the spread of communism within our grasp and were betrayed by the very western civilization we sought to safeguard and preserve for the new generations. One look at the map of Europe after wwii will tell you who really won and for what purpose the western powers really fought and shed so much young blood. Mr. Jung was as caught up in this hell as the rest of us were and like us he did what he had to do to survive, however a man should have convictions and a sense of belonging to his nation and while he did his share, he did it for himself... we did it for our people, our nation and for western civilization. To those of you who might find this offensive I remind you of the words Julius Streicher spoke to the hangman at Nuremberg in 1946, "someday the russians will do this very same thing to all of you". Time proved him right.
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Subjects:  1. 1926-    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Campaigns    6. Eastern Front    7. Europe - Germany    8. Germany    9. Heer    10. Historical - General    11. Jung, Helmut,    12. Military    13. Military - World War II    14. Panzer-Division, 7    15. Personal narratives, German    16. World War, 1939-1945    17. Biography: general    18. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)   

Editorial Review

For 30 years Frank McCourt taught high school English in New York City and for much of that time he considered himself a fraud. During these years he danced a delicate jig between engaging the students, satisfying often bewildered administrators and parents, and actually enjoying his job. He tried to present a consistent image of composure and self-confidence, yet he regularly felt insecure, inadequate, and unfocused. After much trial and error, he eventually discovered what was in front of him (or rather, behind him) all along--his own experience. "My life saved my life," he writes. "My students didn't know there was a man up there escaping a cocoon of Irish history and Catholicism, leaving bits of that cocoon everywhere." At the beginning of his career it had never occurred to him that his own dismal upbringing in the slums of Limerick could be turned into a valuable lesson plan. Indeed, his formal training emphasized the opposite. Principals and department heads lectured him to never share anything personal. He was instructed to arouse fear and awe, to be stern, to be impossible to please--but he couldn't do it. McCourt was too likable, too interested in the students' lives, and too willing to reveal himself for their benefit as well as his own. He was a kindred spirit with more questions than answers: "Look at me: wandering late bloomer, floundering old fart, discovering in my forties what my students knew in their teens."Read more

Reviews (172)

Teacher's Grade of Teacher Man:B+
Teaching is a performance art, and every teacher is on the stage every day in front of an audience that doesn't always want to be there, doesn't always understand the language the play is being performed in, and doesn't always understand what happened in the scene before.It's a tough crowd we teachers perform for, and the critics are usually less than kind administrators or Board of Education members that haven't taught in front of a class in years, or who have never taught in a classroom.
Teacher Man :-)
Frank McCourt starts off his third book, Teacher Man (a memoir of his thirty-year teaching career), with the following paragraph: "On the first day of my teaching career, I was almost fired for eating the sandwich of a high school boy.On the second day I was almost fired for mentioning the possibility of a friendship with a sheep.Otherwise, there was nothing remarkable about my thirty years in the high school classrooms of New York City.I often doubted if I should be there at all."
Teacher Man- Good and Bad
Teacher Man is a very good read, and gives us a broad and clear view into the life of not only Frank McCourt, but also teenagers attending the public schools of New York City.As a student, I found it interesting to hear about a teacher's perspective of a class, and how Frank McCourt drew from his experiences growing up to shape who he was in the classroom.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Elements In The U.S. Population    6. High school teachers    7. Irish Americans    8. Literary    9. New York    10. New York (State)    11. Teaching At The Secondary School Level    12. Biography & Autobiography / Literary   

Reviews (166)

Ten kids, No work-ethic
A gritty memoir of life in the white ghetto where tribal loyalty struggles with justice. A portrait of the struggle for personal responsibility a primer and how to use and abuse the system.

Accurate. From someone who didn't live in "Southie" but in "Old Colony" at that time!
You'll see some people chime in here about this book, from "Southie". But Southie and Old Colony don't equal the same thing. You can be from the point and not be anything like someone growing up in Old Colony. Old Colony wasn't the same as D street or Old Harbor.Secondly, my aunt is mentioned in the book as skoochie(sp?). I'm not particularly fond of being from Old Colony or having my aunt in this book, but it's who i am. Lastly, i was good friends with Tommy Veins before he got out of cotrol and died. It's a sad story overall, if tommysdad is here, i'd like to say that my condolences, but this portrayal is not far from fact at all. I was there and grew up where these things happened. And let me tell you, the book is pretty accurate. Slight details here and there might be slightly off, but for the overall idea, Accurate. Everyone knew his mom... she was an outcast for sure and he mentions this several times. I personally couldn't put my own mom out there, but kudos for him for trying to be accurate.
Sad but true
Growing up in Southie and now living in Florida it was good to look back. The book broke my wifes heart who is not from Southie but it was everyday life fo us. Good read! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Boston    6. Ethnic Cultures - General    7. General    8. Irish American families    9. Irish Americans    10. Massachusetts    11. Personal Memoirs    12. Regional Subjects - New England    13. Biography & Autobiography / General    14. Reading Group Guide   

Reviews (19)

It's bigger than Southie
I love this book! Once I started reading it I found it impossible to put down. I was laughing and crying not because it was sad but because it was so unbelievably familiar. MacDonald's honesty was frightening and liberating and to be honest comforting. Reading it gave me a sense of relief; relieved that someone had been where I'd been and seen what I'd seen.
Easter Rising
Easter Rising is an engaging and observant account of survival--how people,families, and communities struggle to reconnect and heal under extremely difficult circumstances, using whatever happens to be handy and available.
Great
Having grown up in Boston in the same music scene as Michael Patrick MacDonald and being of Irish heritage, I expected to identify with much of his book and i did. What I didn't expect to do was to recognize something amazing in my own mother that I had never really given her credit for: Toward the end of the book, while MacDonald is in Ireland with Ma (and is often embarrassed by what he perceives as her inappropriateness), she encounters a stranger whose son has died. Because her own losses have been so staggering (and because she is not embarrassed to try) she is able to console him.With a new understanding and appreciation of her, MacDonald writes:"You never know when you'll need to give whatever you've got to give."
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography And Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Boston    7. Irish American families    8. Irish Americans    9. Literary    10. Massachusetts    11. McDonald family    12. Personal Memoirs    13. Biography & Autobiography / Literary   

Editorial Review

The sequel to Frank McCourt's memoir of his Irish Catholic boyhood, Read more

Reviews (555)

'TIS A GRAND BOOK, !
Poignant,intense, exciting, gutwrenching yet heart warming are the scenes, actions and memories described inthis continuation of an indepth look at the the trials, tribulations and successes of FrankMc Court and his family. As you read it,you "are there" in New York, in Ireland, -at Mam's almost reunion with Frank's father, - in the army with Frank in Europe, - in church,- in the boarding house which provided meager temporary shelter, - in the countless dull mind-numbing jobs he had beforebecoming a teacher,- in the classroom trying to inspire lethargicstudents.With wit, and a lot ofmischievious charm, author Mc Court escorts us through his romantic liasons, marriage and birth of his daughter, -his brothers arrival and existence in New York,- his own "coming of age in America" as he matures, -and the death of his beloved mother, Angela, (Mam).
THE CONTINUING MEMOIR, BY THE AUTHOR OF ANGELA'S ASHES
Frank McCourt has a flowing, gifted writing style that is all his own. This, the second in his memoirs, tells the chapter of his life where he leaves Ireland for a life in America.How one can endure his hardships and still keep a witty sense of humour is nothing short of amazing.Low paying jobs, racial criticism, and scorn await McCourt upon his arrival.
Dissapointing but with a few gems
I felt that he was trying to gain sympathy for his situation unlike the frankness of Angelas Ashes. I was dissapointed with this sequal. He was brave to tell the truth of his situation, however he must have cringed upon reflection of his early life. He does use humor throughout the book and that makes it more bearable to read. I felt like slapping him rather than giving him a hug at the end of this second book. He does tell the truth, to his credit, and doesn't candy coat anything, a continuation of the first book in the context of style. Would recommend this to an older audience, because of the content matter. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Educators    6. Elements In The U.S. Population    7. Emigration & Immigration    8. Ethnic Cultures - General    9. Irish Americans    10. Literary    11. McCourt, Frank    12. Regional Subjects - MidAtlantic    13. Biography & Autobiography / General    14. Immigration & emigration    15. Literature: History & Criticism    16. Social history    17. USA   

Editorial Review

"Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood," writes Frank McCourt in Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Ethnic Cultures - General    6. Genealogy    7. General    8. Historical - General    9. Ireland    10. Irish Americans    11. Limerick (Limerick)    12. Biography & Autobiography / General    13. Biography: general   

Reviews (20)

A BRILLIANT BIOGRAPHY - WELL DONE!
This is a brilliantly written biography of one of the most fascinating characters in history.Like most of Mnchester's work (I must admit to being a big fan), this is a very readable biography, well researched and holds the reader's interest from page to page.We see so much of Churchhill in his role as a WWII leader that we tend to forget there was a young man, living, learning and growing before the back and white films we see today.It is good to be reminded of this from time to time.It is also, for those interested, to learn how a world leader of Churchill's calibre came into being, how he developed and why he was the way he was.This work gives us great insight to those questions.Cannot recommend this work highly enough.

Insight Into A Great Man

Tale of a Giant Lives Up to Its Subject
Although William Manchester didn't live long enough to complete his biography of Winston Churchill, this first book of the proposed triology begins with Dunkirk and shows Churchill at his most magnificent before switching to his early years.Manchester's prose--eloquent, clear, moving, and witty--is a fitting vehicle for the story of a master of the English language, and the story itself is filled with amazing adventures and memorable anecdotes. This book and its sequel are the best of all the Churchill biographies. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1874-1965    2. 20th century    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Churchill, Winston,    7. Europe - Great Britain - General    8. Foreign relations    9. Great Britain    10. Great Britain - History - 20th Century    11. Political    12. Politics and government    13. Sir,    14. Biography & Autobiography / Political    15. Biography: general    16. British & Irish history: from c 1900 -    17. Churchill, Winston    18. United Kingdom, Great Britain   

Editorial Review

Melding superb research and the extraordinary expedition photography of Frank Hurley, Read more

Reviews (147)

An essential book
This is such a good book, because of the way it is written, and also because of the incredible adventure it describes.It is the story of Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914 expedition to Antarctica.Shackleton had been to the Antarctic twice before.The first time he accompanied Robert Falcon Scott in 1901 in an attempt to reach the as yet unclaimed South Pole and claim it for Great Britain.They were unsuccessful and came very close to losing their lives.The significant problems that went with traveling in the Antarctic were that no one lived there (and so no one was there to help if you got into trouble), nothing lived in the interior (no plants or animals to feed on), and the climatic conditions were horrific (snow, ice, wind speeds of up to 200 miles an hour and temperatures as low as -100 degrees Fahrenheit).Scott proved to be a very difficult man to travel with -arrogant, abusive and not particularly competent, which is not what you are looking for in the leader of such an expedition.The next time he journeyed south, in 1908, Shackleton, as the leader, chose his own men, and made his own mistakes, such as taking a team of ponies that were supposed to pull the sledges.The ponies were very ill-suited to such an environment and were eventually shot and eaten.This expedition was also a failure, but Shackleton had again learned a lot from the experience.By the end of 1912 the South Pole had been conquered by the Norwegian Amundson, and Shackleton's rival, Scott, had perished with all of his men only eleven miles from a supply depot that would have saved their lives.Now the only significant prize left to be achieved in the Antarctic was the traversing of the continent from one side to the other.Thus Shackleton's 1914 expedition was called the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.
Real adventure
It's a book that takes you to an incredible adventure. Photogrpahs make it even more exciting !

What an Adventure, and Pictures,Too.
I don't know why I keep reading these sagas of sufferring and adventure about polar expeditions,but I do.Of course, Shackleton's Anarctic expedition is one of the best of the bunch.
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Subjects:  1. (1914-1917)    2. 1874-1922    3. Discovery And Exploration (General)    4. Earth Sciences - Geography    5. Endurance (Ship)    6. Expeditions & Discoveries    7. History    8. History - General History    9. History: World    10. Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition    11. Polar Regions    12. Shackleton, Ernest Henry,    13. Sir,    14. Special Interest - Adventure    15. Travel    16. Biography: general    17. Geographical discovery & exploration    18. Ireland    19. Journeys    20. Shackleton, Ernest Henry    21. Travel / Adventure   

Reviews (15)

I Can't Do it Justice
This is a wonderful book, easy to read and will appeal to you no matter what your gender, age, race, color, creed...
Great family tale
Since I barely watch TV, I had no idea who Mike Leonard was.He works for NBC, and contributes to the Today show.I was really impressed with this first book.It has the main aspects I love in a good memoir, humor, self-effacing honesty, wit and history.Mike takes his eccentric parents, 80'ish, and three of his grown children on a motorhome trip across America.Oh, the stories you'll love in this one.
Pleasant reading, but a little pointless.
I think this book was a little too personal to be widely interesting to a large readership.The writing style was pretty good, and there are a lot of pretty funny incidents.But, in a way, it was easy to put it down and forget to pick it up again.I had to read it for my book club (and paid for the book!) or I probably would have set it aside and picked up something more compelling.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography And Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Editors, Journalists, Publishers    7. Essays & Travelogues    8. Irish American families    9. Irish Americans    10. Personal Memoirs    11. Recreational vehicles    12. Travelers    13. United States    14. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Reviews (39)

Quick Moving Story of Human Garbage
Funny how Weeks' family all became warm-hearted, family-centerd professionals with good jobs and charitable interests, while he turned into a mob killer and enforcer.Weeks Senior sounds like a piece of work, hitting his son across the face with a baseball bat "absent-mindedly."I keep reading these books about Whitey and Billy Bolger thinking I'll stumble onto something that reminds me of real life, but in truth all these people are in a world of their own.
Honest facts about Crime
A very honest account of crime in Boston. I never liked the author at all throughout the book. Throughout the book he discusses how he grew into the life of crime, and almostwishes to gather sympathy from the reader. No sympathy here. He deserves what he got interms of jail time. And probably should have been given life/electric chair. Aside from that, I couldn't stop reading about the stuff he was involved in. Irish Mafia details are interesting.

donna benjamin
kevin, does my father have a head or not?I was told several time by whitey "jimmy the bear did not do this".he gave me an italian name, that I didn't want to remember. I knew jimmy the bear in walpole when i married my second husband, Ronald Macdonald, but never wanted him pointed out to me, as i believed Jimmy.Give me some insight please.I have COPD, 24 oxygen, and bipolar mood disorder and want to let my children know who there grandfather was.I lost my father at the age of eleven.Nothing was ever said to me other than he was hit by a car.you wrote your book well, i bought it, now help me. cigs12@aol.com ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Boston    4. Crime And Criminals    5. Criminals & Outlaws    6. Gangsters    7. Irish Americans    8. Massachusetts    9. Organized Crime    10. Social conditions    11. True Crime    12. Biography: general    13. True Crime / Organized Crime   

Reviews (30)

Churchill was begging....
After the fall of France in June 1940, Winston Churchill was begging USA President Roosevelt for military aid (in fact, all sorts of support was then needed) as no one knew what would the 'fate' of the French fleet was going to be.
absolutely a delight to read
I was adrift when I finished this volume.
solitary courage
No better profile of Churchill 1932-40 exists. Whetted with acrimony and disdain, Churchill is ultimately proved right (and his real task commences).
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Subjects:  1. 1874-1965    2. 20th century    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Churchill, Winston,    7. Foreign relations    8. Great Britain    9. Great Britain - History - 20th Century    10. Historical - British    11. Political    12. Politics and government    13. Sir,    14. Biography & Autobiography / Political    15. British & Irish history: c 1700 to c 1900    16. United Kingdom, Great Britain   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (2)

Queen Elizabeth I (Historic Lives)
Elizabeth I (The British Library, Historic Lives Series) by Susan Doran is a really superb book! Though I have read many books about Queen Elizabeth this one, though concise, thoroughly captures the essence of the history of Elizabeth and her England.Susan Doran provides us a captivating glimpse into the complicated world facing Elizabeth both in her personal and majestic life as she confronts the dynamic political and religious world developing around her and the England she loves.Elizabeth I was a complex person ruling in a complicated world.In a very even handed way, Susan Doran presents how a dynamic Queen Elizabeth, at her best and worst, navigates as best she can, through the perils and complexities confronting her and England.Susan Doran gives us an Elizabeth who is real.She shows Elizabeth as a Queen who has human frailities, who is adept in propaganda, can be as cruel as she is rewarding, yet whose monarchy enthralls and inspires us to this day. Susan Doran's adept use ofa superb collection of illustrations throughout the book really provides a wonderful dimension to her protrayal of Elizabeth as a dynamic queen of England.This is a book I recommend to anyone who has an interest in Elizabeth I, Queen of England.

An Excellent Overview
This slim volume is only 144 pages including index. Susan Doran has written a complete, if brief, biography of Elizabeth I that hits all the main points of her life and rule. Nothing important seems to have been left out, and the narrative seems unhurried. One could read this book in a fairly short time, and have an understanding of Elizabeth's reign. However, for those who would like a bit more elaboration, Doran includes a Further Reading List at the end.Read more

Subjects:  1. 1533-1603    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Elizabeth    7. Elizabeth, 1558-1603    8. Great Britain    9. Historical - British    10. History    11. Queen of England,    12. Queens    13. Royalty    14. Women    15. Biography & Autobiography / Royalty    16. Biography: royalty    17. British & Irish history: c 1500 to c 1700    18. ELIZABETH I, QUEEN OF ENGLAND, 1533-1603    19. United Kingdom, Great Britain   

Editorial Review

When the editors of the Read more

Reviews (385)

Intriguing!
This book is great in that it's both a very personal story about Minor (the "madman") and Murray (the "professor") but also about what went into making the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). For the most part, I was more interested in the latter because of the detail and, surprisingly, community that went into creating The Dictionary. It was certainly not the work of a few posh men sitting in an attic; rather, the entire nation (as well as the United States) were involved in scouring works in the English language to contribute samples to go in the OED. That to me was the most fascinating part.
And you thought dictionaries were boring!
Winchester takes an academic subject and makes it read like a Victorian thriller.He weaves together the lives of two strange and complex men to tell a story that has touched the entire English speaking world-- the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary: THE authority on the progression of the English language over the past millenium.If you love history, language, literature, and tragedies this is a book for you.Beware, this book will make you want to run out and buy your own OED -- well, a full set will run you at least $1000!There are compact and CD-ROM versions available for under $200.I guess I'll just add it to my amazon wish list and hope....

An excellent story excellently told
Some readers, I know, dislike Simon Winchester's conversational, discursive, sometimes off-on-a-tangent narrative style, but I for one find it richly rewarding. I first discovered it in "Krakatoa," his book about that Indonesian volcano where it's even more in evidence than it is in this title. But even here, reading Winchester is like settling into a chair, or around a fire, to listen to a talented storyteller weave an entrancing tale. If your taste in history runs to deliberate, just-the-facts reportage, then Simon Winchester probably isn't for you. But if you're willing to trust the author and follow where he's leading you, I predict you'll find reading "The Professor and the Madman" a most satisfying experience.
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Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. General    3. Historical - British    4. Historical - U.S.    5. History    6. History: World    7. Specific Groups - Special Needs    8. Biography & Autobiography / Historical    9. Biography: historical    10. British & Irish history: c 1700 to c 1900    11. England    12. c 1800 to c 1900    13. Reading Group Guide   

Reviews (2)

A Key to Understanding the Enigma of U2
Christianity, metaphorically, has many "keys." Many prominent voices play major keys, promising blessings and offering comfortable settings. Christian Scharen, the author of One Step Closer, introduces a minor key--the theology of the cross--that fits U2's voice.
Great lay out for Group Study
I thought the book was fun to read. A friend of mine used it as a guide for a church group study on the Theology of U2. It was a hit. We ended up discussing really important issues like Justice, and Money, etc. We would read a few chapters and watch the videos and then discuss. The way the book is structured is what positively differintiates it from other U2 books. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Christianity    4. Composers & Musicians - Rock    5. Genres & Styles - Rock    6. Ireland    7. Popular Culture - General    8. Religion    9. Religious    10. Religious aspects    11. Rock Music    12. Rock musicians    13. Spirituality - General    14. Christianity and Culture: Popular Culture, Christianity and Culture: General Studies    15. Religion / Spirituality