An Early Irish History Book ...

(I'm writing this book review for the 15th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture early because I don't know if I'll have time later and because I want to make sure that I have an entry for that edition.)

For this upcoming edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture, I have to read book on Ireland, and so, I checked out a history book on Ireland from my local library. I have finished reading the book today, and the book I read was In Search of Ancient Ireland: The Origins Of The Irish From Neolithic Times To The Coming Of The English by Carmel McCaffrey and Leo Eaton (Chicago: New Amsterdam Books, 2002).

As you probably can tell from the title, this book in on the history Ireland up to the Norman invasion in 1167. I wanted to read up on Irish history for this edition, and as I was not very familiar with early Irish history, I decided to check the book out. This book happens to be a companion book to the PBS TV series In Search of Ireland. The book focuses on social aspects of Irish history and how the Irish lived in the past. Information that I read about in a previous book review on early Irish history meshed nicely with this book, and this book helped to illuminate and explain much of what I had read before. I enjoyed reading this book, and thus, recommend it to others. I hope you enjoy reading the book as much as I did.

History Being Destroyed ...

Earlier today, I received an e-mail from Terry Thornton about a blog article on the destruction of a Native American burial site.

The site that is facing destruction is a mound burial site that was probably built by a Native American civilization known as the Mound Builders. From what I can remember from reading about this Native American group, the tribe was located in the Southeast and was, at one point, a major civilization. Of course, historians don't know why the civilization disappeared, and from what I can remember, I don't believe historians know much about the Mound Builders either. So, a burial site that could help historians and archaeologists better understand these people is being destroyed. Additionally, people were buried in that mound, and by destroying the mound, those developers are essentially desecrating a grave site. Can you see why this is wrong? Do I need to say anymore?

The Byzantine Empire: A History Book

For this upcoming edition of the Carnival of the Central and Eastern European Genealogy, I am supposed to read a history book that deals with an aspect of the history of Central or Eastern Europe.

I have not yet finished the book I am reading, but I thought I would write a brief summary of what I have read. (Actually, I have been reading this book off and on for the past several years.) The book I chose was History of the Byzantine State, 3rd edition by George Ostrogorsky (New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1999).

As you can tell from the title, the book is a history on the Byzantine Empire. (When I was in high school, I wanted to learn more about the history of that empire, so my grandparents bought this book for me as a Christmas gift.) The book spans the whole time period of the Empire, from the early Fourth Century to its collapse in 1453, but unfortunately, the book is probably not the best book to read if you just want to briefly read about the empire. It is a scholarly book and apparently was not intended for the general reading public. Thus, I have spent the last several years reading this book off and on because it is very dry and technical. Of course, after I went to college, the book got easier to read, but it is still a slow read.

Would I recommend this book? If you want a quick read on the Byzantine Empire, this is not the book for you. In fact, I would not recommend this book to the general reader, although I have learned more about the Byzantine Empire by reading this book.

Here's Another Interesting History Article ...

I just happened to notice this interesting article on a stone tablet and the early roots of Christianity. You can read the article here. Enjoy!

Some Interesting Articles ...

I just happened to notice two interesting articles on Yahoo news, and I thought I would share them with everyone. The first article deals with personality and bilingual speakers. (I know this has nothing to do with genealogy of history, but I thought I would mention this article because I like to study different languages.)

The other article has to do with Homer's epic poem, the Odyssey. Apparently, the date of Odysseus' return home has been determined. You can read that article here. Interesting and intriguing, isn't it?

Update to the Article About the Church Found in Jordan

I just noticed this update to the post I posted on the Christian church found in Jordan. The article is from the History News Network, and you can read it here.

Another Article You Might Find Interesting ...

I just happened to notice this article, posted on Yahoo, about archaeologists in Jordan discovering the first Christian church. You can read the article here. Enjoy!

Here's An Interesting Article ...

I just happened to notice this article on Stonehenge. I thought someone might find it interesting. You can read the article here.

Genealogy And History News of the Past Week Or So

I realize that I did not do a post on articles dealing with genealogy and history in the news. So, to make up for that, I've decided to do a post on the news of the past week or so that it has been since my last post of this type. So, here are the news articles of this week so far and the past week or so:

• Ancestry.com Allows Free Searching Of Its U.S. Military Records Until May 31st.
• S.S. Columbia Is Planning To Sail To The Hudson River. (I happened to notice this article on the World History blog. For those who don't know, the Columbia was one of the ships that took passengers to Boblo Island in the Detroit River. Boblo Island used to be a theme park, but it not longer exists. Now there are large homes on the island. I do remember seeing the ships docked off of the Detroit River, but at that time, the ships were decaying. And that was in the mid-to-late-1990s.)
• Archaeologists Find Statues of Cleopatra and Aphrodite (Venus) In Egypt.
• Bust of Caesar found In France.
• My Brief Post On New England's Darkest Day.
• My Post On Additional Records Added To FamilySearch's Record Search.

I think I got most of the history and genealogy news. If I have missed any articles from the past week up to do, please let me know. Thanks!