5 comments about Princes of Ireland, Planters of Maryland: A Carroll Saga, 1500-1782 (Published for the Institute of Early AME).

1. I was originally attracted to this book out of a simple curiosity about the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence (Charles Carroll outlived Adams and Jefferson by about six years, or about 56 years after 1776!). On a deeper level, I hoped to learn more about the kind of early capitalist that would be attracted to signing on to the American Revolution in general. What this book helped me discover was a family that had over time become focused, almost obsessed, with making a buck under fairly adverse circumstances (namely, continuing in their Roman Catholic faith that made it difficult for them to thrive, even in an enclave as seemingly sympathetic as colonial Maryland, with its relatively large Catholic population). But when the time came for this family to rise above its simple wealth building and to champion the cause of the Revolution, it did indeed rise to the occasion, however brief and painful the process might be. (Hoffman attends to both the private and public lives of the Carrolls.) The history of the Carrolls is a part of the history of the magic that was the American Revolution. It is not surprising that the book ends abruptly with the death of Charles Carroll's father and his wife, about 10 days apart from one another in 1782 (though there is a brief summing up of Carroll's remaining 50 years and the attention attracted by his death in 1832). The story is told, the dynasty pretty much complete.

   What's the book like? At times it seems downright willfully prosaic, and the story proceeds much like a carefully written doctoral dissertation - all conclusions fully supported and made in as logical a context as possible, all contentions politically correct for our time. Hoffman's goal is of course to be scholarly and thorough, not to be entertaining or controversial. Thus the sweep of this history must emerge and coalesce in the mind of the reader. Leave being beaten over the head with the broader conclusions inherent in the narrative to more popularly written histories.

   Suffice it to say, if you're a municipal library and you need to beef up your Revolutionary War material, this is a prime buy. If you're a true history buff, this would be an excellent choice to work into your reading list. It has the effect of immersing you into the spirit of the times and providing you with detail you could not have imagined you would find interesting (but you do). If you're a casual reader, just be advised - this is heavy stuff. It's not an easy read, but it is ultimately a rewarding one.




2. Ronald Hoffman is an excellent historian who has brought great knowledge of Chesapeake social and cultural history to this biographical work that places three generations of the Carroll family within their colonial context. It is a wonderful biography that gets the reader into the minds and lives of these three Charles Carroll's. But for me the best thing was the number of times it made me think, "Oh, that's how it was." I have read enough colonial history to know that there were lots of tenant laborers and not just slaves in the region, to know that Catholic Maryland quickly became Anglican Maryland, and to know that the Revolution was not just about ideas but also about social change. Ronald Hoffman's narrative, however, really brings these facts home. His book is not about any one of these issues in particular, but in telling the story of three generations of Carroll's in Maryland he brings home the greater circumstances of the colony better than many historians who have set out to make a case for one of the above arguments, or many of the other fascinating takes on early Chesapeake society contained in this highly readable book. I have not read any book lately that I enjoyed more.



3. Traditional patriotism demands that we believe that the founding fathers of America were all great democratic idealist. Although this may have been true for some, many others had no problem with the idea of an elite ruling class, so long as they were considered the elite. Thus the victory over England can be viewed as less of an American Democratic Revolution and more of a power transition from the English crown to the new American aristocracy.
   
   A primary example of this American elite class was Maryland representative Charles Carroll of Carrollton. A signer of the American Declaration of Independence, Charles of Carrollton was a wealthy planter and businessman who became such not by his own doings but primarily through the inheritance and molding of his father, Charles Carroll of Annapolis. Ever mindful of his Irish and Catholic roots and the persecution therein by English aristocrats, the elder Charles did everything in his power to equip his son to fend off those who would attempt to cripple him politically and economically. In so doing, the elder Charles created a mindset of elitism within his son.
   
   This irony is highlighted by Ronald Hoffman in his book, "Princes of Ireland, Planters of Europe," in which he examines the Carroll family and traces how a persecuted family from Ireland in 1500 came to be one of the prominent families in America by the time of the American Revolution



4. This is perhaps the most pleasurable "academic" history I have come across. Although it provides an extensive account of life in the Chesapeake through the lives and business dealings - and there are plenty of those enumerated - of the tenacious Carroll family, I was also struck by Ronald Hoffman's major theme of family continuity, of purpose driven by recollection and ambition that the Carrolls had in spades. The very tightly researched accounts of the family history in Ireland, and of all the other families like them in the chaos of the 17th century, is little short of astonishing. I'll admit to an enduring interest in Irish history, but this one illustrates why Carrolls and others left their broken aristocracy. That continuity touches on my own forebearers, one of whom was a first cousin of Charles Carroll of Carrollton's. She married another Irish immigrant Marylander and set out in 1796 to populate the then frontier in Kentucky with other Catholics, I am sure at direction of one of their neighbors in Upper Marlborough, MD, Fr. John Carroll, first Catholic bishop in America and also Charles' first cousin. A great read on many levels.



5. Purchased this book for my Grandmother. Apparently we are related on her side of the family. Thought she would enjoy reading. I purchased one years ago when my daughter had to do a report on someone famous in your family. I found the book very interesting and informative.

No comments about Natchitoches: Translated Abstracts of Register Number Five of the Catholic Church Parish of St. Francois des Natchitoches in Louisiana, 1800-1826.

No comments about Church of Ireland Records (Maynooth Research Guides for Irish Local History).

No comments about Catholic Families of Southern Maryland: Records of Catholic Residents of St. Mary's County in the Eighteenth Century.

2 comments about Papal Genealogy: The Families and Descendants of the Popes.

1. It's interesting to observe how dry academic language can take the juiciest gossip, the most outrageous of unfounded rumors, and the most gruesome tales of betrayal, debauchery, and degeneration and turn it into a tedious labor requiring considerable concentration just to keep track of the action.

   Weakened by unimaginative writing, this tome is primarily of interest for its wealth of genealogical detail. It includes stories of the popes from the tenth century to the nineteenth, but there has to be a more readable source for that material.




2. The book is well written with Genealogy trees interspersed for most of the Popes and their associated Clans.It covers a lot of territory so is lacking in real depth - some of the related trees are in separate parts of the book which is a bit hard to follow. Obviously the earliest Popes have the scantiest information, and perhaps a bit more of the background clan politics could have been added,feuds and the reasons for the feuds, but overall it is well researched and a great reference book to have on hand.Well recommended.

2 comments about Healing Your Family Tree.

1. This book gives a detailed account of how to approach sickness, emotional and psychological problems and other family dysfunctions by healing your family tree. The author has a firm grasp on the theology behind this relatively recent idea, and also has studied science, especially genetics, so he is able to give ways for us to understand how ancestral sin, a little bit like original sin, can have long-term effects on descendants. The book is in a question and answer format and very thorough.



2. I didn't care much for the Question & Answer format. It would have been fine if half of the book or less contained the Q&A's. The answers were so extensive that it made the organization of the book hard to follow. The author would have been better served by laying out the foundation of his arguments in the first 3 or 4 chapters. Overall there is a lot of wisdom in this book; however, it is presented in such a way that it may be hard to stomach for the less-than-devout Catholics, or gnostics and mystics of various traditions.

1 comments about Claiming the City: Politics, Faith, and the Power of Place in St. Paul (Cushwa Center Studies of Catholicism in Twentieth-Century America).

1. Claiming the City begins by describing a violent labor strike in Minneapolis in 1934 and the indifference exhibited towards it in Saint Paul. Most of the book takes place in half century preceding that strike and presents Saint Paul and Minneapolis as contrasting and disconnected places.
   
   Mary Lethert Wingerd writes how differences between the cities date back to their founding. The ethnic compositions of the businessmen of the two cities differed, with Saint Paul's elite establishment being more willing to assimilate and later much more Irish. Saint Paul emerged as a railroad and commerce hub, whereas the Minneapolis economy had an industrial base.
   
   Emphasis is given to the biographies of James J. Hill, Mary Hill, and their impact on business and high society. The life and policies of Archbishop John Ireland are detailed as well. The work of all three led to increased Irish Catholic standing in Saint Paul.
   
   Halfway through the book becomes a labor history, with every union development receiving attention. Saint Paul's labor history was complicated, but moderate unionism received widespread support for most of this period. There is a lengthy tangent on the World War I era machinations of the Public Safety Commission, but this section too emphasizes labor relations.
   
   Philosophizing about "civic identity" occurs throughout book. Dr. Wingerd argues that Irishness, Catholicism, and Unionism were all part of this civic identity. Scandinavians and Protestants receive only passing mentions, and one wonders if their place in Saint Paul's identity is really as minimal as the coverage of them in this work.

5 comments about The Rule of the Templars: The French Text of the Rule of the Order of the Knights Templar (Studies in the History of Medieval Religion).

1. J.M. Upton-Ward has earned my eternal respect for the work presented here. The Rule, so vital to understanding the Order is clearly layed out and explained. Additional information is also included making this the one "must own" book for Templar scholars.



2. This English translation of the French "Rule" of the Templars is an essential reference for all students of the Templars, and of the history of "related" organizations such as Freemasonry. The "Reception" ritual will be of special interest to Freemason's, as parts of it are hauntingly familiar.



3. This book has a lot of valuable information for anyone interested in the Templars. It has historical information in the preface and appendix and its content has every single rule the Knights of the Temple followed. It has every single battle rule and the everyday life activities of templars. The sins and the penitence, how to be admitted and the admittance ritual. How to get a counsil toghether, everything they were supposed to do. I suggest that if you are interested either in Templars or in the Dark Ages, you ought to buy this book.



4. Excellent. No doubt already on the shelves of those interested in this Medieval Catholic military lay religious order.
   For the uninitiated reader, first read the Introduction, Primitive Rule, and Appendix. Then, the rest. To a reader for whom the Templars are "knights who fought in the crusades,"
   the Rule will seem most unexpectedly profuse in dwelling upon internal monastic disciplines, religious guidelines, and personal observances. Regulations addressing military issues and a Knight's behavior in the field are present.
   An appendix, coordinated with references to the Rule, treats some of the military aspect, especially in regards to the use of armed mounted force and the order's rankings.
   If unfamiliar with the Military Orders, it will be an eye-opener as to what the Catholic Church proposed for its monks.
   If doing extended reading elsewhere, a reader will be startled at the surprise ending of that now supressed Order. I would alert those who do followup, not to confuse "Templar," as properly used for this group, with some current appropriators of that name, used for purposes of having mystique of lore & legend.



5. The Rule of the Templars: The French Text of the Rule of the Order of the Knights Templar, Judi Upton-Ward (Woodbridge, UK: The Boydell Press, 1992)
   
   The myths surrounding the Knights Templar range from tales of great treasure to legends concerning a wealth of wisdom kept secret for a thousand years. Many have tried to discover what this great esoteric wisdom was, but, so far, no one has been able to 'decipher' any of the so-called 'clues' allegedly left behind by the Templars. These references to secret wisdom perhaps arose from the accusations of secrecy brought against the order during their trial. What many failed to recognize, or perhaps ignored, was that as a military order, the Templars had many reasons to keep their Rule, which governed their lives and their behavior in battle, a secret. Fortunately for us living nearly a thousand years later, we now have access to this 'secret knowledge' through Judi Upton-Ward's translation of the French version of the Rule, found in her book, The Rule of the Templars. In this work, Upton-Ward translates not only the Templars' Rule but also the statutes and includes an article by Matthew Bennett that discusses the military side of the Rule. In translating the Templar Rule from the vernacular, Upton-Ward points out that this work is just how the Templars themselves would have read it, straight from their native language, rather than being written in Latin by scholars who may not have know the military implications of what they were writing about. The importance of the French text lies here. This was a work written by and for the military men of the order for the purpose of governing their lives and ordering their behavior. Like any well-oiled military machine, it was necessary for the Rule to contain information on how to act on and off the field, information the Templars would not have wanted to fall into enemy hands.
   
   What Upton-Ward accomplishes with her translation of the Templar Rule is an accessible look at the 'secret knowledge' of the Templars and a detailed look at the lives the Templars led, which, it turns out, actually closely paralleled the lives of other religious orders, which a few changes needed to accommodate the military nature of the Templars. The work is easy to read and geared to both scholars and pleasure readers alike.
   
   
   Jennifer Regan and Dr. Carl Edwin Lindgren

2 comments about Detroit's Holy Family Church: 100 Years of Sicilian Tradition (Images of America: Michigan).

1. Put your sicilian family name in an see who you might find Tocco ,zerilli,leto, atleast 500 family names with wonderful photos.wonderful explanations of the religous fest days celebrated still by the sicilians who brought them to detroit and how they started in sicily.



2. The book was fine but appeared to be mostly pictures specific to family members to the writer and not enough history of the members themselves or any genealogy which I guess, I thought by reading the reviews, was what the book was about. Over the years there were literally thousands of people who walked through the doors of Holy Family and the book centered on a handful of families only and there was little family history written about them.

3 comments about A Brief History of Vatican II.

1. Having just finished a course on Vatican II, I found this short history of Vatican II to be very helpful in detailing some of the mystery and intrigue that went on behind the scenes. A must read for anyone who wants to know the "whole story".



2. Giuseppe Alberigo is probably the greatest living expert on Vatican II, having worked in its preparation and been closely involved, as a layman, with many of the clerical leaders of the Council. These days there are all kinds of ideologically-motivated efforts afoot to downplay the significance of the Council and to criticize "liberals" for distorting its message. Alberigo shows clearly the drama of the struggle on the part of the bishops, liberal and conservative alike, for freedom from the stifling hand of the Roman Curia (the church's central bureaucracy), and tells a truly exciting story about the successes and even the failures of the Council fathers. Incidentally, anyone who reads this can only look at many of the struggles in today's church and see them as but the latest chapter in an ongoing struggle between a controlling central bureaucracy and a world-wide church concerned above all with pastoral care of the church.



3. Guiseppe Alberigo was a young professional when the council began. He was involved with Cardinal Lercaro's group from Bologna. His doctoral dissertation had been on the Council of Trent written under Hubert Jedin, the best in the field. Alberigo was with Cardinal Lercaro's group at the four sessions of the Council. Afterwards he edited the multivolume history of the Second Vatican Council, presented in English by Dr. Joseph Komonchak of the Catholic University of America.
   
   This is worth reading, even if the style is not the most limpid. You will meet someone who was part of the Council. Cardinals Ruini and Ratzinger (now Benedict XVI) prefer to see the Council more as a continuity than does Alberigo and the Bologna school. He sees the council as an overcoming of the Constantinian and Post-Tridentine traditions.
   
   Stephen Palmer