Customer Rating: 
Summary: The Most Beautiful Villages of Ireland
Comment: Perfect! Just what I had in mind and the person I gave it to liked it a lot! Great pictures!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Breathtaking
Comment: This is a fantastic coffee table book. The photographer has captured so much color in each photograph, you almost expect some sort of visual explosion -- how can such a dynamically variegated palette be contained in a single picture?! The whitewashed cottages, the blue-green sea, the dun colored old castle walls... even the street signs are beautiful. I myself am half of Irish descent, and half of Italian descent. Although I must confess that in culinary terms, my Italian forebears had considerably more "on the ball" than my Irish ancestors, this book makes me appreciate some of the beauties that Ireland itself has to offer. It makes me determined to visit it at some point.The book is divided into four parts. Each traditional ancient Irish kingdom has its own section -- Ulster, Leinster, Connacht, and Munster. Each section is also followed by a brief photographic essay, dealing with such topics as "Ancient Ireland," "Bar and Shop Fronts," and "Painted Villages." At the end, there is a useful map, a travellers guide complete with phone numbers and addresses of Inns and hostels, and a very handy little bibliography.
I would just like to also recommend, for anyone with an interest in Irish history, "The Atlas of Irish History" by Sean Duffy. It is out of print, but you should ask your local librarian if he or she can find it, using OCLC or inter-library loan. If, like me, you have Irish blood in you, you will be familiar with the feeling of being quite alienated from the broader sweep of European history prior to the settlement of America. I once looked in the index of an encyclopedia, and actually found more entries on Native Americans, who of course are considered to be a marginalized people, than I could find on the Irish. This book, and the atlas I recommended, can help remedy that situation, and "The Most Beautiful Villages of Ireland" can beautify any home. Two thunbs up -- check this one out.
