Jeremiah Curtin

The Mongols were the superpower of their day, erupting out of Central Asia in 1206 to conquer an empire stretching from Poland to Korea. Their arrival in the Middle East upset the very tenuous balance between Christendom and Islam, sparking a long-simmering rivalry that has, as we all know, lasted to this day. An absorbing, detailed narrative on the clans, feuds, battles, and conquests of the Mongol era, covering every aspect of Mongol intrigue, logistics, and tactics.

Thirty beguiling stories of sprites, wraiths, and specters appear here, as they were told to a Smithsonian Institution ethnographer in rural 19th-century Ireland. Stories include 'Tom Connors and the Dead Girl,' 'Maurice Griffin and the Fairy Doctor,' 'The Ghost of Sneem,' 'Tom Moore and the Seal Woman,' 'The Blood-Drawing Ghost,' and many more. Not only a valuable resource for students of anthropology and aficionados of Celtic lore, but also hours of enchantment for all lovers of folk tales.

Twenty folk tales representing hundreds of years of the collective Irish imagination transport readers to a world where everything is alive and anything can happen Vivid descriptions of battles with giants, dead men who come back to life, humans imprisoned in animals' bodies, heroes with incredible strength, and more.