{"title":"Kevin O'connell","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"why-i-hate-the-yankees-book-kevin-o-connell-9781592287635","title":"Why I Hate the Yankees","description":"Why I Hate the Yankees offers a humorous take on the most beloved--and at the same time, most reviled--franchise in American professional sports. The book attempts to answer the question: Do we hate the Yankees merely because they always win, or is there more to it than just that?     The authors deconstruct the origins of the so-called Yankee mystique, offer countless examples of Yankee arrogance, and critique the Yankees' easy-way-out business model whereby they merely outspend other teams for talent. The authors leave no one exempt from blame, parodying the Yankees' fans, players, and overbearing owner, and questioning the motives of the national media and Major League Baseball.      The tongue-in-cheek narrative is interspersed with revealing quotes from Yankee players, fans, media members, and other writers.     A must-read for any hater--or lover--of the Yankees.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":50697545548049,"sku":"NGR9781592287635","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50764553650449,"sku":"CIN1592287638G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52504595202321,"sku":"GOR009128519","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52970473718033,"sku":"NLS9781592287635","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1592287638.jpg?v=1777112418"},{"product_id":"beyond-derrynane-book-kevin-o-connell-9780997407600","title":"Beyond Derrynane","description":"\u003cp\u003eWed in an arranged marriage to a man nearly fifty years her senior, sixteen-year-old Eileen O'Connell goes from being one of five unmarried sisters to become the mistress of Ballyhar, the great estate of John O'Connor, one of the wealthiest and most influential men in Ireland.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhen O'Connor dies suddenly seven months into their marriage, Eileen must decide whether she will fulfil her brother's strategic goals for her family by marrying her late husband's son.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHeadstrong and outspoken, Eileen frustrates her brother's wishes, as, through the auspices of her uncle, General Moritz O'Connell of the Imperial Austrian Army, she, along with her ebullient elder sister, Abigail, spend the ensuing richly-dramatic and eventful years at the court of the Empress Maria Theresa in Vienna.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe sisters learn to navigate the complex and frequently contradictory ways of the court, and succeed in making a place for themselves in a world far different from remote Derrynane. Together with the general, they experience a complex life at the pinnacle of the Habsburg Empire.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDerrynane \u003c\/em\u003e and the three books to follow, which will together constitute \u003cem\u003eThe Derrynane Saga \u003c\/em\u003e- promise to be an enthralling series of historical novels, presenting a sweeping chronicle, set against the larger drama of Europe in the early stages of significant change, dramatising the roles, which have never before been treated in fiction, played by a small number of expatriate Irish Catholics of the fallen Gaelic Aristocracy at the courts of Catholic Europe, as well as relating their complex, at times dangerous, lives at home in Protestant Ascendancy-ruled Ireland. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn addition to Eileen's, the books trace the largely-fictional lives of several other O'Connells of Derrynane, it is the tantalisingly few facts that are historically documented about them which provide the basic threads around which the tale itself is woven, into which strategic additions of numerous historical and fictional personalities and events intertwine seamlessly.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52741161124113,"sku":"NIN9780997407600","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53626031898897,"sku":"CIN0997407603G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780997407600.jpg?v=1763486481"},{"product_id":"two-journeys-home-book-kevin-o-connell-9780997407617","title":"Two Journeys Home","description":"\u003cp\u003eIt's now the late-Summer of 1767. As the eagerly anticipated sequel to \u003cem\u003eBeyond Derrynane \u003c\/em\u003eopens, having spent almost six eventful years at the court of Maria Theresa, Eileen O'Connell has availed herself of a fortuitous opportunity to travel back to Ireland.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHer vivacious personality matched only by her arresting physical presence, Eileen returns to Derrynane this time not as a teenage widow but, rather, as one of the most recognised figures at the glittering Habsburg court. Before departing Ireland several months later she experiences a whirlwind romance, leading to a tumult of betrayal and conflict within the O'Connell clan. Once back in Vienna she unexpectedly finds her responsibilities as governess to the youngest Habsburg archduchess now linked to relations between France and Austria.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAbigail, rather than being eclipsed by her colourful younger sister, has instead ascended to the vaulted position of principal lady-in-waiting to Empress Maria Theresa. No longer just a girl from deep in Kerry, she is a beloved - and powerful - figure at court.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHugh O'Connell, the youngest of the large family, leaves behind waning adolescence and a fleeting attraction to the youngest archduchess when he begins a military career in the Irish Brigade of the armies of Louis XV. But, perhaps as a foreshadowing of his adult life and career, more royal entanglement awaits him in France ...\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the continuing saga, the O'Connells will confront intrigue, romance - even violence. Despite their innate wisdom, cunning and guile, what their futures hold remains to be seen.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith his uniquely-descriptive prose, Kevin O'Connell again deftly weaves threads of historical fact and fancy to create a colourful tapestry affording unique insights into the courts of eighteenth-century Catholic Europe as well as Protestant Ascendancy-ruled Ireland. Watch as the epic unfolds amongst the O'Connells, their friends and enemies, as the tumultuously-dangerous worlds in which they dwell continue to gradually - but inexorably - change.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlong with\u003cem\u003e Beyond Derrynane, Two Journeys Home\u003c\/em\u003e - and the two books to follow in \u003cem\u003eThe Derrynane Saga - \u003c\/em\u003ecomprise an enthralling series of historical novels, presenting a sweeping chronicle, set against the larger drama of Europe in the early stages of significant change, dramatising the roles, which have never before been treated in fiction, played by a small number of expatriate Irish Catholics of the fallen Gaelic Aristocracy at the courts of Catholic Europe, as well as relating their complex, at times dangerous, lives at home in an Ireland still controlled by the \u003cem\u003eSassenach\u003c\/em\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn addition to Eileen's, the books trace the largely-fictional lives of several other O'Connells of Derrynane, it is the tantalisingly few facts that are historically documented about them which provide the basic facts which give rise to the tale, into which strategic additions of numerous historical and fictional personalities and events mesh seamlessly.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53035408326929,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":53035408621841,"sku":"NIN9780997407617","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780997407617.jpg?v=1768748008"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-kevin-o-connell.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}