The plot is foremost in this action-packed tale about four boys marooned on an island off the coast of Ireland. Also on the island is a famous hidden treasure, the golden ox god of the Druids and a thoroughly nasty villain who will stop at nothing to get it. What makes this otherwise predictable story memorable is the woman's husband, a weak-willed alcoholic who is ironically nicknamed "The Captain." He is the one who carries out his wife's cold-hearted decrees, first imprisoning the plucky boys, then forcing them to excavate the tomb of the Druids, and finally sealing them there alive. Readers witness the struggle between the man's residual decency to his powerful wife. First published in England in 1966, the story relies heavily on conventions of the adventure genre, but achieves its thrills through suspense rather than gore. In the end, the boys triumph, just as readers happily suspected they would from the first scary moment. I personaly recomend that due to least complexed sentences that this is the perfect book for little children.

This book is absolutely wonderful. Walter MacKen tells the story of a young Irish boy with wonderful detail and clarity. The book is full of wonderful, cruel ironies, and gives a vivid picture of the Connemara countryside in Ireland. Anyone who has every visited this majestic land should read this book, and even if you haven't it is a great pleasure to read.

Walter Macken brings the early 1800s in Ireland alive. The poverty, deprivation, hopelessness...and eternal spirit of the Irish are very real. He is vivid in his descriptions and I felt the horror of the second crop failure as if I were standing in the field discovering it. If you are of Irish descent and had forbears who came to America at this time, this is a must read for you. Their courage left me awed.

On the surface, this book appears to be the standard 'orphaned kids with the mean step-uncle run away to grandma's' but it is much more than that. With MacKen's laying this tale subtly over the Irish rebellion of the 1920's, we see England-born Finn also rediscover his Irish heritage. On his journey, we find ourselves realizing along with him that sometimes what is 'right' and what is 'legal' don't always coincide. [Note: sometimes this book is compared to Disney's 'Escape to Witch Mountain'. Please keep in mind that, unlike Disney, and aside from a brother and sister as main characters, the characterizations in this book are deeper, the writing is better, and nobody gets married and sings at the end.]

This book holds fond memories for me. It has whispered to me over the years and now I am happy to know that, through technology, I will hold it in my hands and read it to my children! Read this to a child... they will benefit!

I have read this book to each of my classes over the past 8 years, students from 8 to 10 years old have hugely enjoyed the journey that they undertake with Finn and Derval.A true classic with many unforgettable characters, I treasure my well worn copy!!

As a fan of Fantasy/Sci-Fi, this book was a good read during a recent trip to Ireland. Mr. Macken weaves a terrible time in Irish history (Cromwell's march through the Ireland sacking and looting) into a work of fiction that is part heroic epic, part Catholic religious teaching, and part pure allegorical myth-making.

As a non-Catholic and only part Irish American, this was interesting for it's descriptions of the role the church played during these times and the descriptions of day-to-day life in the Connemara countryside during the mid to late 17th centruy.

This is more Michael Moorcock than it is Oxford History, though...

If you could lie on a beach on Galway Bay and read a novel, this would be a great choice. This is part of a trilogy Mr. Macken wrote before his untimely death at age 52(?). The other two novels cover more recent periods in Irish history.