Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion - Hardcover

Townshend, Charles

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 156663704X ISBN 13: 9781566637046

Publisher: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher, 2006

Synopsis

Ireland’s Easter Rising of 1916 is one of the handful of modern historical events that instantly created its own mythology and changed millions of lives forever. Charles Townshend's remarkable new book vividly re-creates this extraordinary time when, as Irish insurgents rose up and occupied Dublin, as British artillery retaliated ferociously and flattened the city center, as the last haggard rebels surrendered and their leaders were shot, a powerful narrative was born and Ireland was launched into a new world. Scraping away layer upon layer of myth, Easter 1916 reveals an Ireland polarized, confused, and fearful, hovering on the brink of war between Nationalists and Unionists, and presenting Britain with a seemingly insoluble problem. With the world’s attention on the First World War, a group of exceptional Irish men and women—from the eloquent intellectual Patrick Pearse to the revolutionary socialist James Connolly—decided to take the actions that turned a peaceful provincial city into a bloody battleground and then into a national capital. The repercussions of these events we still feel today. With 8 pages of black-and-white photographs.

About this title

About the Author

Charles Townshend is professor of international history at the University of Keele in England, where he has built a reputation as one of the world's foremost authorities on the history of Ireland and especially the relationship between Ireland and Britain. His books include The British Campaign in Ireland, 1919–1921; Political Violence in Ireland; Ireland: The Twentieth Century; Terrorism: A Very Short Introduction; and Desert Hell: The British Invasion of Mesopotamia.

Review

Enthralling and definitive . . . he writes with soldierly clarity but also delivers an emotional punch. (Roy Foster Times Literary Supplement)

The definitive account. . . . The book is fantastically detailed yet wonderfully readable. (John Banville Guardian)

Authoritative and compelling. . . . He writes with great clarity and has mined a formidable array of primary source material. (The Irish Times)

Townshend is the first author to use the full compendium of the Irish Bureau of Military History records. (Historywire)

Vivid, authoritative and gripping, Easter 1916 is a major work. (Word Power)

Remarkably evenhanded and insightful. . . . The definitive study of the topic for all students of Irish History. (CHOICE)

The author may or may not have seen active military service but his interpretation of small unit actions and close-in fighting is sharp and realistic. (John H. Carroll Catholic News Service)

Peeling back the mythology to uncover the history. (Martin Zimmerman San Diego Union-Tribune)

Summarizes some forty years of scholarship on the topic, adding its own dramatic flair and insights. . . . A quite vivid reenactment. (Library Bookwatch)

Marvelously rendered. . . . Townshend strips away . . . myth and tells the real story, which intensifies with the truth. (Blue Ridge Business Journal)

Edition details

• Publisher: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 156663704X
• ISBN 13: 9781566637046
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 480