Synopses & Reviews
The Princes of Ireland, the first volume of Edward Rutherfurd's magisterial Dublin Saga, ended with the disastrous Irish revolt of 1534, the appearance of Protestantism in Ireland, and the burning of the sacred Staff of Saint Patrick.
The Rebels of Ireland takes readers to an Ireland transformed by plantation a policy that encouraged English settlement and marked the final step in the centuries-long English conquest of Ireland.
A master of historical fiction, Edward Rutherfurd tells Ireland's history through the stories of families from all strata of society Protestant and Catholic, rich and poor, conniving and heroic. His richly detailed narrative brings to life watershed moments and events, from the time of plantation settlements to the "Flight of the Earls," when the native aristocracy fled the island, to Cromwell's suppression of the population and the imposition of the harsh anti-Catholic penal laws. He describes the hardships of ordinary people and the romantic, doomed attempt to overthrow the Protestant oppressors, which ended in defeat at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, and the departure of the "Wild Geese." Moving into periods of Irish history more familiar to contemporary readers, Rutherfurd re-creates Wolfe Tone's attempted French invasion of 1798, the Catholic campaign of Daniel O'Connell, the catastrophic Famine, the Great Migration to America, and the glorious Irish Renaissance of Yeats and Joyce. And through the eyes of his characters, he captures the rise of Charles Stewart Parnell and the great Irish nationalists and the birth of an Ireland free of all ties to England.
A tale of fierce battles, hot-blooded romances, and family and political intrigues, The Rebels of Ireland brings the story begun in The Princes of Ireland to a stunning conclusion.
Review
"Highly readable, this latest retelling of the Irish quest for freedom is a worthy addition to the large body of popular Irish histories." Library Journal
Review
"With a balanced and eloquent hand, Rutherfurd fleshes out his characters against the tides that washed across Ireland, examining conflicts and motives with exacting detail." San Antonio Express-News
Review
"Ambitious in scope, teeming with a huge cast of finely drawn and realized characters, and dripping with authentic historical detail, this lengthy but eminently readable narrative will satisfy the appetites of discerning historical fiction aficionados." Booklist
Synopsis
The sequel to The Princes of Ireland follows the lives and destinies of several Dublin families, both Catholic and Protestant, from all strata of society, from the sixteenth-century colonization of Ireland by the English under Elizabeth I to the founding of the Irish free state in 1922. Reprint. 200,000 first printing.
Synopsis
In this sweeping follow-up to the widely praised and popular The Princes of Ireland, Rutherfurd spins the saga of Ireland's 400-year path to independence in all its drama, tragedy, and glory through the stories of people from all strata of society.
About the Author
Edward Rutherfurd was born in Salisbury, England, and educated at Cambridge University and Stanford University in California. His bestselling novel Sarum is based on the history of Salisbury and Stonehenge. Russka, his second novel, recounts the sweeping history of Russia. London tells the two-thousand-year story of the great city, bringing all of the richness of London's past unforgettably to life. His novel The Forest is set in England's ancient New Forest. His last novel, The Princes of Ireland is the companion to The Rebels of Ireland covering the first eleven centuries of Ireland's history. Edward Rutherfurd divides his time between Dublin and New York.