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The Rebels of Ireland: The Dublin Saga | 
 enlarge | Author: Edward Rutherfurd
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy Used: $1.07
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Rating:  27 reviews
Sales Rank: 17630
Media: Paperback
Pages: 896
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.7
ISBN: 0345472365
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780345472366
ASIN: 0345472365
Publication Date: February 27, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: Visible shelf wear -- may have some notes/markings on pages
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Product Description
The reigning master of grand historical fiction returns with the stirring conclusion to his bestselling Dublin Saga.
The Princes of Ireland, the first volume of Edward Rutherfurd’s magisterial epic of Irish history, ended with the disastrous Irish revolt of 1534 and the disappearance of the sacred Staff of Saint Patrick. The Rebels of Ireland opens with an Ireland transformed; plantation, the final step in the centuries-long English conquest of Ireland, is the order of the day, and the subjugation of the native Irish Catholic population has begun in earnest.
Edward Rutherfurd brings history to life through the tales of families whose fates rise and fall in each generation: Brothers who must choose between fidelity to their ancient faith or the security of their families; a wife whose passion for a charismatic Irish chieftain threatens her comfortable marriage to a prosperous merchant; a young scholar whose secret rebel sympathies are put to the test; men who risk their lives and their children’s fortunes in the tragic pursuit of freedom, and those determined to root them out forever. 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--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.” In vivid tones Rutherfurd re-creates Grattan’s Parliament, Wolfe Tone's attempted French invasion of 1798, the tragic rising of Robert Emmet, the Catholic campaign of Daniel O’Connell, the catastrophic famine, the mass 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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 22 more reviews...
"I come not to send peace, but a sword." February 28, 2006
Luan Gaines (Dana Point, CA USA)
56 out of 62 found this review helpful
This is the most recent volume of Rutherfurd's Dublin Saga, the last of which, The Princes of Ireland, covered over a thousand years of Irish history as lived through the early ancestors of a group of families: the O"Byrne's, descended from the Kings of Ireland; the MacGowan's, craftsmen and merchants; the Harold's and the Doyle's, Viking families who settled and comprised a segment of the farmer and merchant classes; the Walshes, ancestors of Flemish knights who settled in Wales rather than continue on their journey; and the Tidy's, an assortment of craftsmen, merchants and local officials. Although this volume is weighty, Rutherfurd's particular talent in the telling of the past is the humanizing of his characters as they evolve, their fortunes changing with the centuries, Ireland transformed by the ripe opportunities offered to the new English settlers and the problems that ensue from the establishment of English colonies on Irish soil.
Historical fiction is at its most effective when the personal narratives of the characters offer insights into a country at a time when families' divided loyalties are caught in the juggernaut of a centuries-long conquest of Ireland by the English and the concomitant religious turmoil that ensues when Protestantism and Catholicism collide. The beleaguered island is not only the site of the great historical events portrayed in this novel, but also the smaller daily dramas of individuals shaped by the passions of their beliefs and a quest for freedom from oppression and religious tolerance at any cost. Sprinkled among the family dramas and political conflicts, are the more intimate details of men and women who want prosperity and security for their families, drawn by fate into the religious and political dynamic that so defines much of Irish history. These narratives are made memorable by the personal trials and tribulations of each family swept up in the turbulence of history.
In this volume, from the late 16th to the early 20th centuries, Ireland teems with ambitions, great and small, cataclysmic events and rebellions that redefine the face of a country whose great soul is the source of inspiration and myth, a vast mosaic of individuals who endure the inevitable, the deep scars of religious wars, the fortunes of peasant and aristocracy, medieval merchants and rebel sympathizers, anti-catholic penal laws, the great famine, intrusive governments, foreign invasions and a culture of gifted writers. The Rebels of Ireland is a remarkable achievement, sifting through the bounty and detritus of history, the result an engaging recreation of lives bound by grief and blood, political intrigues and the enduring spirit of patriotism. Luan Gaines/ 2006.
 A Lively PhD in Irish History April 29, 2006
Gary Griffiths (Los Altos Hills, CA United States)
32 out of 32 found this review helpful
At the risk of understatement, "The Rebels of Ireland" is an epic novel, a big and bold production akin to the film spectaculars of Cecil B. DeMille's in the 50's. That Rutherfurd's saga of Ireland is spun from a passion for the Emerald Isle is evident, as the sheer length and detail will limit commercial success. But you need not be an aficionado of Irish history to appreciate and enjoy this grand tale. Picking up where the 2004 "The Princes of Ireland" leaves off, Rutherfurd takes us through generations of bitter religious conflict, wars, treachery, and famine, starting in 1597 and closing in the early 20th century. But it is by no means necessary to read "Princes" before tackling this one - the stories stand alone - and the author provides a helpful 15 page introduction bridging the preceding ten or twelve centuries. But "Rebels" is much richer than a mere historical chronicle. It is a vibrant, living, story of families and emotions, of trusts forged and broken. If history were an funereal, then this is definitely the Irish wake-version. Rutherfurd is often compared to Michener for all the right reasons, but I've found all of Rutherfurd's novels leaving Michener a bit dull and lifeless by comparison. In short, a mighty achievement of well-researched history brought to life in compelling and gripping fiction - a great novel to kick back and savor slowly over the course of a few weeks.
An ambitious effort to encapsulate over 2,000 years of one of the world's most colorful and contentious countries March 27, 2006
Bookreporter.com (New York, New York)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
The history of Ireland is one of literature's favorite themes. No country lends itself more to tales of mysticism, romance, heraldry, and fierce battles over land and ideology than this small, rocky island in the north Atlantic. The first thousand years of its turbulent history were covered in Edward Rutherfurd's THE PRINCES OF IRELAND, where he chronicled the mystical and tumultuous saga of the Irish High Kings, and the craftsmen, farmers and servant families who served them.
In THE REBELS OF IRELAND, Rutherfurd continues his sweeping saga, centered in Dublin and the Wicklow Mountains. The novel picks up after the ill-fated Irish Revolt of 1534, when British forces vanquished the ill-equipped Irish. The land grab begins as English yeomen are brought in to remove and replace Irishmen on the centuries-old land holds. Cromwell's cataclysmic invasion of minds and souls in the mid-1600s sets the stage for the religious conflicts that have shrouded Ireland's past and predestined its dark future in waves of savage war and tenuous peace, which continue into modern times.
In REBELS, the heirs to the High Kings and numerous other heirs of the early characters in PRINCES are followed through the struggles beginning in 1597 through the early 20th century. Rutherfurd pays particular attention to the era surrounding the infamous potato famine in the mid-1800s, resulting in the starvation of more than a million people and ultimately in the Irish Diaspora, which led several millions of Irish emigrants to the Continent, America and Australia.
An overarching theme is the role played in the subjugation by the British, not only in their attempt to grab Ireland's land, but to annihilate the Irish Catholics through literal starvation of the body as well as their minds. So long as they remained Catholic, they were denied the vote, not allowed schooling past early elementary school, and could not hold title to lands. Only through conversion to the Church of Ireland or Presbyterianism would they be allowed to elevate their position in life. This subjugation guaranteed that they would never hold more than menial jobs and be forever under the brutal heel of the aristocracy and British Ascendancy. The treatment paralleled the American conduct toward the American Indians and blacks of a similar period.
Rutherfurd's ambitious effort to encapsulate (if that is a proper description of two weighty novels encompassing over 2,000 years and nearly as many pages) one of the world's most colorful and contentious countries succeeds in the same way as his prior novels. As in SARUM, LONDON and THE FOREST, he uses a generational saga to focus his historical precision light on one place over many centuries.
For historical novel buffs, THE REBELS OF IRELAND weaves together the threads of the complicated tapestry that is Ireland into a more complete illustration. The complexities of the societal upheavals are clearly shown through the lives of the well-drawn characters through the generations. The novel ends with the rise of Sinn Fein and the Irish Republican Army in the 1920s.
The regrettable conflicts of the mid-20th century and the remarkable gains of the past two decades continue to fascinate historians. Perhaps it is too early to commit the modern history-making events in Ireland to anything but the front pages and the evening news. Nothing will relegate it to the dustbins of history, however. Some historian, be it Rutherfurd or another scribe, will surely look upon these two books as touchstones for presenting the last century when enough time has passed to see it in perspective.
--- Reviewed by Roz Shea
The best Rutherfurd to date October 3, 2006
Steven M. Anthony (Arkansas)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
I've read all of Edward Rutherfurd's work and have enjoyed it all. However, I'm convinced that Rebels of Ireland is his best effort to date. In trying to ascertain why this may be, I have come to the conclusion that the condensed time frame captured by the book (around 300 years as opposed to the thousands of years in his previous efforts) may be the key.
Many of Rutherfurd's earlier books were in the mold of Michener, and while Rutherfurd is good, in my opinion, he is not the equal of Michener in taking a story from prehistory to the present day. Especially where Rutherford tries to tie together family units through centuries, the result is often confusing and hard to follow.
However, in the case of Rebels of Ireland, Rutherfurd is given the time necessary to develop characters and story lines to extents not available in his earlier works. The subject matter is engrossing, especially to one who has actually travelled to and toured the Emerald Isle. The chapter on the potato famine of the 1800s was heart breaking in its vivid portrayal of mass starvation through the eyes of a poor Irish family in County Clare.
Religious turmoil and English domination are certainly the cornerstones of Irish history through the period canvassed by the novel. For those not familiar with contemporary Irish history, this book would be an excellent primer. If you enjoy this novel, I would recommend Russka, another novel by Rutherfurd dealing with Russian peasantry. Rutherfurd's other work (Sarum, London, The Forest and Princes of Ireland), while entertaining and certainly worthwhile, are not the equal of the other two.
Excellent historical fiction! October 30, 2006
S. E. Duke (Bradenton, FL USA)
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
Rutherfurd is outstanding in the genre of historical fiction- reminiscent of Michener- and this is a terrific follow-up to Princes of Ireland. Highly recommended for anyone interested in Irish history; this book is both interesting and informative.
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