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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  santhony | Sep 25, 2008 |  Honestly, this book probably deserves a 4-star rating, but my expectations of Rutherfurd are higher than most hist. fiction authors, based on hist terrific "London" and "Sarum" . "Rebels" is the sequel to his "Princes of Ireland", but you don't have to read "Princes" to fully enjoy this work. Together, they form "The Dublin Saga". Note that these works appear under other titles ("Dublin: Foundation" and "Ireland: Awakening" are, I believe, "The Princes of Ireland" and "The Rebels of Ireland", respectively). Rutherfurd's works read like several short novels tied together by family threads as he moves through history, so don't let the size put you off. You can read about a three families in late 1700s Ireland, set it aside for awhile, and then pick it up later to read about their descendants in the early 1800s. However, once you've started, you probably won't want to set it aside. Rutherfurd does his usual splended job of presenting well researched history from the viewpoint of totally plausable fictional families and individuals. Historical characters move through these stories, and historical events drive them. And all the while, you develop a personal interest in what happens to these people and how their progeny turn out. The connections between generational stories seemed a bit more forced than in his best work, making the narrator as history teacher a bit more obvious. But this is a small complaint compared to the epic tale he has to tell, and the importance of the historic events that unfold in this novel. You'll see why the "Irish" Irish felt as they did about the English; why the English felt as they did about the Irish, and how the "English:" Irish and "Irish" English (not to mention the Scots-Irish) covered the spectrum from revolutionary to merchant to aristocrat to ruler. And through the lives of these families, you'll see that a simple "Protestant" vs "Catholic" explanation of the troubles in Ireland doesn't come close to explaining the hows and whys of the last 300 years of Ireland's relationship with England and it's own peoples. (  ) Osbaldistone | Aug 30, 2008 | unread susan11 | Jan 1, 2008 | Rutherfurd's Rebels of Ireland completes his two-volume epic saga of Ireland. The emerald isle posed a challenge for Rutherfurd, who normally sweeps across thousands of years in a single volume. The Rebels of Ireland is unusual in that it commences quite late in the day - 1534 and continues through Irish independence in 1922 - a mere four centuries! In his standard style Rutherfurd follows the fortunes and machinations of several families through Irish history. We meet Oliver Cromwell, Robert Emmet, Wolfe Tone, Daniel O'Connell, and Charles Stewart Parnell. Rutherfurd takes us through the Flight of the Earls, the Battle of the Boyne, the skedaddling of the Wild Geese, the Famine, and the Great Migration to America. Rutherfurd gives a fascinating description of how some families, especially those with aspirations, would more or less choose or at least encourage one son to convert to Protestantism so as to have one foot in each camp - in particular one foot in the official church of the elite. The Rebels of Ireland necessarily lacks the full epic scope of Rutherfurd's other works and feels a bit cramped as a result. Not at the top of my personal Rutherfurd favorites, but well worth the read. Recommended for fans of Rutherfurd or any reader with an interest in Irish history. By the way, if you enjoy historical novels about Ireland also try the excellent "IRELAND: A Novel" by Frank Delaney. (  ) dougwood57 | Nov 10, 2007 | A travel through Irish history by following families and how they are connected. I really enjoyed this book. It is a very long read. (  ) Fourborne | Sep 12, 2007 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0345472365, Paperback)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. (retrieved from Amazon Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:54:53 -0500) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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Wikipedia in English (1)
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. (