Easter 1916: The Irish Rebellion
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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. Irish Times Townshend is the first author to use the full compendium of the Irish Bureau of Military History records. Historywire.Com 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 Townshend provides the most comprehensive and considered account of the rising, set in its time and place. -- Paul O'Brien Socialist Review Anyone interested in Irish history, of whatever political views, should be grateful to [Townshend] for pulling this material together and ... for the wealth of detail. Livejournal Easter 1916 brings to life the group of remarkable men and women whose actions changed their nation forever. -- Mark Mitchell Newsfromnowhere.Org This is a crisply written, balanced, and well-organized study. Journal Of Military History Townshend's is a dramatic story excellently told...that brings the reader back on the streets of the capital as a series of events changed forever how people on the island of Ireland would live their lives. Dublin Sunday Times [Easter 1916] is not an under-studied topic, but Townshend handles it with a mastery of the background and the sources that makes his work exceptional. -- Michael Howard Times Literary Supplement
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
Before Easter 1916 Dublin had been a city much like any other British city, comparable to Bristol or Liverpool and part of a complex, deep-rooted British world. Many of Dublin's inhabitants wanted to weaken or terminate London's rule but there remained a vast and conflicting range of visions of that future: far more immediate was the unfolding disaster of the First World War that had put 'home rule' issues on ice for the duration. The devastating events of that Easter changed everything. Both the rising itself and-even more significantly-the ferocious British response ended any sense at all that Dublin could be anything other than the capital of an independent country, as an entire nation turned away in revulsion from the British artillery and executions. As we approach the 90th anniversary of the rebellion it is time for a new account of what really happened over those fateful few days. What did the rebels actually hope to achieve? What did the British think they were doing? And how were the events really interpreted by ordinary people across Ireland? Vivid, authoritative and gripping, Easter 1916 is a major work.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The Easter Rising of 1916 was the most significant event in modern Irish history, yet most accounts I have come across up to now have been fairly biased either for or against the rebels. This is an excellent and objective history of the events of the Rising, with a detailed analysis of the background, the key personalities and the evolution of the main ideas of the time, which I found fascinating.
Townshend meticulously assesses the value and truthfulness of various sources he cites, and the confusing picture he paints of the planning of the Rising reflects the realities of the time. The last chapter is an insightful analysis of the legacy of the Rising and the disputes over its meaning by later generations, as well as an attempt to put it in an international context.
The only criticisms I have are that he deals quite quickly with the executions of the leaders, although he does discuss the impact of them, and his writing style is less fluid than some other historians. If you are looking for an easy read, Tim Pat Coogan's account might suit you better, although it's not as detailed.
Regardless of your political views, this is a great book which certainly gave me a better understanding of how modern Ireland was created.
Townshend meticulously assesses the value and truthfulness of various sources he cites, and the confusing picture he paints of the planning of the Rising reflects the realities of the time. The last chapter is an insightful analysis of the legacy of the Rising and the disputes over its meaning by later generations, as well as an attempt to put it in an international context.
The only criticisms I have are that he deals quite quickly with the executions of the leaders, although he does discuss the impact of them, and his writing style is less fluid than some other historians. If you are looking for an easy read, Tim Pat Coogan's account might suit you better, although it's not as detailed.
Regardless of your political views, this is a great book which certainly gave me a better understanding of how modern Ireland was created.
12 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In his preface, the author identifies the absence for over eighty years of a truly academic work on the events surrounding the Easter Rebellion in Dublin in 1916.
Whilst this book has very high standards in presenting the information, this is no 'high brow' work intended only for the few. It is very readable indeed, and the opening three chapters on 'Revolutionism', 'The Militarization of Politics' and 'England's Difficulty', bring clarity to the background to the relationships between the various Irish political and social institutions that became the conduits for the rebellion. Indeed the Irish dilemma is put in its historical context very effectively and the vibrant (if not impulsive) personalities of some of the participants shine through.
The student and researcher will in reading this book, find new gems of insight that will add to the understanding of the rebellion. The clarity of writing style and explanation of the political dynamics both inside and outside Ireland ensures that the reader can understand the rebellion in a logical way. No mean achievement in following the progress of any revolutionary story, being so often a hostage to fortune and usually no respecter of a planned timetable of events.
For the serious student of Irish history this is a long overdue book and it expands insights and background which have until now been diluted over many worthy books by other authors.
However the general reader must not be discouraged by what appears from the preface and the author's self proclaimed intention, of producing a definitive work on the subject. This can imply it will be academic and therefore tough going but nothing could be further from the truth. It is highly recommended.
As with all books on the 1916 rebellion, keep a large scale city map of Dublin to hand. It rewards the investment particularly when following the military actions in what is a battlefield site.
Michael McCarthy
Editor, "The Battle Guide"
Guild of Battlefield Guides.
Whilst this book has very high standards in presenting the information, this is no 'high brow' work intended only for the few. It is very readable indeed, and the opening three chapters on 'Revolutionism', 'The Militarization of Politics' and 'England's Difficulty', bring clarity to the background to the relationships between the various Irish political and social institutions that became the conduits for the rebellion. Indeed the Irish dilemma is put in its historical context very effectively and the vibrant (if not impulsive) personalities of some of the participants shine through.
The student and researcher will in reading this book, find new gems of insight that will add to the understanding of the rebellion. The clarity of writing style and explanation of the political dynamics both inside and outside Ireland ensures that the reader can understand the rebellion in a logical way. No mean achievement in following the progress of any revolutionary story, being so often a hostage to fortune and usually no respecter of a planned timetable of events.
For the serious student of Irish history this is a long overdue book and it expands insights and background which have until now been diluted over many worthy books by other authors.
However the general reader must not be discouraged by what appears from the preface and the author's self proclaimed intention, of producing a definitive work on the subject. This can imply it will be academic and therefore tough going but nothing could be further from the truth. It is highly recommended.
As with all books on the 1916 rebellion, keep a large scale city map of Dublin to hand. It rewards the investment particularly when following the military actions in what is a battlefield site.
Michael McCarthy
Editor, "The Battle Guide"
Guild of Battlefield Guides.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The book is obviously well researched and interesting from an academic perceptive but the writing style is not fluid. It gets bogged down in the fine detail (particularly in the run up to the rising), historians may appreciate this but after a while I found it fairly pointless and boring. The fleeting description of the executions (which were critical moments in Irish history) was puzzling when as mentioned other relatively mundane episodes merited greater coverage.
I would recommend to those studying Irish history (at a reasonably advanced level) but it would be essential to counterpoint it with the many other books covering the Easter Rising.
I would recommend to those studying Irish history (at a reasonably advanced level) but it would be essential to counterpoint it with the many other books covering the Easter Rising.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Very informative and unbiased
In my opinion this book is the most informative and really gives a detailed account as to what was going on in Dublin and the rest of the country at that time. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Jwc10
Detailed & Unbiased Account of 1916
If you want a detailed and unbiased history of the Easter Rising then this is a good starting point. Read more
Published 12 months ago by King Eric
Heavy going
This book gives the air of being an academic thesis - with numerous references to other publications - which represents an impressive amount of research but makes for pretty... Read more
Published 13 months ago by G. M. Brown
A Very Good Book about one of the Defining Events of Modern History.
Easter 1916 by Charles Townshend is a very good book about the Irish rebellion over the Easter week of 1916. Read more
Published 22 months ago by HBH
British view of the Irish Rising
If you are looking for a pejorative British view of the Irish Rising of 1916 this is the book. British historian Townshend minimizes the long Irish struggle for independence and... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Chesapeake
A masterful study of the Easter Rising
Few events in modern Irish history are as pivotal as the 'Easter Rising', the dramatic seizure of the General Post Office and other parts of Dublin that marked the declaration of... Read more
Published on 12 Jun 2008 by Mark Klobas
A detailed work marred by bias
Townshend's book offers a detailed & well-researched account of the 1916 rebellion. A transparent prose style gives the book an air of authority & significance. Read more
Published on 1 Jun 2008 by Interested layman
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