- Paperback: 624 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins; New Ed edition (17 July 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0006388906
- ISBN-13: 978-0006388906
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 395,792 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
The first, intimate portrait of the Orange Order.
If there is any more controversial body of men (and, with the exception of Ruth Dudley Edwards, who has been admitted to an honorary position in her very own lodge, they are all men) in the British Isles, it is hard to think who they might be. To most outsiders, grown men parading in bowler hats, white gloves, coloured sashes or collarettes, rolled umbrellas and banners showing scenes from the Old Testament or from a war that ended three centuries ago, are anachronistic, silly and provocative; to their enemies they are triumphalist bigots; to most of their members, the lodges’ parades are a commemoration of the courage of their forefathers, a proud declaration of their belief in civil and religious freedom, a demonstration of their Britishness, a chance to catch up with old friends and a jolly day out.
Ruth Dudley Edwards is an unlikely Joan of Arc for the Orangemen, but that she is; a trusted and liked sympathizer, a woman, a Catholic from southern Ireland; one who sees them as possibly rather bumptious and certainly their own worst enemy, endlessly outpaced by the nimble Republicans in terms of PR (which the Orangemen scorn to meddle with). She has written a fond but not uncritical, indeed rather exasperated, portrait of this tribe, with lashings of insider detail and revelation which no one else could hope to obtain.
From the Back Cover
'No outsider has travelled into the heart of Orangeism with a mind so open and ears so attentive as Ruth Dudley Edwards…In the course of her quite amazing journey, this Dublin middle-class academic of Catholic background, has absorbed and revelled in the culture of what she would call true Orangeism. With a combination of vivid contemporary journalism and deep historical scholarship, she has managed to portray Orangeism's beating heart – through its turbulent and bloody history and its monumental afternoon teas'
KEVIN MYERS 'Sunday Telegraph'
'The depth of [Dudley Edwards] learning and the breadth of her sympathy, make this a compelling book, the product of genuine free thinking and spare, fine writing. Few books published this year will have the charm, learning, wisdom and humanity of 'The Faithful Tribe'
MICHAEL GROVE 'The Times'
'Ruth Dudley Edwards' portrait of the loyal institutions – the Orange Order, Apprentice Boys and Royal Black Preceptory – is engrossing and illuminating…her account should convince the open-minded that they have far greater virtues and a stronger case than is normally recognised.'
STEPHEN HOWE 'New Statesman'
'An important and timely book. It should be required reading for those who pontificate on Drumcree. It will probably be assailed on both sides, which in Northern Ireland amounts to something of a critical success'
MAURICE HAYES 'Irish Independent'
'Dr Edwards has ensured that even if readers don't agree with the Orangemen's stand, at least they may better understand it'
PETER TAYLOR
'Dudley Edwards has got closer to the Orange Order than any outsider'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
From the point of view of the average Orangeman this is an excellent piece of work in that it articulates the sense of frustration and disbelief he feels concerning the demonisation of an organistation that really does believe it stands for Civil and Religious liberty. There are those who will brand Dudley Edwards an apologist and she has clearly fallen under the spell of many Orange families. I clearly recognise families like my own. What I feel she fails to do is to confront forcefully enough, the unease many Orangemen feel with elements within their own 'broad church'. To wit, the ABOD, the Blood and Thunder movement and the yobbish element in Belfast. From a personal point of view I also believe that the links with the Scottish Orange family are not as well developed as they could be(both the positive and negative aspects) Full marks, however, to Harper Collins for taking this project on board. I hope they continue to publish authors who confront the accepted orthodoxy of Irish Pan nationalist historiography and political writing. (2, 1/2)
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Though I have lived in Northern Ireland for many years and know a number of Orangemen, some of whom I would count as very good friends, there were still lots of things that I learned as a result of reading this book. It is a sympathetic insight from an outsider looking in who is surprised and delighted to discover that Orangemen are real people and nothing like the demonised badboys of extremist Irish Republican mythology. She does point out that on occasion Orangemen have not been well served by their leaders or their hostility to the media. At times she voices her frustration at the ability of members of the Order to literally walk into traps laid for them by those who do not wish them well. But this is clearly a story that needed to be told and it is told in a spirit of kindness and generosity. It will enable anyone wanting to know more about the inner dynamics of this aspect of Northern Ireland's "Protestant culture" to be well informed as well as entertained.
16 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A must for any serious scholar of the troubles and the Orange Order. This book goes beyond the headlines and into the ordinary lives of the Orange family. A fair and balanced factual view, the best yet written about this much misunderstood group of people.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
An Intertesting Read
I've not yet finished the book but what I have read so far has been an interesting Even handed and open account of the Loyal Orange Order and it's members. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Herneoakshield
Fascinating
Having bought the book recently I have to say that once I started reading it, I couldn't leave it down. Read more
Published on 27 Feb 2010 by Gary Middleton
Abysmal
This is about the worst book I have ever read in the general Northern Ireland bibliography. In its whitewashing of the dark side of Orangeism it plunges new depths of propagandist... Read more
Published on 18 Aug 2007 by A reader
Missed chance
A very interesting subject treated in a much too biased way and totally lacking an in-depth analysis of the phenomenon. Could do much more in more than 600 pages of writing...
Published on 13 Feb 2004
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