| Title | : | Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory In Northern Ireland |
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| ISBN | : | - |
| Format Type | : | and 2 more , Kindle, with membership trial , Hardcover, Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | - |
Winner of the Orwell Prize for Political Writing 2019, shortlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction 2019, a Time’s number one Best Nonfiction Book of 2019 and New York Times best seller.
One night in December 1972, Jean McConville, a mother of 10, was abducted from her home in Belfast and never seen alive again. Her disappearance would haunt her orphaned children, the perpetrators of this terrible crime and a whole society in Northern Ireland for decades.
In this powerful, scrupulously reported book, Patrick Radden Keefe offers not just a forensic account of a brutal crime but a vivid portrait of the world in which it happened. The tragedy of an entire country is captured in the spellbinding narrative of a handful of characters, presented in lyrical and unforgettable detail.
A poem by Seamus Heaney inspires the title: 'Whatever You Say, Say Nothing'. By defying the culture of silence, Keefe illuminates how a close knit Irish society fractured; how people chose sides in a conflict and turned to violence; and how, when the shooting stopped, some ex combatants came to look back in horror at the atrocities they had committed, while others continue to advocate violence even today.
Say Nothing deftly weaves the stories of Jean McConville and her family with those of Dolours Price, the first woman to join the IRA as a front line soldier, who bombed the Old Bailey when she was barely out of her teens; Gerry Adams, who helped bring an end to the fighting but denied his own IRA past; Brendan Hughes, a fearsome IRA commander who turned on Adams after the peace process and broke the IRA's code of silence; and other indelible figures. By capturing the intrigue, the drama, and the profound human cost of the Troubles, the book presents a searing chronicle of the lengths that people are willing to go to in pursuit of a political ideal and the ways in which societies mend or don't in the aftermath of a long and bloody conflict.
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory In Northern Ireland Reviews
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I grew up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. This is the best book I have read about that period. Painstakingly researched and written with clarity its factual approach highlights the horror of that period. Where it is really strong is in its exploration of how people
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Even if you have only a passing interest in Irish history, or modern history generally, don't miss this book. It is engaging from beginning to end, following the lives of a small group of terrorists to tell the story of the troubles in Northern Ireland.
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Informative book of an horrific period of Irish history and the fight for a unified Ireland. Interesting to read about the characters who were determined to unite Ireland and the lengths they went to, plus the personal consequences for them and the people of Ireland.
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Likes the explanation of the IRA inner workings. Didn’t like the hypocrisy of all of the players
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A brilliant book, got me into it from the first page. I would give it an extra star if i could.
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Quite simply, a masterpiece of nonfiction Hikds it’s own against almost any nonfiction works if the last 10 years no problem!Captures quintessential N.Ireland & doesn’t miss a beat of it’s true crime aspect yet somehow manages to transcend both.
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This was a rivetting read. Contemporary history. Although I lived through this period albeit in a different country I found this book explained 'the troubles' forensically, and provided me with the information to understand this period of war in our modern times.
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Gripping account of a difficult period in irelands history.
