This lavishly illustrated book presents an informed history of the Easter Rising, one of the most significant political episodes in 20th century Irish history.

Townshend traces the dramatic events of the Easter Rebellion in Dublin in 1916, the actions and aims of the rebels, the British response to the revolt and the consequences, politically and culturally, of the uprising.

At age fifteen, Ned Halloran lost both of his parents--and almost his own life--when the Titanic sank. Determined to keep what little he has, he returns to his homeland of Ireland and enrolls at Saint Edna's school in Dublin. Saint Edna's headmaster is the renowned scholar and poet, Patrick Pearse--who is soon to gain greater fame as a rebel and patriot. Ned becomes deeply involved with the growing revolution . . . and the sacrifices it will demand. Through Ned's eyes, Morgan Llywelyn's 1916 examines the Irish fight for freedom--inspired by poets and schoolteachers, fueled by a desperate desire for independence, and played out in the historic streets of Dublin against the background of World War I. It is a story of the brave men and heroic women who, for a few unforgettable days, managed to hold out against the might of the British Empire. The Irish Century Novels 1916: A Novel of the Irish Rebellion 1921: The Great Novel of the Irish Civil War 1949: A Novel of the Irish Free State 1972: A Novel of Ireland's Unfinished Revolution 1999: A Novel of the Celtic Tiger and the Search for Peace

"Easter Dawn charts the story of the 1916 Rising, from the landing of the guns at Howth for the Irish Volunteers in 1914 to the arrests and executions that followed it. The battlegrounds that erupted across Dublin city and elsewhere in Ireland form the stage upon which a remarkable cast assembled." -- Book jacket

The Easter Rising of 1916 not only destroyed much of the centre of Dublin - it changed the course of Irish history. But how did it achieve this? What role did people from ordinary backgrounds play in the making of the Irish revolution and what motivated them to take part in it? What did the rebels think they could achieve? And what kind of a republic were they fighting for? These basic questions continue to divide historians of modern Ireland. The Rising is the story of Easter 1916 from the perspective of those who made it, focusing on the experiences of rank and file revolutionaries - a story now told for the first time. To do this, Fearghal McGarry makes use of a unique source that has only recently seen the light of day - a collection of over 1,700 eye-witness statements detailing the activities of members of Sinn Féin, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, Cumann na mBan, and the Irish Volunteers at the time of the Rising. This collection represents one of the richest and most comprehensive oral history archives devoted to any modern revolution, providing new insights on almost every aspect of this seminal period. Using this unique source, McGarry shows how people from ordinary backgrounds became politicized and involved in the struggle for Irish independence in the early years of the twentieth century. He illuminates their motives and aspirations and highlights the importance of the Great War as a catalyst for the uprising. He concludes by exploring the Rising's revolutionary aftermath, which saw the creation of an Irish parliament, Dáil Éireann, and the Irish Republican Army's armed campaign to win independence.

"A WORK OF GREAT DRAMATIC POWER climaxing in the final hundred pages where he writes a full, searing narrative of the patriot leaders' last days . . . It's powerful stuff." --The Sunday Press (Ireland) On Easter Monday of 1916, a thousand Irish men and women, armed with pikes and rifles, took over the center of Dublin and proclaimed a republic. It was a rash, doomed, symbolic uprising, and the rebel leaders knew it. Crack British troops killed and wounded hundreds of the rebels in the week of fighting, and British artillery shells left Dublin's city center in ruins. But the Rising of 1916 was not in vain. The short-lived insurrection and the subsequent executions of sixteen rebel leaders galvanized the Irish people. The overthrow of seven centuries of British rule in Ireland began on Easter Monday, 1916. In Rebels, Peter de Rosa, author of the bestselling Vicars of Christ, tells the story of the 1916 Rising in all its terror and beauty. With the dramatic flair of a novelist and the scrupulous accuracy of a professional historian, de Rosa brings to life the people, passions, politics, and repercussions of this historic event.