Rebel Hearts

A profoundly personal and chilling close-up of the IRA and its effects on those it wounds and is wounded by. A riveting read. ―BooklistFor ten years Kevin Toolis investigated the lives of the IRA soldiers who wage a secret battle against the British State. His journeys took him from the back kitchens of Belfast where men joked while making two-thousand-pound bombs to prisons for interviews with men serving life sentences and to the graveyards where mourners weep. Each chapter explores a world where history faith and human savagery determine life and death. At once moving and harrowing Rebel Hearts is the most authoritative and insightful book ever written on the IRA.The rebel heart is as romantic as it is violent and Toolis has captured its pulse in prose that often approaches poetry. —San Francisco ChronicleA powerful book passionate and compelling beautifully composed and written. ―The Christian Science MonitorAn intimate and knowledgeable portrait of the IRA. ―The New York TimesCombining a reporter''s eye for anecdotes with a sophisticated appreciation of the politics and personalities at play in Europe''s longest-running conflict Toolis has created a narrative that is both entertaining and illuminating. ―The Boston GlobeSmall societies with big troubles often spawn remarkable books and this one on the IRA by Toolis a British journalist of Irish descent is one of the best. ―Kirkus Reviews