Product Description

The rebellion that set Ireland free, told as a graphic novel. The 1916 Easter Rising was an attempt by a small group of militant Irish republicans to win independence from Britain. It was the most significant rebellion in Ireland. Though a military failure, it set Ireland on the road to freedom from Britain. The book covers the story from the early planning to the final executions and includes the tragic romance between Joseph Plunkett and Grace Gifford. Following on from the success of political graphic novels such as Maus and Persepolis, this is accessible, informative and insightful history at its best.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #211840 in Books
• Published on: 2009-10-05
• Binding: Paperback
• 48 pages

Customer Reviews

Informative, skilfully executed
A very lively and informative (but, alas, too short) look at the events during and around Easter 1916 in Dublin. Some compression is unavoidable when dealing with an action-packed few days and a cast of hundreds, so the story can be a little confusing at times. For example, a reader unfamiliar with Irish history would be left wondering why Plunkett has just emerged from hospital at the start of the flashback narrative around page three, when there has been no previous allusion to sickness or injury to him.

Where the book really scores is in the depiction of the street fighting that ensued after the rebellion began. This is skilfully executed and hugely vivacious.

Warmly recommended.

A lot of unlucky Irish comics fans are going to get this in their Christmas stocking...
While I can see that the idea of depicting the Easter Rising (Dublin, 1916) in "graphic novel" form might be a good one, this book sadly and consistently fails to do any kind of justice to its subject.

The history itself is relayed fairly clearly, if without any particular flair. Where the book falls completely on its face is in its attempt to tell that story in comics form. The writer/artist seems to have given no thought to his subject as a story. The drawing ranges in quality from mediocre to inept. There is no sense of design or conscious intention of any kind in the way the pages are presented. Everything seems to have been prepared and assembled in the most haphazard way by an author singularly unequipped for the task he set himself. An unfortunate mess.