Product Description

The history of Dublin is that of the whole island of Ireland. Best-selling author, Edward Rutherfurd has lived in Dublin for the past decade; with the help of some of Ireland's leading historians, he has researched this epic and groundbreaking novel of the city. Rutherfurd managed to encapsulate the drama of Salisbury, Moscow, London and the New Forest in one volume in his previous best-sellers "Sarum", "Russka", "London" and "The Forest". But such was the wealth of new material uncovered for this volume, Rutherfurd has taken the unprecedented step of splitting the hardback publication in two. The first of the two books, "Dublin: Foundation", will take us from prehistory, the High Kings of Tara, the Viking invasion, the machinations of Henry II and the greed of Henry VIII to the burning of the saint's relics in front of Christchurch cathedral in 1538. At the end of this majestically sweeping narrative, Rutherfurd effectively closes the story of the 'Irish' Irish: the descendants of Fingall and Cuchulainn, the princes and Kings of Tara of Brian Boru and the spiritual descendants of Patrick himself. The second novel, "Dublin: Ascendancy" taking the story of Dublin from the 16th Century will appear in 2006 and in 2007. The two volumes will be combined in a single volume in Arrow paperback.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12199 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 1216 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Few authors are as ambitious as Edward Rutherford. And Dublin: Foundation, the first of a massive two-part epic, is possibly Rutherford's most challenging undertaking yet--and (on the evidence of this first book) could well be his most considerable achievement. Rutherford's sheer readability belies his obvious seriousness. His arm-straining volumes may cover every possible variety of human experience (couched in historical backgrounds of immense detail and authenticity), but he remains a storyteller of no mean skills. From the early books that made his name (notably the much-acclaimed Sarum), through to the more recent blockbuster London, the author has combined a panoramic, Homeric vision with a James-Joyce like concentration on the minutiae of everyday life; the results of this synthesis are brought to perfectly honed effect in Dublin: Foundation.

Parallels with Joyce's Dublin are not appropriate here, though. The scope is far wider and stretches back into history. Beginning in Pre-Christian Ireland as the Kings of Tara reigned autocratically, we encounter the lovers Prince Conall and the beautiful Deidre. An army sized dramatis personae surround the lovers, representing every player in a turbulent era. We are shown many of the key events in Irish history, with parts for Saint Patrick, the Nordic savagery of the Vikings and the battles with the cunning Henry VIII. As this operatic volume ends with the approach of the Reformation, the orchestration of narrative commands total respect. --Barry Forshaw

From the Publisher
The second part of the Irish epic from the bestselling author of Sarum, Russka, London and Dublin.

From the Inside Flap
Following the critically acclaimed success of Dublin, this riveting sequel takes the story of Ireland from the 17th century onwards. Ireland: Awakening picks up where the former left off – at the Reformation, and with it, the devastating arrival of Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell heralds the inauguration of two hundred years of Protestant dominance, throughout which many of the Irish people were impoverished and dispossessed.Dublin is made a Protestant capital, and Catholics become an underclass.

Set against the dramatic backdrop of Irish political history, the novel revisits family dynasties such as the Walshes and the Doyles, whose epic voyages through the centuries continue right the way up to the twentieth century’s Easter Rising and Independence, passing through turbulent milestones such as The Year of the French and The Independence Movement of Parnell along the way. But literature does not entirely give way to history; the encroaching of the Celtic Dawn and the timeless worlds of W.B. Yeats and James Joyce are also paid rich tribute to, and bring this powerful saga to its conclusion.

Customer Reviews

A collection of spellbinding tales
I have to admit that I was initially put off both by the cheek of this book trying to cover so much history, and by the sheer size of it! I eventually got over that reaction mainly because the early history of Ireland is one of my fascinations, and I'm very glad I did.

I think Dublin can best be thought of as a series of much shorter novels, rather than a monolothic whole. Each of those mini novels is fascinating from a historical perspective and utterly compelling as a work of fiction. The author really does have the knack of painting full characters very quickly, and they draw you into the story.

The only criticism I would have is that the bridging sections between those mini-novels are sometimes a little awkward, reading like a clumsy history lesson. A couple of times I noticed myself being forcibly reminded of the author's presence in these sections before being sucked into another wonderful story.

In summary, though, Dublin is an excellent book - one you'll read much quicker than you expect to!

Gets better as it goes on
For readers of his other works the format is just the same as before i.e. telling the stories via generations of families with the pluses and minus associated with it. In my case the gripe would be the the disappearance of a character whose exploits I particularly enjoyed.

Nevertheless, the real story is about Dublin and I believe the author has managed to create a much more interesting and detailed picture of Dublin life (and that of counties) than in "London". This may be because Dublin is smaller and thus the reader is able to keep better track of unfamiliar places and how they evolve over time. Either way, it is very well done.

Unfortunately, much of the early parts are comprised of patchy historic records and thus the author has scope for poetic licence which is used in abundance. As a result the book could have done with a bit more editing at the beginning to prevent it drifting. This is in stark contrast to the harshness and succinct writing towards the end whilst Ireland was under the English Monarchy and clearly more historic literature was available.

I would recommend this book just for a better understanding of how the English asserted their dominance on foreign lands by encouraging the local power brokers to sign up to something they didn't really understand the full consequences of - a ploy used again and again during the building of the Empire.

All in all a great book and I look forward to part two which I hope will continue in the same vein as part one finished.

A brilliant read
I bought this book on a whim waiting for a flight. I could not put it down. This is an engaging book, do not be put off by the size of this novel. I will be purchasing the sequel as I must know how the future generations continue their prideful journeys.