Product Description

One evening in 1951, an itinerant storyteller arrives unannounced and mysterious at a house in the Irish countryside. By the November fireside, he begins to tell the story of this extraordinary land. One of his listeners, a nine-year-old boy, grows so entranced by the storytelling that, when the old man leaves, he devotes his life to finding him again. It is a search that uncovers both passions and mysteries, in his own life as well as the old man's, and their solving becomes the thrilling climax to this tale. But the life of this boy is more than just his story: it is also the telling of a people, the narrative of a nation, and the history of Ireland in all its drama, intrigue and heroism. "Ireland" travels through the centuries by way of story after story, from the savage grip of the Ice Age to the green and troubled land of tourist brochures and news headlines. Along the way, we meet foolish kings and innocent monks, god-heroes and great works of art, shrewd Norman raiders and envoys from Rome, leaders, poets and lovers. Each illuminates the magic of Ireland, the power of England and the eternal connection to the land.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #98212 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

Review
'A beautiful book' EDWARD RUTHERFURD * 'An absolute masterpiece. With this extraordinary novel, Frank Delaney joins the ranks of the greatest of Irish writers' JACK HIGGINS *'Hugely entertaining, truly epic and quite irresistible' SUNDAY INDEPENDENT *'If you're a lover of Irish myths and history, there are rich pickings here' GUARDIAN 'If only all history books were written by Frank Delaney. He adopts the discipline of meticulous research and historical fact in his latest novel, Ireland, but he has the ability to hook the reader into the dialogue and so enables one to visualise events

SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY
'One of the most engaging, enjoyable reads I have come across all year'

GUARDIAN
'If you’re a lover of Irish myths and history, there are rich pickings here'

Customer Reviews

As good as being there
Frank Delaney has pulled off the near impossible task of transporting the reader to an Irish fireside in the 1950s. This book recreates and retells the story of Ireland from her own myths and folklore through the tales of an itinerant storyteller and his most devoted fan.

I don't know how it would affect someone who wasn't raised on these wonderful tales but as someone who was I felt proud and moved and enthralled, just like the hero of the story, Ronan.

Can't recommend this highly enough. If you are English, you should read it just to find out who is living next door. You'll be amazed and thrilled, I hope.

Wonderful
This book was a joy from start to finish. It evoked every emotion in me, from sadness, wonderment, awe and happiness. Through the authors descriptive writing I was taken on a journey through time and I remembered stories I was told long ago as a child.

As an ex-pat I embraced this book from the beginning and it didn't disappoint, it gave me my own piece of Ireland on every page.

With books like this, our sense of history and love of storytelling will never die.

a very interesting & entertaining read!
This is a really enjoyable read from start to finish. The writing is very descriptive and it details key moments in the history on Ireland through a very moving and clever story. I found this book very entertainitng as well as interesting so its well worth a read if you ask me. Just dont be put off by the word history as its really very very good!