Edward Rutherfurd's stirring account of Irish history, the Dublin Saga, concludes in this magisterial work of historical fiction. Beginning where the first volume, The Princes of Ireland, left off, The Rebels of Ireland takes us into a world transformed by the English practice of "plantation," which represented the final step in the centuries-long British conquest of Ireland. Once again Rutherfurd takes us inside the process of history by tracing the lives of several Dublin families from all strata of society – Protestant and Catholic, rich and poor, conniving and heroic.From the time of the plantations and Elizabeth's ascendancy Rutherfurd moves into the grand moments of Irish history: the early-17th-century "Flight of the Earls," when the last of the Irish aristocracy fled the island; Oliver Cromwell's brutal oppression and confiscation of lands a half-century later; the romantic, doomed effort of "The Wild Geese" to throw off Protestant oppression at the Battle of the Boyne. The reader sees through the eyes of the victims and the perpetrators alike the painful realities of the anti-Catholic penal laws, the catastrophic famine and the massive migration to North America, the rise of the great nationalists O'Connell and the tragic Parnell, the glorious Irish cultural renaissance of Joyce and Yeats, and finally, the triumphant founding of the Irish Republic in 1922.
Written with all the drama and sweep that has made Rutherfurd the bestselling historical novelist of his generation, The Rebels of Ireland is both a necessary companion to The Princes of Ireland and a magnificent achievement in its own right.
Octor Simeon Pincher knew all about Ireland. Doctor Simeon Pincher was a tall, thin, balding man, still in his twenties, with a sallow complexion and stern black eyes that belonged in a pulpit. He was a learned man, a graduate and fellow of Emmanuel College, at Cambridge University. When he had been offered a position at the new foundation of Trinity College in Dublin, however, he had come thither with such alacrity that his new hosts were quite surprised.
"I shall come at once," he had written to them, "to do God's work." With which reply, no one could argue.
Not only did he come with the stated zeal of a missionary. Even before his arrival in Ireland, Doctor Pincher had informed himself thoroughly about its inhabitants. He knew, for instance, that the mere Irish, as the original native Irish were now termed in England, were worse than animals, and that, as Catholics, they could not be trusted. But the special gift that Doctor Pincher brought to Ireland was his belief that the mere Irish were not only an inferior people, but that God had deliberately marked them out--along with others, too, of course--since the beginning of time, to be cast into eternal hellfire. For Doctor Simeon Pincher was a follower of Calvin.
To understand Doctor Pincher's version of the subtle teachings of the great Protestant reformer, it was only necessary to listen to one of his sermons--for he was already accounted a fine preacher, greatly praised for his clarity.
"The logic of the Lord," he would declare, "like His love, is perfect. And since we are endowed with the faculty of reason, with which God in His infinite goodness has bestowed upon us, we may see His purpose as it is." Leaning forward slightly towards his audience to ensure their concentration, Doctor Pincher would then explain.
"Consider. It is undeniable that God, the fount of all knowl-edge--to whom all ages are but as the blinking of an eye--must in His infinite wisdom know all things, past, present, and to come. And therefore it must be that even now, He knows full well who upon the Day of Judgement is to be saved, and who shall be cast down into the pit of Hell. He has established all things from the beginning. It cannot be otherwise. Even though, in His mercy, He has left us ignorant of our fate, some have already been chosen for Heaven and others for Hell. The divine logic is absolute, and all who believe must tremble before it. Those who are chosen, those who shall be saved, we call the Elect. All other, damned from the first, shall perish. And so," he would fix his audience with a terrible stare, "well may you ask: 'Which am I?'"
The grim logic of John Calvin's doctrine of predestination was hard to refute. That Calvin was a deeply religious and well-meaning man could not be doubted. His followers strove to follow the loving teachings of the gospels, and to live lives that were honest, hardworking, and charitable. But for some critics, his form of religion ran a risk: its practice could become unduly harsh. Moving from France to Switzerland, Calvin had set up his church in Geneva. The rules governing his community were sterner than those of the Lutheran Protestants, and he believed that the state should enforce them by law. Following their strict moral regime--and reporting their neighbours to the authorities for any failure to live according to God's law--his congregation did not only seek to earn a place in Heaven, but also to prove to themselves and to the world that they were indeed the predestined Elect who had already been chosen to go there.
Soon Calvinist...
Reviews
Maeve Binchy...
The Princes of Ireland: "A giant, sprawling, easy-to-read story told in James Michener fashion."
New York Times...
"A sweeping, carefully reconstructed portrait of a nation . . . Leaps through the centuries."
Booklist...
"Spellbinding . . . [A] page-turning Dublin saga . . . Rutherfurd does a magnificent job of packaging a crackling good yarn within the digestible overview of complex historical circumstances and events."
New York Times...
London: "Remarkable . . . Grand."
The Times (London)...
"Hold your breath suspense, buccaneering adventure, and passionate tales of love and war."
San Francisco Chronicle...
"Fascinating . . . A sprawling epic."
Orlando Sentinel...
"A tour de force . . . Breathtaking."
Chicago Tribune...
Sarum: "Bursts with action, encyclopedic in historic detail . . . supremely well crafted and a delight to read."
San Francisco Chronicle...
"A richly imagined vision of history, written with genuine delight."
Houston Chronicle...
Russka: "An example of how a skillful historical novelist can illumine the present by dramatically re-creating the past."
New York Daily News...
"Rutherfurd literally personifies history."
Boston Globe...
"As entertaining as Sarum and Rutherfurd's other sweeping novel of British history, London."
St. Louis Post-Dispatch...
"The Forest is Michener told with an English accent."
Digital Rights Information
OverDrive WMA Audiobook
Burn to CD:
Not permitted
Transfer to device:
Permitted (6 times)
Transfer to Apple® device:
Permitted
Public performance:
Not permitted
File-sharing:
Not permitted
Peer-to-peer usage:
Not permitted
All copies of this title, including those transferred to portable devices and other media, must be deleted/destroyed at the end of the lending period.
