Rebel Hearts: Journeys Within the IRA's Soul

For 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 Chronicle

“A powerful book, passionate and compelling, beautifully composed and written.” ―The Christian Science Monitor

“An intimate and knowledgeable portrait of the IRA.” ―The New York Times

“Combining 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 Globe

“Small 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