Rebel Hearts: Journeys Within the IRA's Soul

I have read many books on the struggles in Northern Ireland but this book stands apart from them all. Toolis has the unique ability to remain both objective and passionate about this topic. As the subtitle suggests he truly gets into the soul of the IRA. His book is based on research, interviews and perosnal experiences that could have placed Toolis himself in harms way. Some may see this as a weakness, but Toolis's conclusions are clear. Prior to reading this book I knew a lot of facts about the struggles of the IRA. After reading Toolis's book I suddenly understood some of what created and continues to fuel these struggles. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Irish History, the history of the IRA or interested in the violent struggles that mark the 20th century.

I read _Rebel Hearts_ as part of my research for my senior thesis on the Northern Question and found it better than I ever imagined. While it does indeed profile the lives of particular IRA members (as already mentioned by other reviewers), it does so much more: it delves into the psychology of how and why the IRA exists and operates. To me, this is a much bigger issue than individual biographies, as good as they are. From the book's preface, Toolis is clear about his position: he foresees peace in Ireland only through "a transfer of power away from the British Crown." He explores Irish martyrdom, politics, history, and methodology, though I would caution that this book is no crash-course on Irish history. If you are looking to know more about that subject, _Rebel Hearts_ already presumes a fair amount of knowledge. (But Toolis does include a list of abbreviations at the beginning.) Toolis delves into the link between politics and religion without browbeating the reader and he thoroughly explains the deep-seated spiritual issues that accompany the political conflicts in Northern Ireland. His compelling conclusion at the book's close gave me goosebumps as I read it: "There will be peace in Ireland and it will be a republican peace." Here, here.

Leaving this review short, I will say that "Rebel Hearts" is an amazing book. I believe that Kevin Toolis does an excellent job in telling the stories of individuals, families, and groups involved in the Troubles of Northern Ireland. I found his personal commentary made his stories more interesting. Not only is it a documentation of people's lives and experiences, but a first person account as well. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in this topic, and even those who may not be.

I first of all would have to disagree with those who found Toolis' asides about family vacations and his personal feelings to be a bad thing. I thought those insights provided a look into the author's mind and to an extent allowed the reader to take into consideration, his biases in the book. Furthermore, I found the book to be hard to put down. The accounts offered by Toolis give a real quality to the generalizations found in most texts about "The Troubles." These accounts illustrated the "madness" of both sides in their unending struggle.

I have to disagree with the reviewer above who calls Toolis "infantile." Toolis has an honesty that I think makes Americans uncomfortable, especially when it comes from a nonfiction writer. Early on, for example, Toolis talks about masturbating as a teenager, & admits he hit on one of the women he was writing about. This honesty carries on through to the end, with Toolis admitting that listening to the taped confession of an IRA turncoat made him feel sick & filthy and finally confessing that he's a "constitutional republican" - sympathetic to the IRA's ends, but repulsed by its means.The format of this book gets a little tiresome - increasingly long stretches of verbatim interview transcripts, punctuated by Toolis's own voice, which tends to sound overly dramatic. And it's hard to tell how representative any of Toolis's subjects are of the "bigger picture" in northern Ireland. But those are small criticisms when weighted against the insight imparted throughout the book.One interesting note: I attended the first U.S. forum on the recently-approved "Good Friday" agreement. David Trimble & Sinn Fein & SDLP representatives were there, as were some Irish students, and they got into a debate over the still-unresolved murder of an Irish lawyer named Patrick Finucane - an apparently still hot issue, the history of which Toolis covers in detail.