The Thomas Flanagan Trilogy Series by Thomas Flanagan

In 1798, Irish patriots, committed to freeing their country from England, landed with a company of French troops in County Mayo, in westernmost Ireland. They were supposed to be an advance guard, followed by other French ships with the leader of the rebellion, Wolfe Tone. Briefly they triumphed, raising hopes among the impoverished local peasantry and gathering a group of supporters. But before long the insurgency collapsed in the face of a brutal English counterattack... moreIn 1798, Irish patriots, committed to freeing their country from England, landed with a company of French troops in County Mayo, in westernmost Ireland. They were supposed to be an advance guard, followed by other French ships with the leader of the rebellion, Wolfe Tone. Briefly they triumphed, raising hopes among the impoverished local peasantry and gathering a group of supporters. But before long the insurgency collapsed in the face of a brutal English counterattack.Very few books succeed in registering the sudden terrible impact of historical events; Thomas Flanagan's is one. Subtly conceived, masterfully paced, with a wide and memorable cast of characters, The Year of the French brings to life peasants and landlords, Protestants and Catholics, along with old and abiding questions of secular and religious commitments, empire, occupation, and rebellion. It is quite simply a great historical novel. less

The latter half of the nineteenth century; Ireland, England, America--the sweep of The Tenants of Time is epic, yet the effect, page by page, is to create a telling intimacy. One believes in these tenants of time. The powerful and the humble, the rich and the dispossessed--they have an unforgettable life here, in and beyond fiction... moreThe latter half of the nineteenth century; Ireland, England, America--the sweep of The Tenants of Time is epic, yet the effect, page by page, is to create a telling intimacy. One believes in these tenants of time. The powerful and the humble, the rich and the dispossessed--they have an unforgettable life here, in and beyond fiction.The action evolves in a complex web that takes us into the vast estates of the aristocracy, peasant cottages, sleepy market towns, Dublin, London, the immigrants' New York and Chicago. But the web begins in Kilpeder, the seat of the Earls of Ardmor, where three friends--Hugh MacMahon, Robert Delaney, and Edward Nolan--are among the sixty young men who take part in the Rising there: an advance on the headquarters of the Royal Constabulary and a retreat to Clonbrony Wood and surrender. But the experience of that single day, from dawn to nightfall, seals a bond between the three friends that determines the course of their lives. less

Set in Ireland at the time of the Troubles, during the watershed year of 1919, Thomas Flanagan's epic The End of the Hunt chronicles the years following World War I, in which the British attempted to put down once and for all the centuries-old dream of an independent Ireland... moreSet in Ireland at the time of the Troubles, during the watershed year of 1919, Thomas Flanagan's epic The End of the Hunt chronicles the years following World War I, in which the British attempted to put down once and for all the centuries-old dream of an independent Ireland.On the pages of this gripping novel, we are transported from the smoky pubs of Dublin, where men argue eloquently but action has the final word, to the Irish countryside, where lonely roads become paths to the grave as fast as a rifle shot; from stately manors, where an ancient way of life is threatened, to the gleaming London conference table, where men like Lloyd George and Winston Churchill play games of power, tainting the triumph of their Irish opponents; through the painful dilemmas and grievous losses of men and women for whom old certainties have been splintered and new sides must be chosen. The End of the Hunt is fiction of a very high order. It brings us face-to-face with history as it was made, and life as it was given and lost. less