Beauty and Atrocity: People, Politics and Ireland's Fight for Peace

by Joshua Levine

An ambitious and powerful account of modern Irish history through the eyes of those who experienced it at first hand.Forty years after the Provisional IRA was formed and British troops arrived in Ireland, Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness sit together as leaders of a devolved Northern Irish government, in which Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionists share power. The Troubles appear to be over; the future promises to be quite different from the past. But recent events perhaps suggest otherwise, as old tensions rise to the forefront once more.Through countless interviews with the people from both sides that lived through, participated in and were victims of the Troubles, the author builds a picture of the attitudes and the beliefs that shaped three decades of Ireland's history. There are those whose lives have been shattered, those who have tried to ignore the realities, those who have attempted to bridge the divide, those who do not accept the peace, and some who refuse to look back at all.What emerges is a balanced and wide-ranging account that explores the struggle between ideology and compassion, how the battles and politics of centuries ago still define people's attitudes towards their neighbours today, and how political injustice and the course of time can make a complex reality seem like simple history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 3, 2009

About the author

Joshua Levine was born in the Bahamas. He has a law degree and practiced as a criminal barrister for several years in London. He gave up law and became an actor, appearing in amateur theatre productions. He also worked as an assistant producer, working on a documentary about Handel's Water Music. He wrote a stage play entitled, Crash, and went on to write programs for BBC Radio 4. He is the author of Forgotten Voices, Beauty and Atricity, On a Wing and a Prayer, Operation Fortitude, The Secret History of the Blitz, and Dunkirk.

Reviews

[Echo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like to read about history, but often, the books I read are full of dates, statistics, politicians, and other famous people. "Beauty and Atrocity" gives some background and history on the Troubles, but the bulk of it is made up of interviews with people from all walks of life in Northern Ireland. It's refreshing to see not just the facts, but how events affected real people. And if, from time to time, I had words with the people being interviewed, or if I disagreed with something Levine said . . . well, in the end, it didn't seem to matter much. I believe he genuinely tried to be objective and fair in his writing of the book, something that is no small task with this subject matter, and I think he did a decent job of it.
If you're interested in Irish history, especially the Troubles, this is a must-read book. Even if it's not your thing, you might find this book interesting all the same.

[WBH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful read

As someone who was born in Belfast and lived through the conflict, this is a wonderfully written book. Congratulations to the author. It is never an easy task. I highly recommend this book to anyone.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good intro into the history of The Troubles and ongoing tension in Northern Ireland