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Gerry Adams: An Unauthorised Life
Loathed, loved, terrorist to some, brilliant political strategist to others - what do we make of Gerry Adams? Malachi O'Doherty, one of Northern Ireland's most fearless journalists and writers, has gone further than anyone else to disentangle it all in this impressively measured and stylishly written biography - an illuminating read.’ - Professor Marianne Elliott
How did Gerry Adams grow from a revolutionary street activist – in perpetual danger of arrest and assassination – into the leader of Sinn Féin, with intimate access to the British and Irish Prime Ministers and the US President? And how has he outlasted them all?
Drawing on newly available intelligence and scores of exclusive interviews, Malachi O’Doherty’s meticulously researched biography sheds light on the history of this extraordinary shape-shifter. O’Doherty grew up on a 1950s Belfast housing estate, behind IRA barricades in his teens, and witnessed the start of the Troubles first hand; he is uniquely placed to expose the real man behind the myths in this compelling study.
O’Doherty’s experience as a journalist – at the BBC, on Belfast’s newspapers, as correspondent for the Scotsman during the peace process, and as a commentator on Northern Irish affairs for the New Statesman – informs this authoritative account of one of the world’s most controversial politicians.
How did Gerry Adams grow from a revolutionary street activist – in perpetual danger of arrest and assassination – into the leader of Sinn Féin, with intimate access to the British and Irish Prime Ministers and the US President? And how has he outlasted them all?
Drawing on newly available intelligence and scores of exclusive interviews, Malachi O’Doherty’s meticulously researched biography sheds light on the history of this extraordinary shape-shifter. O’Doherty grew up on a 1950s Belfast housing estate, behind IRA barricades in his teens, and witnessed the start of the Troubles first hand; he is uniquely placed to expose the real man behind the myths in this compelling study.
O’Doherty’s experience as a journalist – at the BBC, on Belfast’s newspapers, as correspondent for the Scotsman during the peace process, and as a commentator on Northern Irish affairs for the New Statesman – informs this authoritative account of one of the world’s most controversial politicians.
368 pages, Paperback
Published September 7, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 20, 2017
O'Doherty is a well known commentator and has always been consistent in his condemnation of armed struggle, thereby a thorn in the side of the Republican movement for many years, which for me made this a very interesting read.
No need to go in to the complexities of the subject's persona and its changes over the last 40 or more years, or in to the claims and denials about his past, but this well researched book on the one hand makes uncomfortable reading for those with an affinity for Adams, while at the same time holds an admiration for someone who has lasted at the top of his game for so long.
No doubt, given the latest developments in Adams' own career, this book will prove to be a hit over the holiday period. It'll be interesting now to see whether or not the predictions O'Doherty makes about what will happen to the party after his retirement ring true.
No need to go in to the complexities of the subject's persona and its changes over the last 40 or more years, or in to the claims and denials about his past, but this well researched book on the one hand makes uncomfortable reading for those with an affinity for Adams, while at the same time holds an admiration for someone who has lasted at the top of his game for so long.
No doubt, given the latest developments in Adams' own career, this book will prove to be a hit over the holiday period. It'll be interesting now to see whether or not the predictions O'Doherty makes about what will happen to the party after his retirement ring true.
January 17, 2018
Very detailed information but the book suffers from the authors disdain of the subject. It is possible to dislike the person you are writing about and still do a credible and critical book, but this is so clearly a hatchet job that it does a disservice to both Malachi O'Doherty's viewpoint and to Gerry Adams's life.
April 12, 2021
I usually have difficulty feeling such distaste for a book that I put it down unfinished. But this book accomplished that for me. To be honest I'm surprised I even made it 180 pages in.
If you're looking for a way to understand modern Irish republicanism or the history of the island through the prism of one of its most notorious and influential political leaders, I beg you to look elsewhere.
Gerry Adams lives rent-free in Malachi O'Doherty's head - but not in a good way. O'Doherty is so dripping with contempt for his subject matter that the book comes across as not just snide or hypercritical, which I could put up with, but as downright unprofessional and unjournalistic and un-whatever else would cast doubt on the historical, literary, or educational merit of this book.
The author constantly poses counterfactuals and unsolicited opinions by starting paragraphs with "some people say" followed by his own crudely stated, polemical opinion. These paragraphs are never followed by footnotes, not that it wasn't already obvious that O'Doherty was just offering his own (again, unsolicited and unmerited!) two cents. These asides are so ubiquitous and unending that it at times makes the book's narrative remarkably hard to follow.
At other times O'Doherty will cite some public appearance of Adams and respond to what he sees as the wrongheadedness in what Adams says. The problem is that O'Doherty rarely, RARELY uses direct quotations. So, even if I wanted to read a journalist shadow-boxing with a politician he doesn't like - which I emphatically don't, I thought I signed up to read a *biography* - it's hard to tell whether O'Doherty is responding to what Adams has said or whether it's O'Doherty responding to what he *wants* Adams to have said. It's exhausting and a waste of pages.
I'm fine with a biographer having an opinion of his subject... that's inevitable. I'm fine with a biographer holding their subject in some measure of contempt - as long as that contempt doesn't get in the way of the actual telling and analysis of someone's life and legacy. A great example of a successful, though hostile, biography is Stephen Kotkin's biographies of Stalin. Kotkin is a known conservative and obviously dislikes Stalin (join the club), yet his biographies of the man are some of the most well researched, balanced, and academically rigorous on the subject. O'Doherty's work on Gerry Adams could not be further from this paradigm... to the point of his book being, at the risk of repeating myself, nigh unreadable.
While I realize that O'Doherty isn't an academic, he doesn't even meet journalistic standards of truth-telling. This book reads like a tabloid hit - or worse, a tabloid opinion article - with some biographical facts sprinkled in. Again, the author's complete disdain for his subject and supercilious tone throughout makes this a slog. A slog I couldn't bear. I beg readers to please, please find a different book to read about Gerry Adams.
If you're looking for a way to understand modern Irish republicanism or the history of the island through the prism of one of its most notorious and influential political leaders, I beg you to look elsewhere.
Gerry Adams lives rent-free in Malachi O'Doherty's head - but not in a good way. O'Doherty is so dripping with contempt for his subject matter that the book comes across as not just snide or hypercritical, which I could put up with, but as downright unprofessional and unjournalistic and un-whatever else would cast doubt on the historical, literary, or educational merit of this book.
The author constantly poses counterfactuals and unsolicited opinions by starting paragraphs with "some people say" followed by his own crudely stated, polemical opinion. These paragraphs are never followed by footnotes, not that it wasn't already obvious that O'Doherty was just offering his own (again, unsolicited and unmerited!) two cents. These asides are so ubiquitous and unending that it at times makes the book's narrative remarkably hard to follow.
At other times O'Doherty will cite some public appearance of Adams and respond to what he sees as the wrongheadedness in what Adams says. The problem is that O'Doherty rarely, RARELY uses direct quotations. So, even if I wanted to read a journalist shadow-boxing with a politician he doesn't like - which I emphatically don't, I thought I signed up to read a *biography* - it's hard to tell whether O'Doherty is responding to what Adams has said or whether it's O'Doherty responding to what he *wants* Adams to have said. It's exhausting and a waste of pages.
I'm fine with a biographer having an opinion of his subject... that's inevitable. I'm fine with a biographer holding their subject in some measure of contempt - as long as that contempt doesn't get in the way of the actual telling and analysis of someone's life and legacy. A great example of a successful, though hostile, biography is Stephen Kotkin's biographies of Stalin. Kotkin is a known conservative and obviously dislikes Stalin (join the club), yet his biographies of the man are some of the most well researched, balanced, and academically rigorous on the subject. O'Doherty's work on Gerry Adams could not be further from this paradigm... to the point of his book being, at the risk of repeating myself, nigh unreadable.
While I realize that O'Doherty isn't an academic, he doesn't even meet journalistic standards of truth-telling. This book reads like a tabloid hit - or worse, a tabloid opinion article - with some biographical facts sprinkled in. Again, the author's complete disdain for his subject and supercilious tone throughout makes this a slog. A slog I couldn't bear. I beg readers to please, please find a different book to read about Gerry Adams.
December 6, 2025
Gerry Adams: An Unauthorised Life by Malachi O’Doherty is a sharp, engrossing portrait of one of the most controversial figures in modern Irish history. O’Doherty, writing as a seasoned journalist and observer rather than an official biographer, pieces together Adams’s public life, alleged IRA connections, and political reinventions with a blend of scepticism and narrative flair. The result is a book that feels investigative yet highly readable, offering a vivid sense of Adams as both symbol and strategist.
What makes the book particularly compelling is the way it probes the gap between Adams’s denials about his IRA role and the weight of testimony, context, and circumstantial evidence surrounding him. O’Doherty highlights how Adams helped reshape the republican movement, moving it from armed struggle toward electoral politics, while also questioning the cost and moral ambiguities of that journey. The tone is critical but not simplistic, and the focus on media performance, myth‑making, and memory adds depth beyond straightforward political biography.
For a reader who enjoys political history and character-driven narrative, this biography is both thought-provoking and entertaining. It leaves you with a richer sense of the complexities of the Northern Irish peace process and of Adams himself, without pretending that all the contradictions can be neatly resolved.
What makes the book particularly compelling is the way it probes the gap between Adams’s denials about his IRA role and the weight of testimony, context, and circumstantial evidence surrounding him. O’Doherty highlights how Adams helped reshape the republican movement, moving it from armed struggle toward electoral politics, while also questioning the cost and moral ambiguities of that journey. The tone is critical but not simplistic, and the focus on media performance, myth‑making, and memory adds depth beyond straightforward political biography.
For a reader who enjoys political history and character-driven narrative, this biography is both thought-provoking and entertaining. It leaves you with a richer sense of the complexities of the Northern Irish peace process and of Adams himself, without pretending that all the contradictions can be neatly resolved.
January 25, 2024
Gives some details about his life that I didn’t already know, but it was hard to get over the author’s bias - I suppose this is probably inevitable since no one in Ireland is neutral on Gerry Adams, but all the same there wasn’t much of an attempt at neutrality which I would have liked in a Biography. The author criticises the IRA much more than any other involved group, with detail of every IRA murder and only two sentences on Bloody Sunday, and brief mentions of other British atrocities. He’s obsessed with the question of Adams’ membership of the IRA and every second page seems to have some reference to his denials, so much so that he overlooks the relevance, or irrelevance of the question. Either way he was heavily involved and exerted a huge influence over them.
February 12, 2019
Wow, what a man. Love him or hate him, it's amazing to think of the power and influence one man has had over a country for more than half a century. This book tells it all, from his most successful highs to his most shameful lows. Although maybe tells it all isn't inaccurate, as I'm sure there's a wealth of secret material out there that we'll never hear about. Regardless, Gerry Adams has proven to be one of the most fascinating individuals I've read about. I'm sure if he was depicted as a fictional character the way this book portrays him, he'd be among the most complexly crafted characters in literature.
July 15, 2023
I can’t quite put my finger on why this book was written, and I don’t feel is was solely for the disdain the author has of the subject but you can tell that is there in the background and sometimes creeps into the foreground.
After reading a lot about “The Troubles” I wanted to find out more about Gerry Adams and although this is well written with some unquestionable front line insight I feel it could have delivered a more rounded picture.
After reading a lot about “The Troubles” I wanted to find out more about Gerry Adams and although this is well written with some unquestionable front line insight I feel it could have delivered a more rounded picture.
April 10, 2022
Gerry Adams is a resilient politician determined to prove that endorsing terrorism is not a barrier to power. O' Doherty unlocks the combination of charm, political tactics and menace that has led Sinn Fein to power sharing, exposing the strange mixture of motives that led him to support violence and then manoeuvre to peaceful coexistence.
July 18, 2019
GREAT Book!
January 5, 2023
Excellent insight into the life of one of NI's most influential politicians
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews