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There Will Be Fire: Margaret Thatcher, the IRA, and Two Minutes That Changed History
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite History & Biography (2023)Killing Thatcher is the gripping account of how the IRA came astonishingly close to killing Margaret Thatcher and to wiping out the British Cabinet – an extraordinary assassination attempt linked to the Northern Ireland Troubles and the most daring conspiracy against the Crown since the Gunpowder Plot.
In this fascinating and compelling book, veteran journalist Rory Carroll retraces the road to the infamous Brighton bombing in 1984 – an incident that shaped the political landscape in the UK for decades to come. He begins with the infamous execution of Lord Mountbatten in 1979 – for which the IRA took full responsibility – before tracing the rise of Margaret Thatcher, her response to the ‘Troubles’ in Ireland and the chain of events that culminated in the hunger strikes of 1981 and the death of 10 republican prisoners, including Bobby Sands. From that moment on Thatcher became an enemy of the IRA – and the organisation swore revenge.
Opening with a brilliantly-paced prologue that introduces bomber Patrick Magee in the build up to the incident, Carroll sets out to deftly explore the intrigue before and after the assassination attempt – with the story spanning three continents, from pubs and palaces, safe houses and interrogation rooms, hotels and barracks. On one side, an elite IRA team aided by a renegade priest, US-raised funds and Libya’s Qaddafi and on the other, intelligence officers, police detectives, informers and bomb disposal officers. An exciting narrative that blends true crime with political history, this is the first major book to investigate the Brighton attack.
In this fascinating and compelling book, veteran journalist Rory Carroll retraces the road to the infamous Brighton bombing in 1984 – an incident that shaped the political landscape in the UK for decades to come. He begins with the infamous execution of Lord Mountbatten in 1979 – for which the IRA took full responsibility – before tracing the rise of Margaret Thatcher, her response to the ‘Troubles’ in Ireland and the chain of events that culminated in the hunger strikes of 1981 and the death of 10 republican prisoners, including Bobby Sands. From that moment on Thatcher became an enemy of the IRA – and the organisation swore revenge.
Opening with a brilliantly-paced prologue that introduces bomber Patrick Magee in the build up to the incident, Carroll sets out to deftly explore the intrigue before and after the assassination attempt – with the story spanning three continents, from pubs and palaces, safe houses and interrogation rooms, hotels and barracks. On one side, an elite IRA team aided by a renegade priest, US-raised funds and Libya’s Qaddafi and on the other, intelligence officers, police detectives, informers and bomb disposal officers. An exciting narrative that blends true crime with political history, this is the first major book to investigate the Brighton attack.
397 pages, Hardcover
First published April 4, 2023
About the author
Rory Carroll
4 books152 followersRory Carroll (b. 1972) is a journalist who started his career in Northern Ireland. As a foreign correspondent for the Guardian, he reported from the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, Africa, Latin American, and the United States. His first book, Comandante: Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela, was named an Economist Book of the Year and BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. He is now based in his native Dublin as the Guardian’s Ireland correspondent.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 596 reviews
August 11, 2025
One of the most brilliantly written books I have ever read or listened to! It brings history to life in a gripping, edge of your seat narrative.
Author, Rory Carroll, a veteran Irish journalist for The Guardian, spent 2020 - 2022 interviewing hundreds of IRA members, police investigators, politicians, and others involved with the extraordinary assassination plot against Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the UK. Carroll and his team researched court documents, memoirs, and articles to create a captivating account of the planning of the assassination, the Brighton bombing in 1984, and the meticulous manhunt to determine who installed and detonated the bomb at the Grand Hotel.
Carroll's prologue in There Will Be Fire: Margaret Thatcher, the IRA, and Two Minutes That Changed History is by far the best prologue I have ever read or heard. It reminds me of the quote by Kevin Ansbro, "A book should grab you by the lapels and kiss you into tomorrow." My lapels were up around my neck throughout this entire book. I listened to it on audiobook, and it is narrated superbly by John Keating.
The Troubles refer to the turbulent conflict in Northern Ireland between 1968 - 1998 that began with a civil rights march on Duke Street in Derry on October 5, 1968, which turned violent, and ended with the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, also known as the Belfast Agreement, on April 10, 1998. During the Troubles, 47,500 were injured, 3,700 died, 37,000 shootings occurred, and there were 16,000 bombings. 52% of the deaths were civilians.
There were Republicans who wanted the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to be one nation. There were loyalists/unionists who wanted Northern Ireland to continue to be part of the United Kingdom. There were also significant divides between Catholics and Protestants.
Oftentimes, there were multiple deaths and bombings in the same week. Some of the larger tragedies occurred on or at Bloody Sunday, Enniskillen Poppy Day, Warrenpoint, Omagh, Teebane, Greysteel, and Loughinisland.
With steel-like precision, Carroll focuses primarily on the assassination attempt on the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, who was the number one foe of the IRA (Irish Republican Army). The hunger strikes that resulted with the deaths of 10 prisoners and the execution of Lord Mountbatten in 1979 are covered, along with several other incidences to help understand the backdrop of the conflict.
Carroll describes Thatcher's interactions with US President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, President of the Soviet Union. Thatcher was strong willed and expressed her opinions forcefully. When the bomb detonated in Brighton, which was designed to kill Thatcher and her entire cabinet, there were five deaths and 30 injuries, but Thatcher was unharmed. Thatcher determined the cabinet meeting scheduled for the morning of the bomb would still be held at the Grand Hotel. Her nickname of Iron Lady is accurately descriptive.
I recently traveled to Belfast, Northern Ireland. While there, I purchased and read the book Reporting the Troubles: Journalists Tell their Stories of the Northern Ireland conflict which includes articles by 68 veteran Irish journalists.
Even though an agreement was reached in 1998, Belfast neighborhoods clearly demonstrate whether their allegiance is to the UK or to the possibility of one nation with their flags, murals, and graffiti.
Some of the murals I saw while traveling to Northern Ireland this year stated:
* Prepared for war, ready for peace.
* If I must die, you must live to tell my story.
*No one that wants peace builds walls.
I highly, highly recommend There Will Be Fire: Margaret Thatcher, the IRA, and Two Minutes That Changed History for history, politics, true crime and nonfiction readers as well as those who love fiction because this book reads like a historical thriller.
Author, Rory Carroll, a veteran Irish journalist for The Guardian, spent 2020 - 2022 interviewing hundreds of IRA members, police investigators, politicians, and others involved with the extraordinary assassination plot against Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the UK. Carroll and his team researched court documents, memoirs, and articles to create a captivating account of the planning of the assassination, the Brighton bombing in 1984, and the meticulous manhunt to determine who installed and detonated the bomb at the Grand Hotel.
Carroll's prologue in There Will Be Fire: Margaret Thatcher, the IRA, and Two Minutes That Changed History is by far the best prologue I have ever read or heard. It reminds me of the quote by Kevin Ansbro, "A book should grab you by the lapels and kiss you into tomorrow." My lapels were up around my neck throughout this entire book. I listened to it on audiobook, and it is narrated superbly by John Keating.
The Troubles refer to the turbulent conflict in Northern Ireland between 1968 - 1998 that began with a civil rights march on Duke Street in Derry on October 5, 1968, which turned violent, and ended with the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, also known as the Belfast Agreement, on April 10, 1998. During the Troubles, 47,500 were injured, 3,700 died, 37,000 shootings occurred, and there were 16,000 bombings. 52% of the deaths were civilians.
There were Republicans who wanted the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to be one nation. There were loyalists/unionists who wanted Northern Ireland to continue to be part of the United Kingdom. There were also significant divides between Catholics and Protestants.
Oftentimes, there were multiple deaths and bombings in the same week. Some of the larger tragedies occurred on or at Bloody Sunday, Enniskillen Poppy Day, Warrenpoint, Omagh, Teebane, Greysteel, and Loughinisland.
With steel-like precision, Carroll focuses primarily on the assassination attempt on the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, who was the number one foe of the IRA (Irish Republican Army). The hunger strikes that resulted with the deaths of 10 prisoners and the execution of Lord Mountbatten in 1979 are covered, along with several other incidences to help understand the backdrop of the conflict.
Carroll describes Thatcher's interactions with US President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, President of the Soviet Union. Thatcher was strong willed and expressed her opinions forcefully. When the bomb detonated in Brighton, which was designed to kill Thatcher and her entire cabinet, there were five deaths and 30 injuries, but Thatcher was unharmed. Thatcher determined the cabinet meeting scheduled for the morning of the bomb would still be held at the Grand Hotel. Her nickname of Iron Lady is accurately descriptive.
I recently traveled to Belfast, Northern Ireland. While there, I purchased and read the book Reporting the Troubles: Journalists Tell their Stories of the Northern Ireland conflict which includes articles by 68 veteran Irish journalists.
Even though an agreement was reached in 1998, Belfast neighborhoods clearly demonstrate whether their allegiance is to the UK or to the possibility of one nation with their flags, murals, and graffiti.
Some of the murals I saw while traveling to Northern Ireland this year stated:
* Prepared for war, ready for peace.
* If I must die, you must live to tell my story.
*No one that wants peace builds walls.
I highly, highly recommend There Will Be Fire: Margaret Thatcher, the IRA, and Two Minutes That Changed History for history, politics, true crime and nonfiction readers as well as those who love fiction because this book reads like a historical thriller.
April 6, 2023
Almost Killing Thatcher
I am always interested in Ireland and, in particular, the factors in play during “The Troubles.” In 1984 the Irish Republican Army planned and executed an assassination attempt on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The leaders of the British government were nearly wiped out in one dramatic blow. “There Will Be Fire” looks at the motivations, the attack, the investigation, and the aftermath of this mission.
Being of Irish descent and having been brought up on tales of gunrunning and rebellion in our family history, I am always cautious about accounts with a slant to them. Here Rory Carroll has presented a level chronicle without exploiting emotional biases. This is journalism reading like a thriller. Publishers Weekly compared it to “Day of the Jackal” and I have to agree, the writing reminded me of Ken Follett’s gift for presenting detail in a compelling manner.
This is an important book for looking at the mindsets of people involved on both sides. Thank you to the Penguin Group, Putnam Books, and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #ThereWillBeFire #NetGalley
I am always interested in Ireland and, in particular, the factors in play during “The Troubles.” In 1984 the Irish Republican Army planned and executed an assassination attempt on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The leaders of the British government were nearly wiped out in one dramatic blow. “There Will Be Fire” looks at the motivations, the attack, the investigation, and the aftermath of this mission.
Being of Irish descent and having been brought up on tales of gunrunning and rebellion in our family history, I am always cautious about accounts with a slant to them. Here Rory Carroll has presented a level chronicle without exploiting emotional biases. This is journalism reading like a thriller. Publishers Weekly compared it to “Day of the Jackal” and I have to agree, the writing reminded me of Ken Follett’s gift for presenting detail in a compelling manner.
This is an important book for looking at the mindsets of people involved on both sides. Thank you to the Penguin Group, Putnam Books, and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #ThereWillBeFire #NetGalley
April 16, 2023
This book is a great read and gives about as objective a telling of the Brighton bombing as has been told. It is extensively researched and well written. I lived in Ireland at the time and paid particular attention to the events as they unfolded. However, this book provided much, much more than I learned at the time. Some of it was for good reason- when they were trying to track down the people who carried out the bombing, there was secrecy. But Carroll has given us a play by play account of what led up to the bombing, the planning surrounding it and the people behind it and other activities of the Provos.
To be upfront about this, I have never liked Thatcher. I think she was an evil, uncaring monster. She let the Hunger Strikers die to prove a point and after 10 men had died and it was called off, gave in to the demands which were reasonable anyway. She broke the miners union and severely damaged the social structure of Britain. It is her behavior that set in motion to move to Brexit.
Despite all of that, Carroll has written a book that is fair and added a great deal to my knowledge about the topic.
To be upfront about this, I have never liked Thatcher. I think she was an evil, uncaring monster. She let the Hunger Strikers die to prove a point and after 10 men had died and it was called off, gave in to the demands which were reasonable anyway. She broke the miners union and severely damaged the social structure of Britain. It is her behavior that set in motion to move to Brexit.
Despite all of that, Carroll has written a book that is fair and added a great deal to my knowledge about the topic.
June 5, 2023
**SPOILER FREE**
With the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland having simmered over two decades ago, the conflict has gone from one of global attention to a footnote of history. Millennials and Gen Zers who grew up in the 9/11 era are familiar with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, their causes, consequences, and participants, but would need the aid of Google to know who Gerry Adams or Bobby Sands is. Coyly dubbed “The Troubles,” the 30-year period of violent conflict surrounding the British occupation of Northern Ireland is relatively unknown amongst younger generations, making its stories excellent subject matter, as they are filled with the tales of spy craft and deceit that make historical accounts read like espionage thrillers.
Rory Carroll’s "There Will Be Fire" zooms in on one specific event of The Troubles, the Irish Republican Army’s bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton, England that almost killed British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The book follows the life and account of the bomber Patrick Magee, his target Thatcher, and the numerous British police agencies trying to catch him. Where the book thrives is in its detailed reporting, which, with much skill from Carroll, caries the tension of a blockbuster thriller. Carroll is a talented writer, describing the act of bomb-making and defusing as a walk on the razor’s edge. Readers will feel the “eureka” moments of discovery along with the police agents, which come after months of sifting through mugshots and manually comparing fingerprints.
But while the storytelling is superb, There Will Be Fire fails in its lack of context and unexplained causes of The Troubles and the motivations of its participants. The book spends a lot of time with Margaret Thatcher, detailing her rise through the Conservative Party to become the first female Prime Minister. It’s clear Carroll is fond of her, as she is portrayed as a stern, unwavering force, undeterred by Irish bombs or English sexism. Unfortunately, no such exposure is provided for Patrick Magee or his compatriots. Besides a brief exploration of Magee’s family life, Carroll omits any explanation of why he, or any others, joined the Irish Republican Army. (Or, why the IRA existed in the first place.) While Thatcher is lauded for her heroism, the lack of provided motivations for those trying to kill her leaves the impression that the Republicans (people who want a united Ireland free from British rule) simply “hate the Brits” and “enjoy killing.” In reality, the reasons for Irish Republicanism, both militant and pacifist, are much more nuanced.
Ireland suffered over 800 years of English colonialism, with a reprieve for the southern part of the nation coming in the early 20th century. The six counties of the north, which are still considered British territory, became a hotbed for Britain’s anti-Catholic prejudice, state violence, and all-out murder. Never does There Will Be Fire mention the many institutionalized prejudices the British government imposed on Catholics, such as voting restrictions, forced unemployment, and “internment,” the process of imprisoning “suspected” Republicans without trial. It borders on malpractice that Carroll never includes Bloody Sunday, when British paratroopers shot 26 unarmed civil rights marchers, as a catalyst for Irish armed resistance. He also omits the extent torture was used on Irish prisoners, the British government’s use of military and paramilitary death squads, and Margaret Thatcher’s attempt to get the Ulster Volunteer Force, the pro-British counterpart of the IRA, to assassinate the President of Ireland. Instead, the reader is given a rosy picture of “The Iron Lady,” one that her Conservative Party biographer could have written.
In not providing the proper context for Magee’s actions, Carroll fails his readers by giving the impression The Troubles could be boiled down to “good vs. evil.” In actuality, both the IRA and the British government have apologized for their actions on numerous occasions. Not only does a one-sided depiction not provide the full story of The Troubles, but it is dangerous. To avoid future conflicts, in Northern Ireland and elsewhere, we must properly understand what drives someone to plant a bomb or torture a prisoner. Only with a thorough understanding of others’ reasonings can we prevent violence. Carroll’s account fails in this, as it misleads its readership into thinking there are “good guys” (Thatcher) and there are “bad guys” (Magee). Through that lens, humans will continue to misunderstand each other, and conflict will follow.
Though the prose is superb and the story is worthy of exploration, the half-tale of There Will Be Fire severely limits the book's potential. I give it 2 stars and would steer anyone interested in learning about the entirety of The Trouble to read Say Nothing instead.
With the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland having simmered over two decades ago, the conflict has gone from one of global attention to a footnote of history. Millennials and Gen Zers who grew up in the 9/11 era are familiar with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, their causes, consequences, and participants, but would need the aid of Google to know who Gerry Adams or Bobby Sands is. Coyly dubbed “The Troubles,” the 30-year period of violent conflict surrounding the British occupation of Northern Ireland is relatively unknown amongst younger generations, making its stories excellent subject matter, as they are filled with the tales of spy craft and deceit that make historical accounts read like espionage thrillers.
Rory Carroll’s "There Will Be Fire" zooms in on one specific event of The Troubles, the Irish Republican Army’s bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton, England that almost killed British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The book follows the life and account of the bomber Patrick Magee, his target Thatcher, and the numerous British police agencies trying to catch him. Where the book thrives is in its detailed reporting, which, with much skill from Carroll, caries the tension of a blockbuster thriller. Carroll is a talented writer, describing the act of bomb-making and defusing as a walk on the razor’s edge. Readers will feel the “eureka” moments of discovery along with the police agents, which come after months of sifting through mugshots and manually comparing fingerprints.
But while the storytelling is superb, There Will Be Fire fails in its lack of context and unexplained causes of The Troubles and the motivations of its participants. The book spends a lot of time with Margaret Thatcher, detailing her rise through the Conservative Party to become the first female Prime Minister. It’s clear Carroll is fond of her, as she is portrayed as a stern, unwavering force, undeterred by Irish bombs or English sexism. Unfortunately, no such exposure is provided for Patrick Magee or his compatriots. Besides a brief exploration of Magee’s family life, Carroll omits any explanation of why he, or any others, joined the Irish Republican Army. (Or, why the IRA existed in the first place.) While Thatcher is lauded for her heroism, the lack of provided motivations for those trying to kill her leaves the impression that the Republicans (people who want a united Ireland free from British rule) simply “hate the Brits” and “enjoy killing.” In reality, the reasons for Irish Republicanism, both militant and pacifist, are much more nuanced.
Ireland suffered over 800 years of English colonialism, with a reprieve for the southern part of the nation coming in the early 20th century. The six counties of the north, which are still considered British territory, became a hotbed for Britain’s anti-Catholic prejudice, state violence, and all-out murder. Never does There Will Be Fire mention the many institutionalized prejudices the British government imposed on Catholics, such as voting restrictions, forced unemployment, and “internment,” the process of imprisoning “suspected” Republicans without trial. It borders on malpractice that Carroll never includes Bloody Sunday, when British paratroopers shot 26 unarmed civil rights marchers, as a catalyst for Irish armed resistance. He also omits the extent torture was used on Irish prisoners, the British government’s use of military and paramilitary death squads, and Margaret Thatcher’s attempt to get the Ulster Volunteer Force, the pro-British counterpart of the IRA, to assassinate the President of Ireland. Instead, the reader is given a rosy picture of “The Iron Lady,” one that her Conservative Party biographer could have written.
In not providing the proper context for Magee’s actions, Carroll fails his readers by giving the impression The Troubles could be boiled down to “good vs. evil.” In actuality, both the IRA and the British government have apologized for their actions on numerous occasions. Not only does a one-sided depiction not provide the full story of The Troubles, but it is dangerous. To avoid future conflicts, in Northern Ireland and elsewhere, we must properly understand what drives someone to plant a bomb or torture a prisoner. Only with a thorough understanding of others’ reasonings can we prevent violence. Carroll’s account fails in this, as it misleads its readership into thinking there are “good guys” (Thatcher) and there are “bad guys” (Magee). Through that lens, humans will continue to misunderstand each other, and conflict will follow.
Though the prose is superb and the story is worthy of exploration, the half-tale of There Will Be Fire severely limits the book's potential. I give it 2 stars and would steer anyone interested in learning about the entirety of The Trouble to read Say Nothing instead.
March 9, 2023
In 1984, the IRA killed five people and came dangerously close to assassinating then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher - and yet this disaster has gone mostly undiscussed in recent years. In this book, Carroll brings together the long chain of events which led up to the bombing, and unravels the complicated investigation that followed.
Having been to school in both the United States and India, I like to think that I have gained a wider perspective on world history than I would have otherwise, but there are definitely gaping holes in my knowledge. The Troubles are certainly a subject I have basically no knowledge about. I was glad to find that this book, while focusing on one major incident, provides the context needed to get invested in the story.
It's a complicated story that Carroll weaves, for while the book opens with the planting of a bomb in a hotel room by a single man, many events and people have a hand in getting Patrick Magee there. We follow the story on both sides, both Irish and British, placing the two major figures, Magee and Thatcher, on the larger stages upon which events play out.
I appreciated that the author remained quite neutral on the central question that motivated the Troubles, fairly portraying the good and bad actions of both sides. I also liked the wide variety of sources that Carroll was able to incorporate, giving the reader a peek into the many people who were involved in setting up the bombing as well as bringing Magee to justice.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.
Having been to school in both the United States and India, I like to think that I have gained a wider perspective on world history than I would have otherwise, but there are definitely gaping holes in my knowledge. The Troubles are certainly a subject I have basically no knowledge about. I was glad to find that this book, while focusing on one major incident, provides the context needed to get invested in the story.
It's a complicated story that Carroll weaves, for while the book opens with the planting of a bomb in a hotel room by a single man, many events and people have a hand in getting Patrick Magee there. We follow the story on both sides, both Irish and British, placing the two major figures, Magee and Thatcher, on the larger stages upon which events play out.
I appreciated that the author remained quite neutral on the central question that motivated the Troubles, fairly portraying the good and bad actions of both sides. I also liked the wide variety of sources that Carroll was able to incorporate, giving the reader a peek into the many people who were involved in setting up the bombing as well as bringing Magee to justice.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.
July 4, 2023
What a disappointment this book was!
When asked by my daughter, what I'd like for Father's Day, I nominated "Killing Thatcher", as I'd heard it made the right noises and I was lead to believe it was a totally unbiased account of the Brighton bombing and if anything, that it was very much republican in sympathy, where the author's forward seems to confirm that it could be the case. So I was really, really looking forward to reading this account of one of the decades, if not the centuries most pivotal moments in history.
This stance however, was immediately and quickly blown out of the water (if you pardon the pun).
Which started with the recounting of the demise of Lord Louie Mountbatten, which seems here, for reasons which may only be known to the author, to try and want to paint Mountbatten as a fun loving, cuddly old heroic grandad and not the evil old colonial relic, gangster and serial paedophile that he, in all likelihood was. Where an under age rent boy victim (officially and here, egregiously described as a "boat boy"!) of Mountbatten's was actually blown up on the boat with him!
Bad start then!
Next up was the book’s early depictions of Thatcher herself.
Here, the author seems to be desperately trying to give Maggie a human face. Which is to undoubtedly engender reader sympathy for what can only be described as easily one of the twentieth centuries most evil characters and to be fair, she was up against some pretty stiff competition!
The telling of her back story, her "family" life and her policies all read like she was nothing more than a put upon, tough, "auld granny", "bravely" championing women's rights, the rights of the individual and rallying against the "evils of socialism and self determination"! Unbelievable nonsense!
There was simply no detachment from the author at all and the raw emotionalism he was trying to evoke inevitably came across as weak, sycophantic, hard to read drivel and anyone having lived through Margaret Thatcher and her wicked policies can undoubtedly see it as such, with all it’s jaw dropping inaccuracies and with mind boggling disbelief!
It didn’t improve as the book went on either, whenever the author was relating anything about Thatcher, it was nothing short of a “love in” and her “stoicism” in the “face of adversity” most obviously rendered the writer “pretty hard”!
Just as awful and nauseating was the depictions of Norman Tebbit. About the only thing the author gets right, is the account of how Tebbit was portrayed on Spitting Image!
This revisionist style of retelling history can and often leads to many, many contradictions and this book was no different. There is at least one contradictive sentence or statement on nearly every page, hopeless indeed!
I also noticed that due to the spelling of words, for example, such as “grey” as “gray”, that the author is trying to appeal to the American market. But regardless of which side of the Atlantic you’re reading this, you’ll still find it woefully inadequate as an informative, balanced historical account!
In this book ALL the police are literally "good old boys". Irredeemably “fighting the good fight!” Here's one extract,
"Physical opposites, they shared an old school passion for villain catching!"
Jesus wept! It really was sick inducingly awful stuff and I'm sure the author was just using old scripts from "The Bill" for police interactions!
**points finger**
“I don’t want excuses Tosh, I want RESULTS!!”
I'll finish with two other completely inane and ridiculously stupid extracts from the book, that should really have the author rethink his occupation (again, pardon the pun!), from journalist to just about anything else really;
"Even those who despise Thatcher, would have been in awe at her resolve!"
"Troopers on gray horses with kettledrums swelled the martial symphony with thumping cadences to stir even a pacifists fighting spirit!"
WTF?!!
When asked by my daughter, what I'd like for Father's Day, I nominated "Killing Thatcher", as I'd heard it made the right noises and I was lead to believe it was a totally unbiased account of the Brighton bombing and if anything, that it was very much republican in sympathy, where the author's forward seems to confirm that it could be the case. So I was really, really looking forward to reading this account of one of the decades, if not the centuries most pivotal moments in history.
This stance however, was immediately and quickly blown out of the water (if you pardon the pun).
Which started with the recounting of the demise of Lord Louie Mountbatten, which seems here, for reasons which may only be known to the author, to try and want to paint Mountbatten as a fun loving, cuddly old heroic grandad and not the evil old colonial relic, gangster and serial paedophile that he, in all likelihood was. Where an under age rent boy victim (officially and here, egregiously described as a "boat boy"!) of Mountbatten's was actually blown up on the boat with him!
Bad start then!
Next up was the book’s early depictions of Thatcher herself.
Here, the author seems to be desperately trying to give Maggie a human face. Which is to undoubtedly engender reader sympathy for what can only be described as easily one of the twentieth centuries most evil characters and to be fair, she was up against some pretty stiff competition!
The telling of her back story, her "family" life and her policies all read like she was nothing more than a put upon, tough, "auld granny", "bravely" championing women's rights, the rights of the individual and rallying against the "evils of socialism and self determination"! Unbelievable nonsense!
There was simply no detachment from the author at all and the raw emotionalism he was trying to evoke inevitably came across as weak, sycophantic, hard to read drivel and anyone having lived through Margaret Thatcher and her wicked policies can undoubtedly see it as such, with all it’s jaw dropping inaccuracies and with mind boggling disbelief!
It didn’t improve as the book went on either, whenever the author was relating anything about Thatcher, it was nothing short of a “love in” and her “stoicism” in the “face of adversity” most obviously rendered the writer “pretty hard”!
Just as awful and nauseating was the depictions of Norman Tebbit. About the only thing the author gets right, is the account of how Tebbit was portrayed on Spitting Image!
This revisionist style of retelling history can and often leads to many, many contradictions and this book was no different. There is at least one contradictive sentence or statement on nearly every page, hopeless indeed!
I also noticed that due to the spelling of words, for example, such as “grey” as “gray”, that the author is trying to appeal to the American market. But regardless of which side of the Atlantic you’re reading this, you’ll still find it woefully inadequate as an informative, balanced historical account!
In this book ALL the police are literally "good old boys". Irredeemably “fighting the good fight!” Here's one extract,
"Physical opposites, they shared an old school passion for villain catching!"
Jesus wept! It really was sick inducingly awful stuff and I'm sure the author was just using old scripts from "The Bill" for police interactions!
**points finger**
“I don’t want excuses Tosh, I want RESULTS!!”
I'll finish with two other completely inane and ridiculously stupid extracts from the book, that should really have the author rethink his occupation (again, pardon the pun!), from journalist to just about anything else really;
"Even those who despise Thatcher, would have been in awe at her resolve!"
"Troopers on gray horses with kettledrums swelled the martial symphony with thumping cadences to stir even a pacifists fighting spirit!"
WTF?!!
May 23, 2023
Story of the Irish Republican Army bombing attempt to assassinate Margaret Thatcher in 1984. Reads like a thriller. Page-turning. An in-depth history of The Troubles is well documented in the book as well.
March 3, 2023
This is the true account of the 1984 attempt on the life of Margaret Thatcher by the IRA. A bomb was planted at the Grand Hotel in Brighton where she was attending a Conservative conference. Thatcher was spared, but five people died and many were injured, some maimed for life. In telling the story, Carroll goes into the history behind the Irish fight for freedom and significant events in this history including the assassination of Mountbatten as well as the hunger strike that resulted in the deaths of some of the IRA prisoners. He recounts the intricate investigation into the Brighton bomb and search for the perpetrators, as well as the background of the bomber and other members of the IRA. Finally, he theorizes how Thatcher’s survival shaped modern politics.
This is a very detailed, yet thrilling account of events in history. I found the story fascinating. I also liked the historical perspective going back to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 (“remember remember the fifth of November”).
I loved Patrick Radden Keefe’s Say Nothing; A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland and recommended it to many friends. I think this book ranks up there with Keefe’s and will certainly recommend it. Researching and writing this book was an ambitious project and Carroll provides a thorough retelling while maintaining reader interest throughout. Don’t let the fact that this is nonfiction scare you…it reads like a novel.
Thanks to #netgalley and #GPPutnumssonsbooks #Penguin
August 24, 2023
3.5 stars
If the book had just focused on the Brighton bombing as advertised I would have given it four stars. That part was interesting and thrilling as the reader got the story from both sides, the IRA and the police. However there was A LOT of extraneous information that could have been better edited.
If you really want to learn more about the IRA and the Troubles I would highly recommend reading Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe. Now that's a 4.5-5 star book.
If the book had just focused on the Brighton bombing as advertised I would have given it four stars. That part was interesting and thrilling as the reader got the story from both sides, the IRA and the police. However there was A LOT of extraneous information that could have been better edited.
If you really want to learn more about the IRA and the Troubles I would highly recommend reading Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe. Now that's a 4.5-5 star book.
October 9, 2022
If you want to truly test yourself as an author, an excellent prompt is, "Try to write a book about the Troubles without taking a side." Rory Carroll's There Will Be Fire is proof that it can be done and done very well at that.
The book follows the story of the Brighton bombing in England in 1984. The bombing was executed by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in their campaign to unite all of Ireland and very nearly killed Margaret Thatcher. Most of the book follows the bomber and then the police attempts to identify and arrest him. This is the very short version of an extremely long story.
The Troubles of Northern Ireland are a quagmire of politics, grudges, and justice (or lack thereof). Carroll makes it clear his book will not tackle everything about the IRA and the Troubles. He also states he is not biased. While I think I can decipher precisely what he thinks if we were sharing a few drinks, it does not in any way hinder the narrative of the book. Carroll explains the finer points someone needs to know but sticks to the story of the bomber and the subsequent pursuit. It is one of the few times where saying a piece of history, "reads like a novel," is 100% earned.
The book follows the story of the Brighton bombing in England in 1984. The bombing was executed by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in their campaign to unite all of Ireland and very nearly killed Margaret Thatcher. Most of the book follows the bomber and then the police attempts to identify and arrest him. This is the very short version of an extremely long story.
The Troubles of Northern Ireland are a quagmire of politics, grudges, and justice (or lack thereof). Carroll makes it clear his book will not tackle everything about the IRA and the Troubles. He also states he is not biased. While I think I can decipher precisely what he thinks if we were sharing a few drinks, it does not in any way hinder the narrative of the book. Carroll explains the finer points someone needs to know but sticks to the story of the bomber and the subsequent pursuit. It is one of the few times where saying a piece of history, "reads like a novel," is 100% earned.
February 8, 2025
Well done Mr. Carroll! A very detailed, yet thrilling account of events surrounding the attempted 1984 assassination of Marget Thatcher. The story gives the reader just enough background on each of the main characters involved and their role with the IRA along with the different police jurisdictions that constantly overlap to keep the story moving right along.
This was my second book on the Troubles, the first being Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland, and I was not disappointed. There Will Be Fire gave me a better perspective of the inner workings of the IRA as opposed to Say Nothing, which was a superb story in its own right (I gave it a 5 star). Both books will give you a history behind the Irish fight for freedom. Highly recommended.
This was my second book on the Troubles, the first being Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland, and I was not disappointed. There Will Be Fire gave me a better perspective of the inner workings of the IRA as opposed to Say Nothing, which was a superb story in its own right (I gave it a 5 star). Both books will give you a history behind the Irish fight for freedom. Highly recommended.
September 22, 2023
It’s really difficult to write a 416 page book about ‘The Troubles’/ the attempted assassination of Thatcher while humanizing ALL involved parties, many of whom are unsavory. Very impressive for that reason and reads like a thriller
August 27, 2023
This was FASCINATING. Apparently my favorite type of history book at the moment is a detailed look at one specific incident tied in with some broader history of reasons. Would really recommend for those that enjoyed Say Nothing.
March 22, 2026
In the wake of Patrick Raden Keefe's enormously successful (and Hulu-adapted) Say Nothing, I've noticed an explosion (ahem) of Troubles books. At least in terms of marketing to Americans, who are otherwise ignorant of the conflict. There Will Be Fire has been on my to-read list since I saw it displayed on the recommended shelf at Barnes and Noble a year or two ago. But because my apartment is full of books and my wife says I can't buy any more, I got this one from the library.
Whenever I visit one of my dozen-or-so local libraries, I swing by the Irish history section just to see what’s available. Because I live in San Jose, the Irish history section usually totals two to five books. Maybe there would more if I lived in Boston.
I kept waiting for There Will Be Fire to show up in the Irish history section of the library but it never did. That was because, I discovered once I checked the catalog, that the book was categorized as True Crime, not Irish history. Which, having read the book, makes sense.
The deep history that drove the Troubles, the centuries of English dominance and Irish rebellion, the ingrained ethnic identities and religious divide, the oppression of Catholics in Northern Ireland—all of this gets a few pages of exposition, but is not the focus of the book. It’s really more an anatomy of a crime than an anatomy of a political situation. A forensic, detailed narrative: the planting of the bomb, the people who planned the operation, the police and detectives who investigated the crime, and the eventual arrest of the IRA bomber(s).
You get a thorough intro into early '80s bomb-making technology, a lot of info about fingerprint analysis, and an illuminating glimpse into how the various jurisdictions of UK law enforcement collaborated to to track suspects and follow leads.
You also get a sympathetic portrait of the Iron Lady herself. A fascinating figure, as much as I differ from her politically.
The author remains resolutely neutral through all of this, sympathetic to the human cost, the loss of life and destruction, yet acknowledging the IRA's purported aims. It's contested history, even 30 years after the Good Friday Agreement, but the IRA really saw itself as waging a war and the British state saw it as a terrorist campaign. The book gives a fair airing of both viewpoints.
The highest praise I can give is that beyond the phenomenal research that went into the book, it's well-written. The narrative carries you along, explains much without overloading on specifics, keeps the cast of characters manageable, leaves you emotionally invested in people on all sides of the conflict, and achieves page-turning momentum towards the end as the police close in on the IRA suspects. Highly recommended.
Whenever I visit one of my dozen-or-so local libraries, I swing by the Irish history section just to see what’s available. Because I live in San Jose, the Irish history section usually totals two to five books. Maybe there would more if I lived in Boston.
I kept waiting for There Will Be Fire to show up in the Irish history section of the library but it never did. That was because, I discovered once I checked the catalog, that the book was categorized as True Crime, not Irish history. Which, having read the book, makes sense.
The deep history that drove the Troubles, the centuries of English dominance and Irish rebellion, the ingrained ethnic identities and religious divide, the oppression of Catholics in Northern Ireland—all of this gets a few pages of exposition, but is not the focus of the book. It’s really more an anatomy of a crime than an anatomy of a political situation. A forensic, detailed narrative: the planting of the bomb, the people who planned the operation, the police and detectives who investigated the crime, and the eventual arrest of the IRA bomber(s).
You get a thorough intro into early '80s bomb-making technology, a lot of info about fingerprint analysis, and an illuminating glimpse into how the various jurisdictions of UK law enforcement collaborated to to track suspects and follow leads.
You also get a sympathetic portrait of the Iron Lady herself. A fascinating figure, as much as I differ from her politically.
The author remains resolutely neutral through all of this, sympathetic to the human cost, the loss of life and destruction, yet acknowledging the IRA's purported aims. It's contested history, even 30 years after the Good Friday Agreement, but the IRA really saw itself as waging a war and the British state saw it as a terrorist campaign. The book gives a fair airing of both viewpoints.
The highest praise I can give is that beyond the phenomenal research that went into the book, it's well-written. The narrative carries you along, explains much without overloading on specifics, keeps the cast of characters manageable, leaves you emotionally invested in people on all sides of the conflict, and achieves page-turning momentum towards the end as the police close in on the IRA suspects. Highly recommended.
August 21, 2023
another really fantastic book on modern irish history!!
its difficult not to compare this book to "say nothing" --both extremely thoroughly researched, exploring the social and political evolution of the ira over time, focusing on specific leading "characters" to drive the narrative, balancing informing and storytelling. that being said, i think they compliment each other well, they build on each other instead of serving as substitutes. because there will be fire focuses on the brighton bombing, there is a much more intense concentration on that event (of course), but also the role of thatcher and her government in the troubles in the lead-up
this story is fascinating, it really is insane how incredibly close they were to killing margaret thatcher. like, a few feet and a couple minutes close. it was difficult to balance names at times and keep track of who was responsible for what strategy or plot or government position, but the key players popped up often enough to make the main points easy to follow.
i will say it took a long time to get to the most interesting (in my opinion) part of the story, the bombing itself. obviously the lead up is crucial, but something about the writing in the first half did seem to drag a bit. that being said, i listened to the second half in one sitting and was completely enthralled. great build up to the explosion. relative to "say nothing," it ends a bit abruptly, but that might be because that book focuses so heavily on how the attitudes of young bombers changed as they served time and matured after their attacks (an aspect i found very interesting). i suppose the main players were older in this one, so i wont hold it against carroll.
this might make me sound like a naive outsider, but i did feel as though this was a fairly unbiased account. at the very least, it shared very personal and/or graphic moments from either side that had me expressing sympathies for both. the moments that described the civilian casualties from various bombings were what really made this seem like a not explicitly pro-ira retelling--he doesnt skirt around the fact that these people were responsible for the deaths of many innocent people, but also doesnt fail to explain how people like patrick magee still justified their actions while still feeling remorse
i will say this book did nothing to endear margaret thatcher to me, but i wouldnt necessarily say thats the fault of the book and moreso how my personal politics reacted to his descriptions of her. i can definitely see much more clearly why irish nationalists feel so strongly about her
the ira bombings are so infinitely interesting to me, the morality of bombings in general. how to go about punishing individuals who are essentially cogs in this centuries-old machine, carrying out the orders of an organization so much larger than themselves, fighting for deserved freedom.
if there is one thing to take away from this book, it is that the brighton bombing gave way to one of the hardest warnings of all time:
"Today we were unlucky, but remember we only have to be lucky once. You will have to be lucky always."
taking modern irish history this fall. so incredibly hype.
edit: surprised to find, upon reading 2 and 3 star reviews, the critics seem to claim this is an explicitly anti-ira (or at least pro-thatcher) book. honestly wouldve anticipated it the other way around. the argument seems to hinge on his positive descriptions of people like mountbatten and thatcher, and his negative descriptions of certain bombings. i have to say i disagree, i think he did a fairly good job balancing the two. as someone who knew relatively little about mountbatten and thatcher going in, i was not made to feel like they were good people. the bombings are a little different, but i did not feel swayed in any direction from my current perspective on them
its difficult not to compare this book to "say nothing" --both extremely thoroughly researched, exploring the social and political evolution of the ira over time, focusing on specific leading "characters" to drive the narrative, balancing informing and storytelling. that being said, i think they compliment each other well, they build on each other instead of serving as substitutes. because there will be fire focuses on the brighton bombing, there is a much more intense concentration on that event (of course), but also the role of thatcher and her government in the troubles in the lead-up
this story is fascinating, it really is insane how incredibly close they were to killing margaret thatcher. like, a few feet and a couple minutes close. it was difficult to balance names at times and keep track of who was responsible for what strategy or plot or government position, but the key players popped up often enough to make the main points easy to follow.
i will say it took a long time to get to the most interesting (in my opinion) part of the story, the bombing itself. obviously the lead up is crucial, but something about the writing in the first half did seem to drag a bit. that being said, i listened to the second half in one sitting and was completely enthralled. great build up to the explosion. relative to "say nothing," it ends a bit abruptly, but that might be because that book focuses so heavily on how the attitudes of young bombers changed as they served time and matured after their attacks (an aspect i found very interesting). i suppose the main players were older in this one, so i wont hold it against carroll.
this might make me sound like a naive outsider, but i did feel as though this was a fairly unbiased account. at the very least, it shared very personal and/or graphic moments from either side that had me expressing sympathies for both. the moments that described the civilian casualties from various bombings were what really made this seem like a not explicitly pro-ira retelling--he doesnt skirt around the fact that these people were responsible for the deaths of many innocent people, but also doesnt fail to explain how people like patrick magee still justified their actions while still feeling remorse
i will say this book did nothing to endear margaret thatcher to me, but i wouldnt necessarily say thats the fault of the book and moreso how my personal politics reacted to his descriptions of her. i can definitely see much more clearly why irish nationalists feel so strongly about her
the ira bombings are so infinitely interesting to me, the morality of bombings in general. how to go about punishing individuals who are essentially cogs in this centuries-old machine, carrying out the orders of an organization so much larger than themselves, fighting for deserved freedom.
if there is one thing to take away from this book, it is that the brighton bombing gave way to one of the hardest warnings of all time:
"Today we were unlucky, but remember we only have to be lucky once. You will have to be lucky always."
taking modern irish history this fall. so incredibly hype.
edit: surprised to find, upon reading 2 and 3 star reviews, the critics seem to claim this is an explicitly anti-ira (or at least pro-thatcher) book. honestly wouldve anticipated it the other way around. the argument seems to hinge on his positive descriptions of people like mountbatten and thatcher, and his negative descriptions of certain bombings. i have to say i disagree, i think he did a fairly good job balancing the two. as someone who knew relatively little about mountbatten and thatcher going in, i was not made to feel like they were good people. the bombings are a little different, but i did not feel swayed in any direction from my current perspective on them
January 29, 2023
A compelling, impeccably researched, and superbly written account of the 1984 Brighton bombing and attempted assassination of Margaret Thatcher by the IRA.
Books about the Troubles always read as highly ambitious to me, because of how extensive and complicated a political conflict it proved to be; indeed, I must admit that there were several moments when I first started reading this where I worried if Rory Carroll was casting his critical-authorial net too far and wide, worried if the book would be overwhelmed by the full-scale, unrelenting intensity of the subject. Boy, was I wrong! The connections and links that Carroll draws between seemingly unrelated events paints an incredibly well-rounded, multi-faceted, and, yes, overwhelming (but in the best way!) picture of this decades-long 'war'—its gains and its costs, its deadly effects on ordinary people, and the price of political power.
So, add Carroll's name to that hypothetical list of nonfiction writers who are able to encase significant, highly-charged historical events in a palatable, easy-to-read, novel-like narrative structure, that will appeal to both academic and amateur historians alike.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Books about the Troubles always read as highly ambitious to me, because of how extensive and complicated a political conflict it proved to be; indeed, I must admit that there were several moments when I first started reading this where I worried if Rory Carroll was casting his critical-authorial net too far and wide, worried if the book would be overwhelmed by the full-scale, unrelenting intensity of the subject. Boy, was I wrong! The connections and links that Carroll draws between seemingly unrelated events paints an incredibly well-rounded, multi-faceted, and, yes, overwhelming (but in the best way!) picture of this decades-long 'war'—its gains and its costs, its deadly effects on ordinary people, and the price of political power.
So, add Carroll's name to that hypothetical list of nonfiction writers who are able to encase significant, highly-charged historical events in a palatable, easy-to-read, novel-like narrative structure, that will appeal to both academic and amateur historians alike.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.
May 20, 2023
Exceptionally researched book with a bibliography that is nearly as long as the story itself, There Will Be Fire provides historical perspective about The Troubles in Northern Ireland and the UK. It lost me here and there as it delved into the rather Byzantine politics and warfare between the sides, and the internecine strife within each of the camps as well. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was the primary target of the 1984 bombing in Brighton which is at the heart of the book, but it covers much territory leading up to and following this rather spectacular event. It is a fascinating accounting of a very chaotic, bloody and unsettling time for many people.
May 5, 2023
A few weeks ago, former President Bill Clinton visited Northern Ireland in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that mostly ended the violence of the period known as “The Troubles” that had prevailed since the 1960s. Clinton’s administration helped negotiate a multi-party agreement between most of Northern Ireland’s political parties, and the British-Irish Agreement between the British and Irish governments. To this day the agreements have been held with a minimum of violence, but decades of ill-will between all sides and the January 2020 Brexit Agreement has created a series of obstacles which at times makes the situation tenuous.
For years, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and its splinter groups resorted to violence to achieve an independent republic free of British rule. One of the most violent attacks occurred on October 12, 1984, with an assassination attempt against Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The attack perpetrated by the IRA is detailed in a new book by Dublin journalist Rory Carroll, THERE WILL BE FIRE: MARGARET THATCHER, THE IRA, AND TWO MINUTES THAT CHANGED HISTORY. The monograph offers an in depth account of the attempted assassination, as well as the manhunt it precipitated. Carroll’s work also presents insights into how the perpetrators behind the attack were caught.
Thatcher had been staying at the Grand Hotel in the English seaside resort of Brighton for the 1984 Conservative Party Conference when a timer bomb exploded in the early hours of October 12. While Thatcher and her Cabinet ministers escaped with their lives, five people were killed in the blast, and over thirty were injured.
The IRA claimed responsibility for the bombing the next day, threatening further assassination attempts in their statement: "Mrs. Thatcher will now realize that Britain cannot occupy our country and torture our prisoners and shoot our people in their own streets and get away with it…..Today we were unlucky, but remember we only have to be lucky once. You will have to be lucky always. Give Ireland peace and there will be no more war."
The above quote according to Carroll rattled Thatcher who became convinced she would be successfully targeted in the future. It appears she was deeply troubled despite the aura of the “Iron Lady” that she tried to project.
At times Carroll writes like a novelist creating a political thriller. He takes the reader through each step that leads to the assassination attempt. He describes the important personalities involved, the background history that led up to the attempt to kill Thatcher, the process the IRA and it’s England Department went through in developing their strategy, the actual construction of the bomb, the explosion that destroyed the Grand Hotel, and the investigation that followed. In each instance Carroll writes clearly and is able to draw the reader’s interest as if the story were fiction, but as we know it actually occurred.
Thatcher deplored the Irish Revolution that sought a “free state.” Despite the approach by police against any Irish demonstration, treatment of prisoners, and an overall policy of discrimination, Thatcher focused on her plan to revolutionize the English economy and tried to ignore her Irish problem. Her view was that the IRA, Provos, England Department or anyone who supported the cause were criminals and should be treated as such. They were no longer political prisoners. The labeling of the IRA as “criminal” was hated by its leadership because they needed to be considered as a political problem for its own legitimacy against British colonialism.
The use of hunger strikes by the IRA became an effective tool to raise awareness of the cause. In October 1981 after a prison hunger strike that resulted in the death of Bobby Sands who was elected to Parliament while imprisoned, reflected public and worldwide support. Ten would starve to death and according to Carroll, Thatcher refused to budge. Three days after the hunger strike ended, the government granted de facto special status to H-Block prisoners, but it was too late as a boiling rage convulsed the republican movement. Marchs turned into riots and it “congealed into a hatred of Thatcher, a visceral, personal hatred no British leader had evoked since Oliver Cromwell centuries earlier.” For Republicans, Thatcher was a murderer and revenge was the operative word.
From this point on Carroll describes how the IRA/England Department went about trying to secure their revenge. In doing so he develops a series of mini biographies of the important characters. Of course, Thatcher is discussed from a number of angles with an analysis that takes the reader inside 10 Downing Street and her thought processes. Peter Gurney, a fifty year old “expo” of the Explosive Section of the Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch provides insights as to how “bomb” experts went about tracking down a given bomb and how to defuse and use it in an investigation. David Tadd, the Head of Fingerprinting at Scotland Yard’s Anti-Terrorist Branch plays a key role in identifying the bomber. Joe Cahill, an IRA fundraiser who successfully raised money and equipment among American Irish gangsters like Whitey Bulger and Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi. He excelled at donor relations, fiscal management, and gun running. Patrick Ryan, a former Catholic priest was the linchpin of the IRA’s global supply network who laundered money and smuggled weapons that kept the Provos in business. Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein leader who tried to develop a political strategy along with the use of violence. A prominent character who Carroll can not reach a conclusion as to his culpability for the assassination attempt. Detective Chief Superintendent Jack Reece, the Head of Sussex Criminal Investigation was in charge of capturing the bomber was out of his league as his experience was crime and domestic issues, not terrorism and bombings. Lastly, Patrick Magee, one of the IRA’s best operatives and the man who put the bomb components together, planted the bomb at the Grand Hotel, and then escaped.
Carroll does yeoman’s work in setting the scene for the assassination attempt, describing in detail Magee’s bomb preparation. Further he explores Thatcher’s obsession with her speech at the Conservative Party Conference at the hotel, and the actions of numerous participants at the conference and what their expectations were.
Carroll’s reconstruction of the bomb blast and its path through the hotel detailing the impact and damage to people and property is surreal. Carroll goes on to recreate the investigation narrowing down leads and possible evidence which led to Roy Walsh, a.k.a. Patrick Magee employing a registration card and a palm print as the key to identification.
Carroll has written a meticulous account of the Brighton bombing. According to Sean O’Hagan in his The Guardian review the book is a “deftly constructed narrative punctuated by dramatic moments that often seem determined by the fickle hand of fate as much as by rigorous planning, intelligence gathering, and dogged adherence to a cause. Elsewhere, Carroll’s prose possesses the steady, accumulative thrust of a police procedural drama, particularly as the investigation into the bombing gathers pace and the search for the perpetrator intensifies. Magee was caught after a frantic pursuit through Glasgow and served 14 years in prison before being released under the terms of the Good Friday agreement. In an interview in 2002, he said: “I regret that people were killed; I don’t regret the fact that I was involved in a struggle.”
In the end Thatcher escaped death, most probably through fate and a great deal of luck. It is interesting to ponder what might have ensued had the assassination attempt been a success. Perhaps there would be no Brexit and England would not have tilted to the right domestically and economically, but we will never know for sure.
*Sean O’Hagan. “Killing Thatcher by Rory Carroll review – meticulous account of the Brighton Bombing, The Guardian, April 23, 2023.
May 22, 2024
Well balanced history of the Troubles, Thatcher's ascendency and the investigation and aftermath of the Brighton bombing. Carroll skillfully humanizes both sides in this well researched book with original interviews.
The book does a fantastic job of laying out the long and complicated history of the IRA and Northern Ireland.
This is densely packed with information that reads like a thriller. I couldn't put it down
The book does a fantastic job of laying out the long and complicated history of the IRA and Northern Ireland.
This is densely packed with information that reads like a thriller. I couldn't put it down
February 2, 2025
lil too much Margaret Thatcher not enough IRA. I learned a lot more about the Brighton Bombing than I did prior to reading so I’ll take that as a big win.
I love reading anything about the Troubles and the IRA. Personally, felt like we spent wayyy too much time on giving context to Margaret Thatcher and not enough on the history of the IRA, the Troubles, and the decades of context on the Irish perspective. Seemed like a very complex relationship of Britain and Ireland was boiled down to an oversimplified “good vs bad”, which I don’t think was the authors intention, but was how it was interpreted.
I love reading anything about the Troubles and the IRA. Personally, felt like we spent wayyy too much time on giving context to Margaret Thatcher and not enough on the history of the IRA, the Troubles, and the decades of context on the Irish perspective. Seemed like a very complex relationship of Britain and Ireland was boiled down to an oversimplified “good vs bad”, which I don’t think was the authors intention, but was how it was interpreted.
Want to Read
January 18, 2023ARC received!! Thank you, G.P. Putnam's Sons! I'm told if I enjoyed Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland, that I will enjoy this just as much.
I'm definitely looking forward to finding out more about this important piece of history. Super stoked!
I'm definitely looking forward to finding out more about this important piece of history. Super stoked!
July 12, 2024
(3.9) quite well written…the Troubles are troubling…the ambiguity and the ambivalence one gets from reading sorties into this mental maelstrom where almost everyone is compromised never abates…
August 5, 2023
"Today we were unlucky," it said, "but remember, we only have to be lucky once. You have to be lucky always. Give Ireland peace, and there will be no war." said the IRA statement after the failed assassination attempt
This book based on the Brighton Hotel bombing in 1984 that almost killed Margaret Thatcher reads like a fiction. For the uninitiated, this is a treasure trove of information on the Irish resistance movement (Dubbed by the Brits as "The Troubles") and about the original Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher. The amount of research that has gone into this gives you a quick catchup on the whole political scene before it gets to the event.
Put together based on more than 800 interviews and police records, kudos to the author who has made it a coherent narrative. Something that is not established gets called out and hence the journalistic principles are upheld in this fast paced book. The background setting that establishes the various players is critical as it talks about the reason for dissent which was new to me.
Earlier in 1981 when Thatcher had to decide how to handle Northern Ireland, she takes a hard stance that to treat all resistance movement as criminal activities. This leads to belittling of the Irish sentiments and builds hatred. Politician Bobby Sands openly started threatening the British of repercussions and follows it by various factions setting off bombs across England.
At 2:54 am, a bomb concealed in room 629 of the Grand Hotel in Brighton more than 24 days ago gets detonated. The mastermind behind this bombing is the English division on IRA and the bomber Patrick Magee nicknamed Chancer. Magee has first hand experience of casual brutality in the streets of Belfast and almost non-chalantly participates in the movement as a sense of meaning to his otherwise crumbling personal life. His stubbornness to the cause makes him the most dangerous of the lot "I regret that people were killed; I don't regret the fact that I was involved in a struggle" said he in 2002 after his release.
The manhunt that was painstakingly manual in the absence of technology makes the arrest an improbable event. However, as the author explains it took a lot of luck good and bad to finally crack the case. Somehow none of the characters stand out despite the long drawn histories and their feelings.
The one person who stands tall in this entire book is Margaret Thatcher. There is a subtle admiration even by those who are trying to bring her down and political opponents. Her entire strategy, rise in politics after two losses, her response to the Irish problem and the almost superhuman response to the bombing make you admire the person! For me, this was the first account with her as a central character and I surely would want to read a bit more of her era and stories set in this era.
Riveting piece of non-fiction.
This book based on the Brighton Hotel bombing in 1984 that almost killed Margaret Thatcher reads like a fiction. For the uninitiated, this is a treasure trove of information on the Irish resistance movement (Dubbed by the Brits as "The Troubles") and about the original Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher. The amount of research that has gone into this gives you a quick catchup on the whole political scene before it gets to the event.
Put together based on more than 800 interviews and police records, kudos to the author who has made it a coherent narrative. Something that is not established gets called out and hence the journalistic principles are upheld in this fast paced book. The background setting that establishes the various players is critical as it talks about the reason for dissent which was new to me.
Earlier in 1981 when Thatcher had to decide how to handle Northern Ireland, she takes a hard stance that to treat all resistance movement as criminal activities. This leads to belittling of the Irish sentiments and builds hatred. Politician Bobby Sands openly started threatening the British of repercussions and follows it by various factions setting off bombs across England.
At 2:54 am, a bomb concealed in room 629 of the Grand Hotel in Brighton more than 24 days ago gets detonated. The mastermind behind this bombing is the English division on IRA and the bomber Patrick Magee nicknamed Chancer. Magee has first hand experience of casual brutality in the streets of Belfast and almost non-chalantly participates in the movement as a sense of meaning to his otherwise crumbling personal life. His stubbornness to the cause makes him the most dangerous of the lot "I regret that people were killed; I don't regret the fact that I was involved in a struggle" said he in 2002 after his release.
The manhunt that was painstakingly manual in the absence of technology makes the arrest an improbable event. However, as the author explains it took a lot of luck good and bad to finally crack the case. Somehow none of the characters stand out despite the long drawn histories and their feelings.
The one person who stands tall in this entire book is Margaret Thatcher. There is a subtle admiration even by those who are trying to bring her down and political opponents. Her entire strategy, rise in politics after two losses, her response to the Irish problem and the almost superhuman response to the bombing make you admire the person! For me, this was the first account with her as a central character and I surely would want to read a bit more of her era and stories set in this era.
Riveting piece of non-fiction.
February 12, 2025
Perfect history of the war between IRA and the Brittish governement and expecially its operation to kill Brittish prime minister Thatcher. The book goes between different perspectives, telling different storys and then tying them up in one grand narrative of violence and ideology
June 23, 2023
There will be fire was a good true crime story. The book examines how the IRA schemed and plotted a attack on prime minister Thatcher and how the British police conducted a full scale operation to capture the perpetrators.
September 7, 2023
3.5 The story of the plot by the IRA to kill Margaret Thatcher started off compelling, but got a bit mired down in a lot of other IRA plotting and carrying out of bombing attacks. From what I have looked into via other sources, this book didn't quite use an even hand when it came to explaining The Troubles and its origins. Nevertheless, the IRA bombing campaigns and the whole conflict were tragic and the plot to kill Thatcher came very close to being successful.
July 2, 2025
Great book charting the IRA plot to assassinate Thatcher. Though perhaps less immediately relevant than other Troubles nonfiction (hinging on a what-if Patrick Magee had been successful, and not so much any lasting material impact), it’s well-written, informative, and reads like a thriller — so, worthwhile. Did a good job sensitively depicting the act’s horror without losing sight of political complexities: the chapter describing the bomb was really blood-curdling.
February 2, 2023
Thank you Penguin/Putnam and Netgalley for providing this nonfiction ARC. An excellent, thoroughly researched retelling of an IRA bombing in the UK at the height of The Troubles. The autho did an excellent job of providing background context to many of the issues, but without taking away from the goal of telling a history of one particular event. Highly recommended for history buffs and anyone interested in the history of Ireland.
August 1, 2023
An interesting and fast-paced accounting of a moment in time during the Troubles when the IRA organized a hit on Margaret Thatcher. It reads like a thriller but all the more cutting for the cast of real characters. I like the historical notes throughout and the notes Carroll struck in the epilogue about the way history can and does turn on a dime. How did this incident impact Thatcher's views? If not for the seconds that altered the course of history (Thatcher removing herself from the line of fire, so to speak) what would the path of the UK look like now? Brexit?
April 30, 2026
Rory Carroll’s There Will Be Fire: Margaret Thatcher, the IRA, and Two Minutes That Changed History is, at its core, a tightly wound account of the 1984 Brighton hotel bombing and the political, moral, and human tremors that radiated from those two minutes. But for me, reading it was not simply an exercise in historical understanding—it was an emotional reckoning. As an Irish American, the granddaughter of two Irish immigrants, this is not distant history. It is inherited memory, half-formed loyalties, and unresolved questions about identity, justice, and violence.
Let me be clear at the outset: this was one of the most difficult books I’ve ever read—not because it lacks quality (it doesn’t), but because it demands that you sit in discomfort. Carroll writes with precision and restraint, refusing to sensationalize the bombing while still conveying its terror and consequence. His narrative moves between the architects of the attack, the victims, and the broader political machinery, creating a mosaic that resists easy judgment.
The bombing itself—an assassination attempt on Margaret Thatcher carried out by the Irish Republican Army—becomes less a singular event and more a lens through which decades, even centuries, of conflict come into focus. And that history matters deeply.
The relationship between Ireland and Great Britain is not just “complicated”—it is layered with conquest, resistance, famine, and identity. Beginning with the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169, English involvement gradually transformed into domination. The Tudor conquest in the 16th century intensified control, followed by the Plantation system, particularly in Ulster, which seeded sectarian divisions that still echo today. The 19th century brought the catastrophe of the Great Famine (1845–1852), during which British policy—and neglect—exacerbated mass starvation and emigration. For many Irish families, including my own, that trauma is not abstract history but origin story.
By the early 20th century, Ireland’s struggle for independence culminated in the Easter Rising of 1916 and the subsequent War of Independence. The result was partition in 1921: the creation of the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) and Northern Ireland remaining within the United Kingdom. Partition did not resolve tensions; it calcified them. Northern Ireland became a site of systemic discrimination against the Catholic nationalist minority, leading to civil rights protests in the 1960s and eventually to the period known as “The Troubles.”
This is where Carroll’s book situates itself most forcefully. The IRA, which saw itself as a liberation movement, engaged in a campaign of bombings and assassinations aimed at ending British rule in Northern Ireland. There is no denying that the IRA brought international attention to the conflict and forced political engagement. Nor can one ignore that its actions contributed to the eventual conditions that made the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 possible. But the cost was staggering: over 3,500 lives lost, many of them civilians. Violence did not just target power—it shattered ordinary lives.
Carroll does an admirable job of neither glorifying nor demonizing. He shows the IRA operatives as human beings shaped by their environment and beliefs, but he does not excuse the consequences of their actions. As a reader, I found myself caught in that tension. I believe deeply that Irish belongs to the Irish—that a free, united Ireland is a prosperous Ireland. And yet, I cannot condone the violence that marked this struggle. That contradiction is not something the book resolves; it’s something it forces you to live with.
The same complexity applies to Thatcher. Carroll portrays her not as a caricature, but as a formidable, disciplined leader with an unyielding sense of duty. She survived the Brighton bombing and continued her conference speech the next morning—a moment that has become emblematic of her resilience. It is easy to see why many in Britain admired her.
But Thatcher is also, undeniably, a polarizing figure. Her economic policies—closely aligned with what we often call Reaganomics, associated with Ronald Reagan—championed deregulation, privatization, and a reduction in state power. Supporters argue that these policies revitalized the British economy, curbed inflation, and restored a sense of national confidence after the stagnation of the 1970s. Critics, myself included, see them as laying the groundwork for widening inequality, both in the UK and globally, influencing similar trajectories in the United States.
More troubling, from my perspective, is Thatcher’s approach to Ireland and the Irish people. Her rhetoric and policies often framed Irish nationalism as illegitimate or criminal, reinforcing a sense of “otherness” that deepened divisions. Her handling of the 1981 hunger strikes, in which ten Irish republican prisoners died, remains one of the most controversial episodes of her tenure. Carroll doesn’t shy away from this context, and it’s impossible to read the book without feeling the weight of those decisions.
And yet—because history resists simplicity—it’s also true that Thatcher played a role in laying groundwork for future peace. The Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985, though limited, marked the first time the British government formally acknowledged the Republic of Ireland’s advisory role in Northern Irish affairs. It was a small but significant step toward the kind of cooperation that would eventually make peace possible.
Carroll enriches the narrative with fascinating, lesser-known details. For instance, the Brighton bomb was planted weeks in advance, hidden behind a bathtub panel—an almost mundane detail that makes the event more chilling. The bomber, Patrick Magee, checked into the hotel under a false name and calmly executed a plan that would nearly alter the course of British political history. Another striking detail: despite the devastation, Thatcher insisted the conference proceed, framing it as a defiant stand against injustice—a moment that cemented her image as the “Iron Lady.”
What makes this book so powerful is not just its historical detail, but its insistence on moral complexity. It does not tell you what to think. Instead, it presents a web of motivations, consequences, and human stories that resist easy categorization.
For me, that was the hardest part. This is not a story where you can comfortably choose a side and remain there. It asks you to acknowledge that people you sympathize with may have done terrible things, and people you disagree with may have shown courage or even contributed to progress. It asks you to hold multiple truths at once.
In the end, Rory Carroll has written a book that is as unsettling as it is illuminating. It is not an easy read, emotionally or intellectually. But it is an important one. It reminded me that history is not just a series of events—it is a series of choices, made by individuals who believed, rightly or wrongly, that they were doing what was necessary.
And perhaps that is the most difficult truth of all.
Let me be clear at the outset: this was one of the most difficult books I’ve ever read—not because it lacks quality (it doesn’t), but because it demands that you sit in discomfort. Carroll writes with precision and restraint, refusing to sensationalize the bombing while still conveying its terror and consequence. His narrative moves between the architects of the attack, the victims, and the broader political machinery, creating a mosaic that resists easy judgment.
The bombing itself—an assassination attempt on Margaret Thatcher carried out by the Irish Republican Army—becomes less a singular event and more a lens through which decades, even centuries, of conflict come into focus. And that history matters deeply.
The relationship between Ireland and Great Britain is not just “complicated”—it is layered with conquest, resistance, famine, and identity. Beginning with the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169, English involvement gradually transformed into domination. The Tudor conquest in the 16th century intensified control, followed by the Plantation system, particularly in Ulster, which seeded sectarian divisions that still echo today. The 19th century brought the catastrophe of the Great Famine (1845–1852), during which British policy—and neglect—exacerbated mass starvation and emigration. For many Irish families, including my own, that trauma is not abstract history but origin story.
By the early 20th century, Ireland’s struggle for independence culminated in the Easter Rising of 1916 and the subsequent War of Independence. The result was partition in 1921: the creation of the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) and Northern Ireland remaining within the United Kingdom. Partition did not resolve tensions; it calcified them. Northern Ireland became a site of systemic discrimination against the Catholic nationalist minority, leading to civil rights protests in the 1960s and eventually to the period known as “The Troubles.”
This is where Carroll’s book situates itself most forcefully. The IRA, which saw itself as a liberation movement, engaged in a campaign of bombings and assassinations aimed at ending British rule in Northern Ireland. There is no denying that the IRA brought international attention to the conflict and forced political engagement. Nor can one ignore that its actions contributed to the eventual conditions that made the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 possible. But the cost was staggering: over 3,500 lives lost, many of them civilians. Violence did not just target power—it shattered ordinary lives.
Carroll does an admirable job of neither glorifying nor demonizing. He shows the IRA operatives as human beings shaped by their environment and beliefs, but he does not excuse the consequences of their actions. As a reader, I found myself caught in that tension. I believe deeply that Irish belongs to the Irish—that a free, united Ireland is a prosperous Ireland. And yet, I cannot condone the violence that marked this struggle. That contradiction is not something the book resolves; it’s something it forces you to live with.
The same complexity applies to Thatcher. Carroll portrays her not as a caricature, but as a formidable, disciplined leader with an unyielding sense of duty. She survived the Brighton bombing and continued her conference speech the next morning—a moment that has become emblematic of her resilience. It is easy to see why many in Britain admired her.
But Thatcher is also, undeniably, a polarizing figure. Her economic policies—closely aligned with what we often call Reaganomics, associated with Ronald Reagan—championed deregulation, privatization, and a reduction in state power. Supporters argue that these policies revitalized the British economy, curbed inflation, and restored a sense of national confidence after the stagnation of the 1970s. Critics, myself included, see them as laying the groundwork for widening inequality, both in the UK and globally, influencing similar trajectories in the United States.
More troubling, from my perspective, is Thatcher’s approach to Ireland and the Irish people. Her rhetoric and policies often framed Irish nationalism as illegitimate or criminal, reinforcing a sense of “otherness” that deepened divisions. Her handling of the 1981 hunger strikes, in which ten Irish republican prisoners died, remains one of the most controversial episodes of her tenure. Carroll doesn’t shy away from this context, and it’s impossible to read the book without feeling the weight of those decisions.
And yet—because history resists simplicity—it’s also true that Thatcher played a role in laying groundwork for future peace. The Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985, though limited, marked the first time the British government formally acknowledged the Republic of Ireland’s advisory role in Northern Irish affairs. It was a small but significant step toward the kind of cooperation that would eventually make peace possible.
Carroll enriches the narrative with fascinating, lesser-known details. For instance, the Brighton bomb was planted weeks in advance, hidden behind a bathtub panel—an almost mundane detail that makes the event more chilling. The bomber, Patrick Magee, checked into the hotel under a false name and calmly executed a plan that would nearly alter the course of British political history. Another striking detail: despite the devastation, Thatcher insisted the conference proceed, framing it as a defiant stand against injustice—a moment that cemented her image as the “Iron Lady.”
What makes this book so powerful is not just its historical detail, but its insistence on moral complexity. It does not tell you what to think. Instead, it presents a web of motivations, consequences, and human stories that resist easy categorization.
For me, that was the hardest part. This is not a story where you can comfortably choose a side and remain there. It asks you to acknowledge that people you sympathize with may have done terrible things, and people you disagree with may have shown courage or even contributed to progress. It asks you to hold multiple truths at once.
In the end, Rory Carroll has written a book that is as unsettling as it is illuminating. It is not an easy read, emotionally or intellectually. But it is an important one. It reminded me that history is not just a series of events—it is a series of choices, made by individuals who believed, rightly or wrongly, that they were doing what was necessary.
And perhaps that is the most difficult truth of all.
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