The Guns of Easter

Rating:
Summary: Very exciting and a mixture of sad and hopeful
Review: I read this book after Gerard Whelan came to our school and explained why he wrote it. He said that a lot of the problems in Ireland today are caused by people getting upset about what they think happened in history and he wanted to find out what really happened. This is a really exciting story about children's adventures during the Easter Rising and at the end you realise it isn't about baddies and goodies but about real mixed up people. I am 13 and I think anyone who enjoys adventure stories would enjoy this one.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Irish historical novel
Review: This is an adventure story located in the turmoil of Dublin during the 1916 rebellion. As well as being a gripping adventure, it's a great introduction to modern Irish history.

I've recommended it to older friends as well as younger ones and most of them have read it at one sitting.

The hero of the novel spends Easter week dodging the firefights and explosions which are racking Irelands capital.

Through his travels the book introduces us to a varied cast of characters on both sides of the Irish struggle. As well as the British soldiers there are the various Irish groups that came together to oppose them: the working men of the Citizens army, the poets and writers of the Irish volunteers and the ordinary citizens of Dublin.

The young boys life is often in danger, but through his eyes we are privileged to see the sacrifice and determination which is bringing Ireland it's freedom.

While the hero of the novel is dodging the raking fire of machine guns and the heavy thud of Mauser bullets we're given a fascinating picture of Dublin and it's inhabitants.

One of the things I most enjoyed about this book was it's attention to detail and it's great period accuracy. But after reading it I also understood more fully the political events that are happening in Ireland now.