Rebel Hearts: Journeys Within the IRA's Soul

Rebel Hearts by Kevin Toolis is a groundbreaking book that delves into the lives of IRA soldiers, providing an authoritative and insightful look into their world.

With a journalist's eye for detail and a reporter's passion for the subject matter, Toolis takes readers on a journey through the history of the troubles in Northern Ireland, exploring the personal dimensions of dedication and cruelty. The book offers a profoundly personal and chilling close-up of the IRA and its effects on those it wounds and is wounded by, while also providing measured and heartfelt judgment on the hypocrisy, callousness, and stupidity of the Ulster police, paramilitary, and ideologues. Through first-person accounts, Toolis introduces readers to panicky informers, volunteers who want to "be somebody," unintimidated chieftains, and an entire Irish family whose sons each experience the IRA from a different perspective.

The book conveys combat nerves, bravado, hatred, and rage through on-site dialogues with IRA members and their families, making for a riveting read. Despite the "final bitter contradiction" that the justice of the political cause was invalidated by the cruelty of the murders carried out in its name, Toolis believes that "there will be peace in Ireland and it will be a republican peace." With its intimate and knowledgeable portrait of the IRA, Rebel Hearts is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the complexities of the longest war the world has ever known.