Beauty & Atrocity

An ambitious and powerful account of modern Irish history.
Irish history (from the Easter Rising and Partition through to the recent Troubles) will come alive through letters, diaries and meetings with those who experienced first-hand the monumental changes of the past century. Forty years after the Provisional IRA was formed and British troops arrived in Ireland, the Troubles appear to be over; the future promising to be quite different from the past. But is that the reality of the situation? Recent events perhaps suggest otherwise, as old tensions rise to the forefront once more. Long divided by hatred and mistrust, Ireland's conflict has had a profound effect on an entire generation of people. Joshua Levine will delve into peoples' lives and experiences, and these stories will interlink to provide a subtle and fascinating evaluation of Ireland's turbulent past, as well as seeking to discover what the future might bring. Vivid and discursive; this is no simple history. Instead,the emotional, cultural and social experiences of individuals will be aligned to the political story, making it a powerful narrative of turmoil, change, and the search for a lasting peace. There are those whose lives have been shattered, those who have tried to ignore the realities, those who have attempted to bridge the divide, those who fought, those who do not want to look back, those who do not accept the peace process, and those who have stayed apart from the conflict. All these come together in a vivid portrait of Ireland's past and present.