The End of the Hunt [Hardcover]

Thomas Flanagan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1994

The dramatic history of the creation of the Irish Free State and the brutal Civil War that followed comes to life as four young Irish people become caught up in the emotional turbulence of their time. By the author of The Tenants of Time. 100,000 first printing. $100,000 ad/promo. Tour.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Flanagan fans will delight in this big new novel celebrating Sinn Fein's fight for Irish independence in the early decades of the century. The author's two previous books, The Year of the French and Tenants of Time , traced Irish republicanism from its origins in the unsuccessful 1798 Rebellion though the failed Fenian uprisings of the second half of the 19th century. This narrative focuses on the movement's partial success during the years of guerrilla struggle that first saw the emergence of the IRA, the drama of the peace negotiations with the British and the terrible civil war that followed when the IRA split over the treaty terms. Flanagan offers a rich mix of fictional and historical characters to tell the larger story of that time (and indeed, it is the course of the Troubles themselves that provides the novel's true tensions). The four major fictional characters who carry the narrative accurately reflect Irish attitudes in those years: two are republican activists and two are sympathetic to the cause but ambivalent as to the methods used. The legendary Michael Collins figures prominently, as he did in history, and the portrait of him is riveting. Winston Churchill is tellingly rendered as well, particularly as he plans to infiltrate rebel Dublin with a special secret service unit that was ultimately destroyed by Collins's brilliant counterstroke. This substantive successor to the author's previous work re-creates a complex period of "terrible beauty" in Irish history, a period which set loose forces that still seek a final resolution. BOMC and History Book Club selections; author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

As in The Year of the French ( LJ 5/1/79) and The Tenants of Time ( LJ 12/87), Flanagan has written a compelling historical novel about rebellion in Ireland, its causes and consequences, and what happens to people as their private lives are transformed by--indeed become--public events. Here he covers the years following 1916's Easter Rebellion (an event more important to Irish consciousness than World War I), which will culminate in the creation of an Irish Free State and the waging of brutal civil war. Flanagan gives us history as moments, some dull and some dangerous, in the lives of scores of people, some invented and some actual. At times we witness these moments vividly as they happen, or we may look back at them through the characters' memories as they try to understand what the moments really meant. Superlative reading on The Irish Question; few historical novels about any time or place are as rich and as rewarding as this one. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 12/93.
-Charles Michaud, Turner Free Lib., Randolph, Mass.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 640 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult; First Edition edition (April 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525936815
• ISBN-13: 978-0525936817
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #107,121 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The 'Big Fella' is an unforgettable portrait, December 6, 1999

By 

Doug Vaughn - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The End of the Hunt (Paperback)

This is a part of Irish history that most Americans, including many Irish-Americans, don't know well if at all. Thomas Flanagan's story of Irish independence, centering on the figure of Michael Collins (the Big Fella)is a story of historical significance and personal tragedy. While this is not a full rounded history of the time, since it focuses on Collins and ignores for the most part the other Irish leaders, it is still a grand adventure and captures perfectly the tone of time and place. Flanagan is a writer of significant skill and his handling of character and story - not to mention his skill with language - make this book a memorable and moving reading experience.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Books behind the books, October 23, 2007

By 

R. Cryan (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The End of the Hunt (Paperback)

I loved the Thomas Flanagan trilogy.
By chance, I believe I came across the primary source books for each of the three.
The Year of the French seems quite obviously informed and inspired by Thomas Pakenham's Year of Liberty, a novelistic but dense nonfiction recounting of the western uprising in 1798.
The End of the Hunt takes much of its feel from "The Big Fellow", Frank O'Connor's beautiful account of Michael Collins' revolutionary career.
If these two are obvious the third is less so:
The Tenants of Time builds very effectively upon the foundations of Micheal Davitt's book, "The Fall of Feudalism in Ireland." This book, by an 1867 Fenian who became a leader of the Land League movement and an obstructionist member of the British parliament, is rich in detail about the Land League and the parliamentary struggle of the late 1800's that shows up in the Flanagan book.
I recommend these books to readers who have finished the trilogy, just as I would recommend the trilogy to all.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Michael Collins and the I.R.A............., March 12, 2002

By 

nto62 (Corona, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The End of the Hunt (Hardcover)

Thomas Flanagans' The End of the Hunt follows The Tenants of Time as an engrossing novel about Ireland's fight for independence. His most recent novel centers on Michael Collins, but, like previous Flanagan efforts, is told through the eyes of a collection of characters. These individual insights give the reader a well-rounded view of events as they occur and allow us to peer from different angles at the tactics, strategies, subterfuges, and idiosyncracies of the warring parties. From the Easter Rising of 1916 to the edge of Irish civil war, Flanagan weaves a taut web of intrigue, conflict, and tragedy with a "behind-the-scenes" access which affords the reader an extremely suspenseful experience.

Though admirably fast-paced throughout, the story quickens as Collins and crew reluctantly sign a treaty with Great Britain which runs counter to the oaths of their IRA brethren. Creating the Irish Free State, Collins finds himself and his fellow free staters caught between the unconditional IRA demands of full independence and the British who continue to hold Northern Ireland with iron fist and require the rest of the country to ultimately submit to their sovereignty. The balancing act is exciting to behold as Collins continues to abet IRA action whilst holding an ever-demanding Great Britain at bay.

Ireland's struggle to be free of Britain's imperial grasp is a story that, to this day, continues to make headlines. Thomas Flanagan has again provided a ground zero view fraught with peril, passion, and seemingly insurmountable odds. I recommend this book highly as I do his earlier effort, The Tenants of Time.