A Farther Shore: Ireland's Long Road to Peace (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Sometimes I go to the edge of the world: to the northwest of Ireland, where on dark clear nights the skyscape stretches forever..." (more)
Key Phrases: republican political prisoners, unionist paramilitaries, armed republicanism, John Hume, John Major, White House (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Born in Belfast in 1948, Adams has spent his entire life in the nationalist movement and immediately states that he was never a member of the IRA; he similarly denies that Sinn Fein is "the political wing of the IRA." Northern Ireland politics is always a complicated array of facts and contradictions, but Adams has done a workmanlike job of defining events and personalities. He puts the 1988 Gibraltar assassinations of three IRA members squarely at the feet of Margaret Thatcher. And while he excoriates Thatcher and her ilk, he embraces Nelson Mandela ("the greatest political leader of our time"), Steve Bilko, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Rosa Parks and Ho Chi Minh as mentors and heroes. The Good Friday Agreement is at the book's heart. There are many heroes, including Nobel laureate John Hume, Irish Prime Ministers Albert Reynolds and Bertie Ahern, Tony Blair and, most prominently, Bill Clinton. Adams shows how he and his cohorts reached across the Atlantic for help and support. It was Clinton's unilateral 1994 act granting Adams a visa to enter the U.S. that started the peace process rolling. Adams takes us step-by-step through the tense negotiations, which culminated in the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Adams's eighth book is suspenseful, biased, subversive, blunt and often funny. Edifying for both the neophyte and the veteran observer, it will open eyes as to how this master politician thinks and operates. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Although a complete end to the Troubles will require decades of healing, 1998's Good Friday Agreement between the Irish and British governments proved to be a significant step toward peace in Northern Ireland. Nudged along by George Mitchell, Bill Clinton, and the world's spotlight, Downing Street relaxed its longtime unwillingness to negotiate with Sinn Fein, and the IRA relaxed its longtime unwillingness to cease fire. This book is Sinn Fein president Adams' account of a quarter-century of progress and setbacks leading up to the agreement. It also takes issue with the conventional British and media wisdom that Sinn Fein is the "political wing of the IRA." Rather, Adams' Sinn Fein is a social-justice-minded political party that shares the objectives of the IRA while eschewing its violent means, and Adams himself is a passionate yet ultimately peaceful patriot. But violence, by both the IRA and the unionist paramilitary, punctuates his narrative, adding urgency and keeping feelings of progress in check. Yet there's always rhetorical distance between Sinn Fein and these violent acts. Packaged for posterity? Perhaps. But not to obscure the point: this is a story about peace. Brendan Driscoll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1st edition (November 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375508155
• ISBN-13: 978-0375508158
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,362,272 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sinn Fein's gamble on the peace process, December 14, 2003

By	Lance Murdoch (North America) - See all my reviews

This book begins with the hunger strikes of 1980-1981 and ends with the Good Friday Agreement of 1992, as seen by Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams. It also goes over events during that period - the beginnings of secret negotiations with the British, the Anglo-Irish Agreement, the Gibraltar executions, the initial ceasefire, support for the peace process from the USA as well as a country that had just had a peaceful settlement after years of fighting, South Africa, bad faith from the British, and finally the Good Friday Agreement.

Aside from going over the history, he details the negotation back-and-forth minutiae - sometimes going into too much detail about tactical political maneuvering by the various parties. He also includes humorous anecdotes like how during the Good Friday agreement negotiations, the Sinn Fein representatives went out of their way to be extra nice to the unionist representatives, who wouldn't speak to them, always holding open doors, smiling, saying hello in such a "lovefest" of niceness that the unionists eventually complained.

What I found particularly interesting was his discussion of the RTE and BBC censorship of Sinn Fein, and the effect that this had on people in England and the 26 counties perception. He discusses the gap between republicans and loyalists throughout, his earlier work has some insightful reflections on this as well. Gone is the young idealistic man of "Before the Dawn", in this book he is an older man, a tactically sharp politician who was smart enough to get rid of some of the harmful archaic dogmatic blockades of republicanism (like not running candidates in the 26 counties), and who is at the vanguard of a new republican strategic gamble - success via peaceful politics.

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Lesson in Peace, November 6, 2003

By	Shannon Molloy (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is a great learning tool for those who would like to know the history of the troubles in Ireland. This book offers insight into a man and an organization that are often misrepresented. I recommend this book to all of those who are sympatric with the Irish fight for self government and for those who wish to learn more. The least you can walk away with from reading this book is that Adams and his supporters never give up and continue to struggle for what every person deserves peace

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended Reading, September 6, 2007

By	J. E. Robinson - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Farther Shore: Ireland's Long Road to Peace (Paperback)

Gerry Adams is a native of "northern Ireland" and he is a politician and head of Sinn Fein party which means in translation "ourselves". As a nationalist he has worked for many years for the cause on Irish unity. He has had many ups and downs including being shot, serving jail time and being elected an MP to Westminster, etc. The book covers the period from approximately 1970 to 1998.

I would like to quote one passage from the book that says a lot about his thinking. This was during negotiations with all the parties in London at Lancaster House, the building of prior historical negotiations. Here 150 years after the great famine he describes the setting for the negotiations..." It was here-amid the grandeur and the Lousi XIV interiors and the other fine furnishings, undoubtedly stolen from around the world or purchased with other ill gotten gains...". So his Irish nationalism and his annoyance with the colonial English rulers are abundantly clear even in the late 1990's. People that understand colonialism certainly can empathize with Mr Adams.

Gerry Adams has written approximately eight other books so he is not new to books. This is a substantial book about 400 pages long, small font, lots of details. He is not a professional writer and sometimes the writing is a bit cumbersome. Having said that this is simply an excellent read both entertaining and engrossing.

He professes to be a politician (only) and explains many of his meetings, discussions, jail time, etc. He describes his meeting with Clinton and Blair in great detail, often hour by hour, and often explains the actions of many people working with him on various negotiations. Beyond that I think you should read the book. It is his view of a complicated subject whether you agree with him or not, and it is an excellent book.

Adams's path towards a political solution, as opposed to more of the same, has been a key ingredient to peace in Northern Ireland.

Good book: 5 stars.