Ireland: A Terrible Beauty. (The Story of Ireland Today with 388 Photographs, Including 108 in Full Color)

by Jill Uris and Leon Uris

Book Overview

Jill and Leon Uris came to Ireland looking for answers. Why was Ireland bled by one internal war after another? How can one country contain such greatness and grief? What they discovered was more than... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553011197
• ISBN13: 9780553011197
• Release Date: January 1978
• Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.56 lbs.

Customer Reviews

"My children cried, by mountain, valley, and stream..."

"What do I have?" said this fine old woman, "What do I have?" this fine old woman did say, "I have four green fields; each one was a jewel . . ." The tragedy is that this wonderful book is out of print. Leon Uris and the Irish then-Mrs. Uris, Jill, collaborated on this work, which grew out of Uris' research for his novel, TRINITY. The photographs are haunting, each one a poem. Few places on earth are more beautiful or have had the soil moistened by more tears. Irish history is sorrowful yet uplifting, and the result is the "terrible beauty" this book speaks of and to. Published in 1978, this picture essay captures an Ireland that was still on the margins of Europe, a fly in the amber, that had not quite shaken off the Nineteenth Century. Thirty years on, Ireland has transmogrified into a EuroYuppie haven, and until recently, had the fastest-growing economy in Europe. In 1978 (or even in 1990, when I was there), Dublin could be walked entire in a day; no longer. It's a fair bet that upscale condos, Tesco Supermarkets and the golden arches now stand in many places pictured in this book. All of which makes IRELAND: A TERRIBLE BEAUTY more valuable than before.

Outstanding

From what I understand, the inspiration for this book came out of Leon Uris' research for the novel, "Trinity".It's a pity that this book is out of print. It is an excellent photographic journal -- Jill did the photography, and Leon wrote the narrative. It gives a very real portrait of Ireland, and how this moment in history has arrived. You will not find these pictures in any travel brochure -- they are quite remarkable.

sensitive portrayal with outstanding photographs of all clas

sensitive portrayal with outstanding photographs of all classes of Irish people