Search results for ""Author Fergal Keane""

A family story of blood and memory and the haunting power of the past. 2018 WINNER OF THE CHRISTOPHER EWART-BIGGS MEMORIAL PRIZE 2017 WINNER OF THE NON-FICTION IRISH BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER After nearly three decades reporting conflict from all over the world for the BBC, Fergal Keane has gone home to Ireland to tell a story that lies at the root of his fascination with war. It is a family story of war and love, and how the ghosts of the past return to shape the present. Wounds is a powerful memoir about Irish people who found themselves caught up in the revolution that followed the 1916 Rising, and in the pitiless violence of civil war in north Kerry after the British left in 1922. It is the story of Keane’s grandmother Hannah Purtill, her brother Mick and his friend Con Brosnan, and how they and their neighbours took up guns to fight the British Empire and create an independent Ireland. And it is the story of another Irishman, Tobias O’Sullivan, who fought against them as a policeman because he believed it was his duty to uphold the law of his country. Many thousands of people took part in the War of Independence and the Civil War that followed. Whatever side they chose, all were changed in some way by the costs of violence. Keane uses the experiences of his ancestral homeland in north Kerry to examine why people will kill for a cause and how the act of killing reverberates through the generations.

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An Irish Times book of the year 2022 A powerful, probing book about PTSD.

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As a journalist Keane has covered conflict and brutality across the world for more than thirty years, from Rwanda, Sudan, South Africa, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine and many more. Driven by an irresistible compulsion to be where the night is darkest, he made a name for reporting with humanity and empathy from places where death and serious injury were not abstractions, and tragedy often just a moment’s bad luck away.

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When President Habyarimana’s jet was shot down in April 1994, Rwanda erupted into a hundred-day orgy of killing – which left up to a million dead. Fergal Keane travelled through the country as the genocide was continuing, and his powerful analysis reveals the terrible truth behind the headlines.‘A tender, angry account … As well as being a scathing indictment – Keane says the genocide inflicted on the Tutsis was planned well in advance by Hutu leaders – this is a graphic view of news-gathering in extremis. It deserves to become a classic’ Independent.

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Drug problems have a profound impact on families. Mothers and fathers, brothers, sisters and children are frequently caught in the maelstrom that drug problems almost inevitably create. Within the UK there is a serious lack of information on the experiences of families attempting to live and cope with a family members' drug problem. Drug Addiction and Families is an exploration of the impact of drug use on families, and of the extent to which current practice meets the needs of families as well as problem drug users.Drawing on a substantial research study comprising interviews with problem drug users and their extended family, Marina Barnard examines the effects of drug use not only on drug users themselves, but also the feelings of anger, sadness, anxiety, shame and loss that are commonly experienced by their extended family. She records the effects of drug use on family dynamics and relationships, including possible social and emotional costs. Its impact on the physical and mental health of family members is also discussed. The author highlights the often overlooked role of grandparents in protecting the children of drug users and considers the perspectives of practitioners such as teachers, social workers and health professionals. The conclusions drawn point to the fact that current service provision, in treating the problem drug user in isolation, fails to address the needs of drug-affected families, and misses the opportunity to develop family-oriented support and treatment.This accessible and insightful book is invaluable reading for drug workers, social workers, health professionals and all practitioners working with families affected by drug use.

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Neil Hegarty's bestselling history of Ireland is a story crowded with the drama of complex characters, shifting allegiances and changing identities. Revisiting the major turning points in the Irish story, Hegarty looks not only at the dynamics of what happened in Ireland, but also at the role of events abroad. With a new afterword that covers the dramatic events of 2011 - including the multi-billion-euro international bailout of Ireland's economy, Fianna Fáil's electoral meltdown, and the first ever visit by a British sovereign to the Irish Republic - Story of Ireland is the history of a country shaped by and helping shape the world around it. Accompanying a landmark series coproduced by the BBC and RTE, and with an introduction by series presenter, Fergal Keane, Story of Ireland is an epic account of Ireland's history for an entire new generation.

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