Mr. Doyle has outdone himself in this sequel to The Last Coachman. This is a compelling and riveting story that educates the reader on such an important part of Irish history. This book should be mandatory reading for all Irish students and children of Irish/British heritage. An absolute page turner! I look forward to the continuing saga of the Quinlan family and friends in this series.

The plight of the historical novelist is such that he must always be mindful to weave his fiction within the constraints of history, allowing of course for a degree of license, provided he does not tinker with History itself. This John Doyle has done admirably in the ambitious sequel to The Last Coachman. The novel continues to follow the fortunes of the Quinlan family during and after the Easter Rising in 1916, up to the ugly history of the Black and Tans in the early 1920s. The book picks up the story of the main characters and introduces new ones, with whom the reader immediately engages. The story itself, set against the backdrop of the end of WWI and the Irish rising, is populated with many historical figures, including Michael Collins, Éamon De Valera and Countess Markievicz. Key elements of the story tell of the shifting priorities of those born into a culture of Irish nationalism, and who face an uncertain future at both the hands of the British and also the sinister movers within their own sphere. It contrasts the normality of family life, work, marriage and children with a military struggle, fought as much by uniformed men, as by wives, daughters and mothers in the peat-smoke kitchens of county Kerry. The sweep of the story, with relatively short chapters, carries the reader forward at a brisk pace, and achieves the desired effect of one wishing to finish 'just one more chapter' before putting down the book and turning off the light. As well as being a great book and an entertaining page-turning story, it has also achieved what all good historical novels should, that of also being a history lesson, and in that vein it walks unashamedly in the footsteps of the likes of Robert Harris and Patrick O'Brian.