NONFICTION

Peacerunner: The True Story of How an Ex-Congressman Helped End the Centuries of War in Ireland

BenBella. 2016. 350p. index. ISBN 9781941631713. $26.95; ebk. ISBN 9781941631720. POL SCI
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Lawyer Rhodeen presents an interesting examination of the last political stages that led up to the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland. While some readers may be familiar with George Mitchell, the U.S. Senator (D-ME) often credited with bringing the talks to a successful conclusion, litigator Bruce Morrison's role—the focus of this book—is less widely known. In seeking to provide a more balanced picture, Rhodeen has done a laudable job of talking to participants in the United States, England, and Ireland, but his sources are oddly unbalanced, lacking in both women and Irish Republicans. The author presents a very skeletal outline of the events leading up to Morrison's involvement; readers would be well-advised to have a standard history, such as R.F. Foster's Modern Ireland, to hand for consultation. With a foreword by former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
VERDICT This work is for those who enjoy a good, real-life political drama and will probably be popular among fans of Tim Pat Coogan or Frank McCourt.
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