"Ireland's Easter Rising of 1916 is one of the handful of modern historical events that instantly created its own mythology and changed millions of lives for ever." "Charles Townshend's remarkable new book vividly recreates this extraordinary time when, as Irish insurgents rose up and occupied Dublin, as British artillery retaliated ferociously and flattened the city centre, as the last haggard rebels surrendered and their leaders were shot, a powerful narrative was created and Ireland was launched into a new world." "Scraping away layer upon layer of myth, Easter 1916 reveals an Ireland polarized, confused and fearful, hovering on the brink of war between Nationalists and Unionists and presenting Britain with a seemingly insoluble problem. With the world's attention on the First World War and with Irish constitutional change deep-frozen 'for the duration', a group of remarkable Irish men and women - from eloquent intellectual Patrick Pearse to revolutionary socialist James Cannolly - decided to take the actions that made a peaceful provincial city into a bloody battleground and then into a national capital. Executions and mass arrests shook Irish public opinion so severely that a new enthusiasm for independence emerged, under the banner of Sinn Fein."--BOOK JACKET.