The End of the Hunt

Flanagan fans will delight in this big new novel celebrating Sinn Fein's fight for Irish independence in the early decades of the century. The author's two previous books, The Year of the French and Tenants of Time , traced Irish republicanism from its origins in the unsuccessful 1798 Rebellion though the failed Fenian uprisings of the second half of the 19th century. This narrative focuses on the movement's partial success during the years of guerrilla struggle that first saw the emergence of the IRA, the drama of the peace negotiations with the British and the terrible civil war that followed when the IRA split over the treaty terms. Flanagan offers a rich mix of fictional and historical characters to tell the larger story of that time (and indeed, it is the course of the Troubles themselves that provides the novel's true tensions). The four major fictional characters who carry the narrative accurately reflect Irish attitudes in those years: two are republican activists and two are sympathetic to the cause but ambivalent as to the methods used. The legendary Michael Collins figures prominently, as he did in history, and the portrait of him is riveting. Winston Churchill is tellingly rendered as well, particularly as he plans to infiltrate rebel Dublin with a special secret service unit that was ultimately destroyed by Collins's brilliant counterstroke. This substantive successor to the author's previous work re-creates a complex period of ``terrible beauty'' in Irish history, a period which set loose forces that still seek a final resolution. BOMC and History Book Club selections; author tour. (Apr.)