Trinity

Leon Uris

Mr. Uris is the World History teacher I wish I had had! In this book about the history of Ireland, he takes the historical facts and weaves them into a tale so rich and vivid with wonderfully developed characters that I did not want to put it down. The facts are so well researched that it is, indeed, a history lesson about the Emerald Isle—the people, passion, religion, and, of course, the British Rule. It is not a light and uplifting novel because the historical facts are depressing and, all too often, tragic. The book left me with a much greater sense of what it means to be Irish—either Catholic or Protestant—as well as what atrocities man is capable of doing in the name of religion. The characters are marvelous and become so real in the hand of Mr. Uris! (Note: I read this while in India and the similarities between the two very different cultures because of British Rule were all too apparent. This made the book even more real to me.)

Reviewed by Dena Oppenheim.