Heiress, Rebel, Vigilante, Bomber, Sean ODriscoll
Heiress, Rebel, Vigilante, Bomber, Sean ODriscoll
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Heiress, Rebel, Vigilante, Bomber
The Extraordinary Life of Rose Dugdale

Author: Sean O'Driscoll

Narrator: Gerry O'Brien

Unabridged: 9 hr 36 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 06/16/2022


Synopsis

Brought to you by penguin.

The astonishing story of the English heiress who devoted her life to the IRA

She grew up in a Chelsea townhouse and on a Devon estate.

She was presented to the Queen at Buckingham Palace as a debutante in 1958.

She trained at Oxford as an academic economist and had a love affair with a female professor (who was on the rebound from Iris Murdoch).

At thirty, she commenced giving her inheritance away to the poor.

In 1972, the deadliest year of the Northern Irish Troubles, she travelled to Ireland and joined the IRA.

Sean O'Driscoll's Heiress, Rebel, Vigilante, Bomber tells the astonishing story of Rose Dugdale, who went on to become a committed terrorist, participating in a major art heist and a bombing raid on a police and army barracks; who kept a pregnancy secret for nine months in prison and gave birth there; and who ended up at the heart of the IRA's bomb-making operation during its deadly final spasms in the 1990s. Heiress, Rebel, Vigilante, Bomber is both the page-turning biography of a remarkable woman and a groundbreaking account of the inner workings of a terrorist organization.

© Sean O'Driscoll 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Reviews

Goodreads review by F.R. on August 24, 2023

I knew nothing about Rose Dugdale when I picked up this book, but she was all of the things listed in the title. This is a fascinating telling of a strange and interesting tale.......more

Goodreads review by The Armchair Nihilist on July 27, 2024

Rose Dugdale was one of those big, exuberant, posh girls with an infectious horsey grin and an impeccable upper class family pedigree. She could have married a stockbroker and lived the refined dinner party lifestyle of a wealthy heiress; instead she became a militant Irish republican streetfighter.......more

Goodreads review by Grace on November 01, 2022

Amazing truth is stranger than fiction account of the still living Rose Dugdale. I would say the first half of the book was more compelling -- the second half spent a lot of time talking about explosives production by the IRA. It's hard to believe that the events of Rose's life are in living memory.......more

Goodreads review by Robert on March 20, 2023

War against the rich. Not a bad subject for a book quite an interesting view of an English woman fighting against her own people & government.......more

Goodreads review by Pete on January 24, 2023

A riveting biography of Rose Dugdale who hit the 1970s headlines across the world as an IRA bomber. The books title summarises her lifetimes roles, but omits her relationships with parents, siblings, friends, lovers and her son, her early life, her university life and her belief in actively supporti......more


Quotes

Fascinating . . . O'Driscoll's research is impressive The Times

Riveting TLS

Generous and well researched LRB

An absorbing, well-researched and extremely well-written account of a life that almost defies belief RTÉ

Superb . . . an even-handed and thrilling gallop through [Dugdale's] improbable life Daily Telegraph

Possibly the most extraordinary book you'll read this year Irish Examiner

Unputdownable . . . jaw-dropping

It would be hard to overstate how good this book is . . . a fantastic read Sunday Independent

[A] pacey, well-researched book Irish Independent

Well-researched . . . balanced Irish Times