We Don't Know Ourselves
A Personal History of Ireland Since 1958
Cover of the book
AuthorFintan O’Toole
CountryIreland
LanguageEnglish
GenrePeople's history
PublisherHead of Zeus[1]
Publication date
2021
Media typePrint (hardback)
Pages624[1]
ISBN9781784978297

We Don't Know Ourselves (2021) is a personal history of modern Ireland by Irish journalist and writer Fintan O’Toole from 1958 to the present day.

Synopsis

Across forty three chapters, O’Toole takes an episodic journey through a series of historical eras, covering everything from 1950s Ireland's predilection for emigration to Britain and the U.S. and the suffocating grip held by the Catholic church on daily life, through to the Northern Ireland Peace Process, the Celtic Tiger and the recent liberal renaissance in such matters as abortion and same sex marriage. Throughout he uses details and incidents from his own life, comparing them to contemporary media and official reports.

Reception

The book was a No. 1 Irish Times bestseller.[1]

It received positive reviews in the Irish Times,[2] The Guardian,[3] The Atlantic,[4] New York Times,[5] Times Literary Supplement,[6] and the Financial Times.[7]

The Times Literary Supplement describes the book as "masterly, fascinating and frequently horrifying".[6]

It was selected for The New York Times's "10 Best Books of 2022" list.[8]

Awards

The book won the 2021 Book of the Year award at the Irish Book Awards.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "We Don't Know Ourselves". The Guardian Bookshop. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  2. ↑ Ferriter, Diarmaid. "We Don't Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Ireland Since 1958, by Fintan O'Toole". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  3. ↑ Toibín, Colm (20 September 2021). "We Don't Know Ourselves by Fintan O'Toole review – sweeping account of Ireland's evolutions". the Guardian. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  4. ↑ Murphy, Cullen (14 March 2022). "Ireland's Great Gamble". The Atlantic. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  5. ↑ McCann, Colum (15 March 2022). "His Life Was Too Boring for a Memoir. So He Wrote Ireland's". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  6. 1 2 "How Ireland turned a blind eye to its own cruelties | John Banville". TLS. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  7. ↑ "We Don't Know Ourselves by Fintan O'Toole — growing pains". Financial Times. 21 October 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  8. ↑ "The 10 Best Books of 2022". The New York Times. 29 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  9. ↑ "Home". Irish Book Awards. Retrieved 24 June 2022.


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