The Dead Republic
  • Published: 1 July 2010
  • ISBN: 9781407051796
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 336

The Dead Republic

Formats & editions
EBook
1 Jul 2010
Paperback
1 Jun 2011
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A magnificent, epic novel that explores the history of modern Ireland - the sequel to the bestselling A Star Called Henry and Oh, Play That Thing.

We last saw Henry Smart, his leg severed in an accident with a railway boxcar, crawl into the Utah desert to die - only to be discovered by John Ford, who's there shooting his latest Western.

The Dead Republic opens in 1951. Henry is returning to Ireland for the first time since his escape in 1922. With him are the stars of Ford's latest film, John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, and the famous director himself, who has tried to suck the soul out of Henry and turn it into Hollywood gold-dust.

Ten years later Henry is in Dublin, working in Ratheen as a school caretaker. When he is caught in a bomb blast, he loses his leg for the second time. He is claimed as a hero, and before long Henry will discover he has other uses too, when the peace process begins in deadly secrecy...
  • Published: 1 July 2010
  • ISBN: 9781407051796
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 336
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About the author

Roddy Doyle

Roddy Doyle was born in Dublin in 1958. He is the author of eleven acclaimed novels including The Commitments, The Snapper, The Van and Smile, two collections of short stories, and Rory & Ita, a memoir about his parents. He won the Booker Prize in 1993 for Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.

portrait photo of Roddy Doyle

Also by Roddy Doyle

The Women Behind the Door
Kellie
Life Without Children
The Complete Two Pints
Love
Two for the Road
Charlie Savage
See all

Praise for The Dead Republic

Brilliant

Mail on Sunday

Doyle's tenth novel might be called The Dead Republic, but its vision of what Smart calls "the green thing" is as alive as any he has given us

Independent on Sunday

There is lovely, brutal detail, as well as a grand swoop over the timeline of Ireland and America, just like the kind of film they just don't make anymore

Financial Times

This is Ireland's most famous living writer tackling one of the most crucial periods in history

Guardian

Told with pace and verve and bitter, black humour... Magnificent

Financial Times
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