Rory Carroll

"An impressively well-researched and readable portrait . . . a useful reminder of what el Comandante did and didn't achieve, how he got away with it, and the danger of statesmen-as-showmen whose promises are too good to be true." --The New York Times Book Review "A deeply informative, sprightly chronicle of Venezuela's dizzying journey." --The Washington Post In Comandante, acclaimed journalist Rory Carroll tells the inside story of Hugo Ch vez's life, investigates his time as Venezuela's president, and assesses his legacy. Carroll examines the almost religious devotion of millions of Venezuelans who regarded Ch vez as a savior, as well as the loathing of those who brand him a dictator. Based on interviews with ministers, aides, courtiers, and citizens, this intimate piece of reportage chronicles a unique experiment in power that veered from enlightenment to tyranny, from comedy to farce. In beautiful prose that blends the lyricism and strangeness of magical realism with the brutal, ugly truth of authoritarianism, Comandante offers a cautionary tale for our times.

From the master storyteller behind 2023's critically acclaimed KILLING THATCHER

From the master storyteller behind 2023’s critically acclaimed KILLING THATCHER A Rebel and a Traitor is the story of a rogue imperial consul who sought to forge a new nation in the middle of a war – and the mercurial spy chief who sought to destroy him by any means. The rogue consul was Sir Roger Casement, a decorated diplomat who turned his back on the British empire and instead joined the rising Irish cause at the turn of the 20th century. At the book’s centre is the manhunt for Casement led by intelligence officer Reginald ‘Blinker’ Hall, the legendary British spy chief who pioneered codebreaking, early mass surveillance and media manipulation. As he did for the critically acclaimed Killing Thatcher, master storyteller Rory Carroll has combed diaries, letters, police reports, memoirs, court transcripts, secret service archives and declassified government files in the US, Britain, Ireland and Germany to create a page-turning history, and a story that still echoes through Anglo-Irish relations. A Rebel and a Traitor raises profound questions about honour, courage and the price of patriotism.

A Sunday Times Paperback of the Year 2024 The Sunday Times Bestseller and Waterstones Paperback of the Year 2024 A Sunday Times History Book of the Year A Spectator Book of the Year The Irish Times No.1 Bestseller ‘As taut as a fictional thriller’ Mail on Sunday ‘Gripping, detailed and richly layered’ Guardian KILLING THATCHER is the gripping account of how the IRA came astonishingly close to killing Margaret Thatcher and to wiping out the British Cabinet – an extraordinary assassination attempt linked to the Northern Ireland Troubles and the most daring conspiracy against the Crown since the Gunpowder Plot. In this fascinating and compelling book, veteran journalist Rory Carroll retraces the road to the infamous Brighton bombing in 1984 – an incident that shaped the political landscape in the UK for decades to come. He begins with the infamous execution of Lord Mountbatten in 1979 – for which the IRA took full responsibility – before tracing the rise of Margaret Thatcher, her response to the ‘Troubles’ in Ireland and the chain of events that culminated in the hunger strikes of 1981 and the death of 10 republican prisoners, including Bobby Sands. From that moment on Thatcher became an enemy of the IRA – and the organisation swore revenge. Opening with a brilliantly-paced prologue that introduces bomber Patrick Magee in the build up to the incident, Carroll sets out to deftly explore the intrigue before and after the assassination attempt – with the story spanning three continents, from pubs and palaces, safe houses and interrogation rooms, hotels and barracks. On one side, an elite IRA team aided by a renegade priest, US-raised funds and Libya’s Qaddafi and on the other, intelligence officers, police detectives, informers and bomb disposal officers. An exciting narrative that blends true crime with political history, this is the first major book to investigate the Brighton attack.

Rautarouvan murhayritysToimittaja Rory Carrollin Tappakaa Thatcher! on kattava ja jännittävä kuvaus yhdestä IRA:n kylmäverisimmistä attentaateistaLokakuun 12. päivä 1984 pääministeri Margaret Thatcherin johtama konservatiivipuolue oli kokoontunut Brightoniin puoluekokoukseen, kun kokouksen pitopaikkana toimineessa hotellissa räjähti pommi. Viisi ihmistä kuoli ja kymmenet loukkaantuivat. Iskun pääkohteena ollut Margaret Thatcher oli räjähdyksen sattuessa huoneessaan valmistelemassa puhetta mutta selvisi täpärästi.Tappakaa Thatcher! kertoo trillerin tavoin, miten IRA ja pommin asentanut Patrick Magee valmistelivat ja toteuttivat iskunsa. Se kertoo myös iskuun johtaneesta kehityskulusta, mm. lordi Mountbattenin salamurhasta vuonna 1979 ja Thatcherin heltymättömyydestä, joka johti kymmenen nälkälakossa olleen vangin kuolemaan. Tarina jatkuu iskun jälkeiseen suureen etsintäoperaatioon, jonka aikana poliisin onnistui selvittää syylliset ja lopulta vangita heidät.Kirjoittaja Rory Carroll on käyttänyt kirjan aineistona tekemiään haastatteluja sekä myöhemmin paljastuneita kuvauksia tapahtumien kulusta niin IRA-terroristien kuin poliisinkin näkökulmasta.Tappakaa Thatcher! on jännittävä lähihistorian kuvaus, joka valottaa Pohjois-Irlannin myrskyistä 1900-lukua ja muistuttaa sen hauraan rauhan tärkeydestä.

The Sunday Times BestsellerA Sunday Times History Book of the Year A Spectator Book of the Year The Irish Times No.1 Bestseller

**A Goodreads Choice Awards Nomination for Best History & Biography** **An NPR Book We Love** A race-against-the-clock narrative that finally illuminates a history-changing event: the IRA's attempt to assassinate Margaret Thatcher and the epic manhunt that followed. A bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army exploded at 2:54 a.m. on October 12, 1984. It was the last day of the Conservative Party Conference at the Grand Hotel in the coastal town of Brighton, England. Rooms were obliterated, dozens of people wounded, five killed. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was in her suite when the explosion occurred; had she been just a few feet in another direction, flying tiles and masonry would have sliced her to ribbons. As it was, she survived--and history changed. There Will Be Fire is the gripping story of how the IRA came astonishingly close to killing Thatcher, in the most spectacular attack ever linked to the Northern Ireland Troubles. Journalist Rory Carroll reveals the long road to Brighton, the hide-and-seek between the IRA and British security services, the planting of the bomb itself, and the painstaking search for clues and suspects afterward. In There Will Be Fire, Carroll draws on his own interviews and original reporting, reveals new information, and weaves together previously unconnected threads. There Will Be Fire is journalistic nonfiction that reads like a thriller, propelled by a countdown to detonation.