Moran is an old Republican whose life was forever transformed by his days of glory as a guerilla leader in the War of Independence. Now, in old age, living out in the country, Moran is still fighting - with his family, his friends, even himself - in a poignant struggle to come to terms with the past. 'A masterpiece.' John Banville 'John McGahern is the Irish novelist everyone should read.' Colm Tóibín 'It is compact but not dense, spare yet rich, and brimming with tension.' Observer 'An overwhelming experience.' The Times 'McGahern brings us that tonic gift of the best fiction, the sense of truth - the sense of transparency that permits us to see imaginary lives more clearly than we see our own.' John Updike 'One of the greatest writers of our era.' Hilary Mantel, New Statesman