This is not a book for the casual reader, but it is a treat for those seriously interested in modern Irish history. O'Toole uses his own lifetime as a framework for his subject and his personal memories of how he was affected by these events as a child and then as an adult. In conveying the sea changes Ireland underwent in the past fifty+ years, O'Toole gives a lot of statistics about population growth or drop in birth rates, changes in the availability of education to the poor, ever-present corruption among top government officials, and, worst of all, the role of the Catholic Church in molding the personalities of Irish men and women and stifling the growth of the culture itself. If the reader feels a bit bogged down in data, he/she could fast forward a bit...but not too far. The dry-ish bits don't last very long and they give way to dramatic turns of events. Aidan Kelly should get every award available for the reader of an audiobook: his diction is beautiful and tonal expression completely appropriate to the content at all times. A quibble: I felt the section about JFK's relationship to Ireland beautifully described a tender time that I remember firsthand...but O'Toole over-analyzes what he had so beautifully conveyed by suggesting that perhaps JFK was actually being condescending to the common Irish people he came to meet. A sour note after a poignant tribute.