We Don't Know Ourselves

“This is an enthralling, panoramic book, a personal history of six decades of Irish life, from one of the foremost chroniclers of contemporary Ireland. With his customary deep erudition and sly wit, O’Toole weaves together an astonishing array of material, from political history to economic analysis to literature, the theatre, the press, the church, the role of television and pop culture, and Ireland’s intense and intimate connection to the United States. Jostling with anecdotes and arresting statistics, We Don’t Know Ourselves is a feast: a deeply absorbing chronicle of the “known and unknowable,” and of the profound transformation of a place.”
—Patrick Radden Keefe, New York Times best-selling author of Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland

“Sweeping, authoritative and profoundly intelligent.”
—Colm Tóibín, The Guardian

“A clear-eyed, myth-dispelling masterpiece. Engaging, analytical, insightful, fascinating, this is a hugely important book.”
—Marian Keyes, international best-selling novelist

“A remarkably original, fluent and absorbing book, with the pace and twists of an enthralling novel and the edge of a fine sword, underpinned by a profound humaneness.”
—Diarmaid Ferriter, The Irish Times

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
NEW YORK TIMES • 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
The Atlantic: 10 Best Books of 2022
Best Books of the Year: Washington Post, The New Yorker, Foreign Affairs, New Statesman, Chicago Public Library, Vroman's
“[L]ike reading a great tragicomic Irish novel.” —James Wood, The New Yorker
“Masterful . . . astonishing.” —Cullen Murphy, The Atlantic
"A landmark history . . . Leavened by the brilliance of O'Toole's insights and wit.” —Claire Messud, Harper’s

Winner • 2021 An Post Irish Book Award — Nonfiction Book of the Year • from the judges: “The most remarkable Irish nonfiction book I’ve read in the last 10 years”; “[A] book for the ages.”

A celebrated Irish writer’s magisterial, brilliantly insightful chronicle of the wrenching transformations that dragged his homeland into the modern world.