Description

As a journalist Keane has covered conflict and brutality across the world for more than thirty years, from Rwanda, Sudan, South Africa, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine and many more. Driven by an irresistible compulsion to be where the night is darkest, he made a name for reporting with humanity and empathy from places where death and serious injury were not abstractions, and tragedy often just a moment’s bad luck away.

Publisher Review

Early Praise for The Madness 'The Madness is a powerful account of the brutality of conflict and the horrors of war - both across the world and inside the self. In sharp prose, Keane writes compellingly about where his thirst for truth comes from, and takes him to the frontline of the some of the most infamous violence of our times. Unsettled ghosts rise from the bogs of Kerry; unmarked graves in Northern Ireland; Rwandan soil; a cellar in Palestine - what's clear is man's inhumanity to man is relentless and haunts the writer, driving him to understand our most base motivations, to rationalise terror, to witness and report conflict at close range and ultimately, to do no harm. The Madness is an extraordinary, captivating account of one man's journey in search of truth, as he excavates the human story from chaos.' Elaine Feeney 'Fergal Keane's unflinching account of the effects of trauma on his own life is the source of his book's profound capacity to move its reader. With radical honesty and openness, and a vulnerability that I suspect required no small amount of courage, he more than fulfils the aim he sets out for himself in the prologue: to let others who bear similar burdens know they are not alone.' Kevin Powers, bestselling and prize-winning author of The Yellow Birds 'The Madness is a raw, compelling description of Fergal Keane's addiction to war, his need to affirm the vitality of life in the midst of death. This book is powerful, and heartbreaking' Audrey Magee, author of the Booker longlisted novel The Colony and The Undertaking Praise for Fergal Keane 'An empowering story of triumph over adversity.' Irish Times 'Profoundly honest.' Observer 'Keane catches both shrinking revulsion and astounding courage to brilliant effect...I found myself, on one or two pages towards the close, caught in a choking emotion.' The Guardian