Based on a recently released trove of over 1,700 eye-witness statements, this gripping volume tells the story of the Easter Rising as seen through the eyes of the rebels themselves, capturing in crisp, unflinching detail what the nascent Irish revolution actually felt like. As it chronicles the activities of members of Sinn Féin, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, Cumann na mBan, and the Irish Volunteers, this compelling volume addresses a range of key questions that continue to divide historians of modern Ireland: What led people from ordinary backgrounds to fight for Irish freedom? What did they think they could achieve given the superior forces arrayed against them? What kind of republic were they willing to kill and die for? Fearghal McGarry deftly interweaves the oral history of the rank-and-file revolutionaries of the Rising into a comprehensive, yet powerfully affecting narrative--one that The Boston Globe called "vivid and compelling" and "a poignant mosaic of idealism, bravery, and humanity."