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Heiress, Rebel, Vigilante, Bomber

The Extraordinary Life of Rose Dugdale

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About this listen

Brought to you by penguin.

The astonishing story of the English heiress who devoted her life to the IRA

She grew up in a Chelsea townhouse and on a Devon estate.

She was presented to the Queen at Buckingham Palace as a debutante in 1958.

She trained at Oxford as an academic economist and had a love affair with a female professor (who was on the rebound from Iris Murdoch).

At thirty, she commenced giving her inheritance away to the poor.

In 1972, the deadliest year of the Northern Irish Troubles, she travelled to Ireland and joined the IRA.

Sean O'Driscoll's Heiress, Rebel, Vigilante, Bomber tells the astonishing story of Rose Dugdale, who went on to become a committed terrorist, participating in a major art heist and a bombing raid on a police and army barracks; who kept a pregnancy secret for nine months in prison and gave birth there; and who ended up at the heart of the IRA's bomb-making operation during its deadly final spasms in the 1990s. Heiress, Rebel, Vigilante, Bomber is both the page-turning biography of a remarkable woman and a groundbreaking account of the inner workings of a terrorist organization.

© Sean O'Driscoll 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

 Europe Great Britain Historical True Crime Women Exciting War

Critic reviews

Fascinating . . . O'Driscoll's research is impressive (Ben Macintyre)
Riveting (Roy Foster)
Generous and well researched (Rosa Lyster)
An absorbing, well-researched and extremely well-written account of a life that almost defies belief (David McCullagh)

Superb . . . an even-handed and thrilling gallop through [Dugdale's] improbable life
Possibly the most extraordinary book you'll read this year
Unputdownable . . . jaw-dropping (Joe Duffy)
It would be hard to overstate how good this book is . . . a fantastic read (Eilis O'Hanlon)
[A] pacey, well-researched book (Frank Coughlin)
Well-researched . . . balanced (Charles Lysaght)
All stars
Most relevant
Rose Dugdale was my school teacher so i had a good idea of her background. This book explains her story with great detail and unlike other books this one had access to a lot of the players involved. Fascinating insight to Rose and her story. Roll on the Netflix series

Great Book, well done to the author

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A fantastic story
Well written and narrated

I can highly recommend this audio book

Gripping story

Really well written

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I hope some day a movie will be made about Rose's life. A great story.

Exceptional story

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A thoroughly entertaining account of a fascinating life well lived. Narrated very well, historically sound.
I can't recommend it highly enough.

“Be moderate,” the trimmers cry,
Who dread the tyrants’ thunder.
“ You ask too much and people fly
From you aghast in wonder.”
’Tis passing strange, for I declare
Such statements give me mirth,
For our demands most moderate are,
We only want the earth.

Brilliant

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very interesting book , on how a murderous woman was allowed develop bombs , with the collusion of the Irish State, its police force and army. living her final years in a nursing home , paid for by the goverment. while her victims have no access to such luxury

story of a bomb development engineer

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