Overview

BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK An Irish Times book of the year 2022 A powerful, probing book about PTSD. 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. But all this time he struggled not to be overwhelmed by another story, his acute ‘complex post-traumatic stress disorder’, a condition arising from exposure to multiple instances of trauma experienced over a long period. This condition has caused him to suffer a number of mental breakdowns and hospitalisations. Despite this, and countless promises to do otherwise, he has gone back to the wars again and again. Why? In this powerful and intensely personal book, Keane interrogates what it is that draws him to the wars, what keeps him there and offers a reckoning of the damage done. PTSD affects people from all walks of life. Trauma can be found in many places, not just war. Keane’s book speaks to the struggle of all who are trying to recover from injury, addiction and mental breakdown. It is a survivor’s story drawn from lived experience, told with honesty, courage and an open heart.

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9780008420437

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Reviews

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 Praise for Fergal Keane 'A completely honest account of reporting conflict.' Independent 'An empowering story of triumph over adversity.' Irish Times 'Profoundly honest.' Observer 'His book is a memoir but it is so much more than that...a volume of the most exquisitely written and moving truth and honesty.' TLS '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

Praise for The Madness 'Keane has not just the courage to risk death so that the most important stories can be told, as well as the eye to tell them with vivid subtlety, but also the humility to reveal the havoc that this task visits on the beholder' Spectator 'A brutally honest exploration of what motivates Keane to keep reporting on atrocities despite the toll on his mental health... Gentle but unflinching' Guardian, Book of the Day 'Fergal Keane opens doors into closed places. He lets us look inside those complex compartments where fear, anxiety, anger and panic lurk, and he tells a story of being afraid all of his life... beautifully written... This is an important book' Irish Times 'The Madness is a heady reckoning with trauma, adrenaline and that mixture of moral courage and compulsion that drives the news cycle, Fergal Keane tells difficult, sometimes horrible truths about the world, but it is the truths he finds about himself that make this book a necessary read' Annie Enright 'Brutally honest... part journalistic memoir, part exorcism, the veteran BBC correspondent explores the roots of his own suffering and sounds a warning bell for others... compelling' Irish Independent 'A really important piece of work' Susanna Reid, on Good Morning Britain 'An immensely brave book' Tortoise 'Powerful, and heartbreaking' Audrey Magee '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 '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

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

Praise for Fergal Keane 'Keane's real distinction was in his reporting talents, which as this book shows, are considerable.' Evening Standard 'His book is a memoir but it is so much more than that...a volume of the most exquisitely written and moving truth and honesty.' TLS 'A completely honest account of reporting conflict.' Independent 'An empowering story of triumph over adversity.' Irish Times 'Profoundly honest.' Observer 'Fergal Keane operates masterfully on three levels, setting this, the last military stand of British empire, in a far wider campaign context...vivid, compelling and terrifying...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 evidence is meticulously gathered and the writing so powerful that it turns a book about a battle into a book about human beings, their existence and their end.' The Guardian

Early Praise for The Madness 'A masterful combination of analysis and personal experience of decision-making at the highest level. Full of insights, wisdom and highly entertaining' Mervyn King '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 Praise for Fergal Keane 'A completely honest account of reporting conflict.' Independent 'An empowering story of triumph over adversity.' Irish Times 'Profoundly honest.' Observer 'His book is a memoir but it is so much more than that...a volume of the most exquisitely written and moving truth and honesty.' TLS 'Fergal Keane operates masterfully on three levels, setting this, the last military stand of British empire, in a far wider campaign context...vivid, compelling and terrifying...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 evidence is meticulously gathered and the writing so powerful that it turns a book about a battle into a book about human beings, their existence and their end.' The Guardian

Author Information

Fergal Keane was born in London and educated in Ireland. He is one of the BBC's most distinguished correspondents and an award-winning broadcaster and author. He has reported for the corporation from Northern Ireland, South Africa, Asia and the Balkans. He has been awarded a BAFTA, been named reporter of the year on television and radio, winning honours from the Royal Television Society and the Sony Radio Awards, most recently for his Radio 4 series ‘Taking a Stand’. Keane has won the George Orwell prize for literature, the James Cameron Prize and the Edward R. Murrow Award from the US Overseas Press Association. He is the author of a number of bestselling books including ‘Letter to Daniel’ and his memoir ‘All of These People.’ He lives in London with his wife and two children.

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