The Sinn Féin president has published his memoirs which centre on his role in the peace process since 1984.
At the launch of Hope and History in his West Belfast constituency yesterday, Mr Gerry Adams claimed the memoirs were not intended to be an objective assessment of the past 21 years. Rather they were "my story, my truth, my reality".
He was accompanied by his party's chief negotiator, Mr Martin McGuinness, who said the memoirs were an important contribution to the telling of the story of the peace process.
In a warm and witty address, the Mid- Ulster MP told a packed hall that his colleague's book was "not the full story".
"That will only be told when I do my book," he quipped. "Gerry Adams and I and many others within the leadership of Sinn Féin are dedicated - however long it takes - to finishing the job. This will be a better place for it."
Mr Adams quipped back that Mr McGuinness "could write about the IRA and all that stuff".
He commended his publisher, Brandon, on publishing the Sinn Féin leader's writing of 21 years and for dealing with the institutionalised "vilification" that came with it.
He singled out former SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, for his role in the peace process.
"In fairness to John Hume, unlike the others who Father \ Reid tried to get involved and who . . . prevaricated and didn't engage, within two days of getting an invitation for a meeting in Clonard monastery John Hume was there. We would not have had a peace process without him."
Mr Adams also praised Fathers Reid and Wilson, claiming they would be the "saviours of institutionalised religion". He said they "went against the grain".
In the book, the Sinn Féin leader also expresses sorrow for the death caused in the bombing of the Tory conference in Brighton in 1984 and to the mood of anger within his movement following the Poppy Day blast in Enniskillen in 1987 which killed 11 people.