Michael Collins : a life
The most charismatic figure to emerge during the struggles for the independence of Ireland was undoubtedly Michael Collins. This remarkable new biography, which draws on much hitherto unpublished material, charts the dramatic rise of the country boy who became head of the Free State and commander-in-chief of the army. Born of peasant stock in the rural south-west of Ireland in 1890, Collins joined the Volunteers in 1916 and fought in the Easter Rising. On his release from detention, he was elected Sinn Fein member for County Cork in the General Election of 1918. The 73 Sinn Fein MPs refused to take their seats at Westminster, instead forming Dail Eireann and declaring for a republic. During the Troubles, when de Valera was in America and other leaders were in prison, Collins, in his dual role of Minister of Finance and Director of Intelligence, effectively ran the Republican government
Print Book, English, 1996
Mainstream Pub. ; Distributed by Trafalgar Square, Edinburgh, London, 1996
Biography
320 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 24 cm
9781851588572, 9781851589494, 1851588574, 185158949X
35792870
Introduction
Prologue
Boyhood, 1890-1906
London, 1906-16
The Easter Rising, 1916
Republican University, 1916
Prelude to war, 1917-18
The work of four men, 1918-19
The first dail, 1919
The intelligence war, 1919
The year of terror, 1920
The Black and Tans, 1920-21
Bloody Sunday, 1920
Peace process, 1921
Treaty, 1921
The split, 1922
Civil war, 1922
Pass of the flowers
Epilogue