Michael Collins: The Lost Leader [Paperback]

M. Forester (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1989 | ISBN-10: 0717117111 | ISBN-13: 978-0717117116 | Edition: 2

First published in 1971, Margery Forester's life of Michael Collins quickly established itself as the most authoritative account available. Based on an extensive examination of historical sources, interviews with Collins' surviving contemporaries and unrestricted access to personal material relating to him, it has retained its position as the standard biograpy of the 'Big Fellow'. 'Illuminating new personal material on Collins...Miss Forester has researched widely and intelligently.' Robert Kee, the Observer 'This excellent biography, much the best life of Collins that has appeared. Miss Forester is a first-class historian.' Times Literary Supplement 'An honest, fair-minded work containing a mass of information not generally known.' Francis Carty, the Sunday Press.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Illuminating new personal material on Collins Miss Forester has researched widely and intelligently --The Observer

This excellent biography, much the best life of Collins that has appeared. Miss Forester is a first-class historian --Times Literary Supplement

A full and well-rounded picture An engaging, well-written and perceptive study. --Irish Press

This excellent biography, much the best life of Collins that has appeared. Miss Forester is a first-class historian --Times Literary Supplement

A full and well-rounded picture An engaging, well-written and perceptive study. --Irish Press --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Margery Forester is a New Zealander. She is a full-time writer and now lives in Devon.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Irish Books & Media; 2 edition (June 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0717117111
• ISBN-13: 978-0717117116
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,227,789 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Michael Collins: The Practical Visionary, December 30, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Michael Collins: The Lost Leader (Paperback)

Margery Forester describes Michael Collins in the words of another writer as "that most formidable of all men of action, the practical visionary". This biography, which was probably the most highly regarded until Tim Pat Coogan's momumental work, is still in my view one of the most readable and the one that perhaps catches the essence of its subject best, as the opening quotation indicates. In this work Forester presents all the usual facts about Collins--his youth, his rise to prominence after the 1916 rising, his intelligence, his intensity, his personal courage, his love of country and comrade, his wit and warmth--but manages to add touches that bring out even more vividly the real character of this extraordinary man. Thus, her descriptions of his interaction with children, whom he loved and who loved him; his identification with the ordinary people of Ireland and his affinity for old people; his iron self-control in matters of personal indulgence; his refusal to disguise himself during the time he was the most wanted man in the British Empire; his often-brusque manner with women, which both affronted and intrigued them; his changes of mood "as spectacular and unpredictable as the play of the Northern Lights"; and his ability to inspire trust, love, and loyalty in the many people who worked for and with him. This is a vivid biography of a young man who was both realist and idealist and who led his country to its first taste of real freedom in 700 years.