Customer Reviews

Michael Collins: The Lost Leader

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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.