Michael Collins and the Troubles: The Struggle for Irish Freedom 1912-1922 [Paperback]

Ulick O'Connor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 17, 1996

When Asquith introduced his bill for Home Rule for Ireland in 1912, he sparked a decade of turbulence and violence for Ireland and her people.

Michael Collins played a crucial role in rekindling Ireland's aspirations for freedom. A leading figure in the nation's bitter and bloody resistance to British Rule, he played a key part in reshaping Ireland's history as we know it today. Ulick O'Connor includes valuable new information about the secret war against England and provides a fresh and highly dramatic account of Ireland's fight for freedom. Using important material from the archives of General Richard Mulcahy, Collins's chief of staff, as well as personal interviews with Mulcahy, Eamon de Valera, and many other leading figures Michael Collins and the Troubles is a vivid and often horrifying account of a crucial time, the consequences of which are still felt today.

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (November 17, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393316459
• ISBN-13: 978-0393316452
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #815,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Non-Pedantic Picture of Michael Collins , the "Big Fella", July 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Michael Collins and the Troubles: The Struggle for Irish Freedom 1912-1922 (Paperback)

O'Conner's account of the life and times of Michael Collins is one of the best and most fascinating I have read. While it lacks the extensive reporting and annotating of Tim Pat Coogan's biography of Collins (itself a monumental and engrossing account) it brings to life a man unique in Irish history and remarkable by any standards. It succeeds in bringing out both the "hard" and "soft" sides of Collins and painting a picture of a man whose tremendous love of his country and burning desire to free it from English rule brought him to the fore during a harrowing time in Irish history. The descriptions of Collins' interaction with his comrades, his charismatic personality, his unique combination of wit, compassion, intelligence and ruthless audacity combine to bring to life one of history's most intriguing revolutionary leaders. After reading this book you feel that you know Michael Collins and you are grateful that Ireland could produce him when it most needed him.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, But Probably Mistitled, June 25, 2003

By 

Sara (OK, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Michael Collins and the Troubles: The Struggle for Irish Freedom 1912-1922 (Paperback)

O'Connor's title suggests that this book is strictly a biography of Michael Collins focused on the years 1912 through 1922. In actuality, it covers a wide range of people and events and I cannot recommend it strictly as a Collins biography. However, as a history book that happens to have an emphasis on Collins, particularly in the latter part, I can recommend it. O'Connor has relied on materials from the library of General Richard Mulcahy (the IRA's chief of staff in Collins' time) and on interviews with Eamon de Valera, et al. For those reasons alone, I believe it is worth at least a cursory glance. Because of O'Connor's interest in and work for the Abbey Theatre, this book does emphasize literature and the arts in terms of how they fueled the independence movement. For someone interested in humanities as well as history, this would be one of O'Connor's advantages. This selection is divided only into numbered chapters rather than parts and that can be a bit irritating at times, especially because this is not a traditional biography. Chapter One actually begins by discussing Charles Stewart Parnell and the untimely end of his career. From there, the reader is taken quickly through the Irish political climate from the late 1800s to 1912. It is not until the last third of the book that the audience learns of specific ways Collins kept the republican struggle afloat in tough times. Therefore, this book's usefulness can only be determined by what you intend to use it for. If you are trying to accumulate materials for a general study of modern Irish history, this book is worth owning. If you are looking for a typical Collins biography, this wouldn't be the best starting point.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Irish history as it might be taught in a Pub, March 29, 2004

By 

Michael F. Frey "copperpop" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Michael Collins and the Troubles: The Struggle for Irish Freedom 1912-1922 (Paperback)

I didn't mean to read this book. I had bought it for someone else but it never quite got there. Ulick O'Connor begins by relating a little of his own family's history and then goes into what can only be called a chronological ramble about Irish history.

This is by no means a biography of Michael Collins. In fact very little of the book is spent on Michael Collins himself. It is however an engaging conversation on the history of Ireland in the early 1900's.

This conversational style is hard to follow. To get something out of this book you must read it as though you are listening to a witness describe to you what happened in those critical days and do it over a pint of Guinness. If you can read the book in that perspective you will find that you have been given a personal introduction to the many men and women that drove the Irish freedom movement to the front of the world stage.

The author writes in a style that feels very personal. Not so much history but a story. A tale of people that were and are important to the author. However, because its so personal it is not very balanced. This is a tale of Irish Repulicans told by an Irish Repulican. No love is lost on the British Government or the Ulster Unionists.

I cannot recommend this book as a starting point for studying the history of the Irish rebellions and the roots of the IRA and Sinn Fein. I can however recommend this book as an excellent addition to a well rounded education on the topic.