Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #957423 in Books
• Published on: 1999-09-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Synopsis
This is the first joint biography of the two major figures in the making of the modern Irish state. These two contrasting figures, one destined to die, the other a long-lived patriarch, complemented and contrasted with each other in the making of the Irish revolution. This book traces their different backgrounds, upbringings and temperaments in a fascinating counterpoint. Among the reviews of the hardback edition: "T. Ryle Dwyer has had a good idea here. Collins and de Valera bestrode...twentieth-century Ireland like twin adversarial colossi, and much has been written about them. Until now, however, no-one ventured to capture their inimical, if inextricable, relationship in one book. This result is fascinating." - John Boland 'The Times'.

Customer Reviews

The Big one and the Long one...
T. Ryle Dwyer starts off his book with the beginnings of both Collin's and De Valera's lives and he describes them both as children in very different circumstances. However in the middle of the book he concentrates mainly on Collins and gives brief descriptions of what de Valera was doing at the same time. Then the book returns to the story of de Valera, describing what happened after the death of Collins and his rise to power. Dwyer then gives his view on the aftermath of two such great leaders unwittingly fighting for control of Ireland. A beautiful and descriptive book with a selection of photo's to compliment it.

An eye-opener as well as a page-turner
I can enthusiastically recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand more about that tempestuous decade of Irish history between 1915 and 1925, the personalities behind the events and the forces that shaped them.

Before I read this book, I simply could not understand how Collins and De Valera could have let the Civil War happen, and how the Sinn Féin movement that had worked together so effectively against the British could have imploded in such acrimony. Having read the book I can begin to see how it all happened, how Collins made the mistake, arguably, of agreeing to Dev's request that he go to London as a member of the delegation that negotiated the Anglo-Irish Treaty, while Dev stayed back in Dublin, sniping on the sidelines.

The book also explains how, to be fair, Dev did not really start the Civil War, but merely strove to be seen to be the leader of the Republican side when hot heads like IRA officer Rory O'Connor repudiated the Dáil and occupied the Four Courts building in Dublin in 1922.

This book is a rollicking good read, and eye-opener as well as a page-turner. My only reservation is that, due to its size, the print in the paper-back version that I read is of necessity quite small. If a larger version had been available, I would have bought it.