Product Description

Ernie O'Malley (1897-1957) was one of the most talented and colourful of modern Irish republicans. An important IRA leader in the 1916-1923 Irish Revolution, this bookish gunman subsequently became a distinguished intellectual, and the author of two classic autobiographical accounts of the revolutionary period: On Another Man's Wound and The Singing Flame. His post-revolutionary life took on a bohemian flavour. Travelling extensively in Europe and America, he mixed with a wide range of artistic and literary figures, and devoted himself to a variety of writing projects. In his IRA career he mixed with revolutionaries such as Michael Collins and Eamon de Valera; in his post-IRA years his friends included Samuel Beckett, Louis MacNeice, John Wayne, and John Ford. This important new thematic biography draws on previously unseen archival sources, and introduces O'Malley to both scholarly and general readers. O'Malley's post-revolutionary life was as turbulent as his IRA years, and illuminates many persistent themes of Irish history, ranging from the origins and culture of militant republicanism and the complexities of Anglo-Irish relations to the development of intellectual and artistic life in twentieth-century Ireland. This exciting new biography will be essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the background to modern Irish politics and the past and present role of the IRA.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #861606 in Books
• Published on: 1999-09-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 292 pages

Brendan O'Cathaior
"fine biography"

Review
fine biography (Brendan O'Cathaior )

Customer Reviews

Refreshing and enjoyable
One criticism which might be levelled against biographies of revolutionary/military figures is that they seem to suggest that the individual had little or no life before and after their period of fighting. This criticism cannot be levelled against Richard English's book. In dealing with O'Malley's life English covers all aspects from early childhood to his time during the Irish War of Independence to his later period spent living in the USA and finally his old age. In particular O'Malley's post-1924 life is particularly interesting and provides an insight as to how men like him continued their lives after the fighting has ceased. As well as being a well researches biography this book also deals with themes of Irish Nationalism (through O'Malley's life) such as ideological tensions between liberal democracy and physical-force nationalism, the roots and effects of political violence and the tensions between the intellectuals of the Irish nationalist movement and the men on the ground (of which O'Malley had his feet in both camps).
Though by no means the best book in its field it does set a good standard for the examination of the lives of Ireland's War of Independence men and women.