This, the first illustrated biography of Michael
Collins, follows the short life and untimely death
of one Ireland's most enduring heroes, "The Big
Fellow
Colm Connolly chart the extraordinary career
of Michael Collins, starting with his childhood in
West Cork where he was instilled with a patriotic
fervour by a local blacksmith through to his death
at the age of 31 in a lonely valley known as The
Mouth of Flowers. In that short life his impact on
the course of Irish history was profound. He was a
powerful, vigorous man whose charm, intelligence
and physical attractiveness - allied to ruthlessness
and oratorical gifts - propelled him to the forefront
of the Irish fight for independence from Britain
and the subsequent treaty negotiations. As a
guerrilla leader he destroyed the British intelligence
system in Ireland, acquiring the heroic reputation
as 'the man they couldn't catch'. He effectively
drafted the constitution of the Irish Free State
and founded the Irish Army, becoming its first
commander-in-chief. But there was another side
to the hard and ruthless Collins. A man who mixed
passion with poetry he was a romantic who longed
to marry his fiancee Kitty Kiernan but who was
also attracted to the beautiful young wife of the
fashionable portrait painter Sir John Lavery.
*Condition: Used/ Excellent Condition, near new.