Éamon de Valera was the single most consequential Irish figure of the twentieth century. He was a leader in the Easter Rising, the figurehead of the anti-Treaty rebels during the dark days of the Civil War and, later, as the founder of Fianna Fáil and president of Ireland, the pivotal figure in the birth of the Republic. In this, the first volume of a magisterial new biography, acclaimed historian and broadcaster David McCullagh charts De Valera's vertiginous rise from humble beginnings to electoral victory with Fianna Fáil in 1932. Riveting, nuanced, provocative and humorous, it draws on a wealth of new and neglected sources to present a truly ground-breaking portrait of de Valera the man, his times and his complex, ever-shifting legacy. 'David McCullagh combines the investigative skills of an experienced journalist with the detachment of an accomplished historian. In this vividly readable and at times gripping biography he tackles head-on all of the perennial de Valera controversies, including his parentage, his role in the 1916 Rising, his relationship with Michael Collins, his responsibility for the Civil War and his subsequent rise to power, and does so with acuity and objectivity. McCullagh's range and command of the source material is masterly ... a comprehensive, mature biography, both enlightening and entertaining.' MAURICE MANNING

Éamon de Valera is the most remarkable man in the history of modern Ireland. Much as Churchill personified British resistance to Hitler and de Gaulle personified the freedom of France, de Valera personified Irish independence. From his emergence in the aftermath of the 1916 rebellion as the republican leader, he bestrode Irish politics like a colossus for over fifty years. On the eve of the centenary of the Irish revolution, one of Ireland's most eminent historians explains why Eamon de Valera was such a divisive figure that he has never until now received the recognition he deserves. This biography reconciles an acknowledgement of de Valera's catastrophic failure in 1921-22, when his petulant rejection of the Anglo-Irish Treaty shaped the dimensions of a bloody civil war, with an appreciation of his subsequent greatness as the statesman who single-handedly severed the ties with Britain and defined nationalist Ireland's sense of itself.

Eamon de Valera has often been characterised as a stern, un-bending, devious and divisive Irish politician. Diarmuid Ferriter challenges this caricature using letters, documents and photographs. This book chronicles the extraordinary career of the most significant politician of modern Irish history.

From the host of RTÉ's Primetime and author of The Reluctant Taoiseach, the widely acclaimed biography of John A. Costello, Rise 1882-1932 is the first volume of a major two-part reassessment of the man who shaped modern Ireland. Eamon de Valera is the most single most consequential Irish figure of the twentieth century. He was a leader of the Easter Rising, the figurehead of the anti-treaty rebels during the dark days of the Civil War and later, as the founder of Fianna Fáil and President of Ireland, the pivotal figure in the birth of the Republic. While de Valera the statesman, the rebel, the visionary, has passed over into a sort of myth, de Valera the man remains an elusive, almost opaque presence. Precious little is known of his background, his motivations - the roots, in short, of his ferocious devotion to a very particular brand of Irish nationalism. Here, in the first part of a major two-volume reassessment, historian and broadcaster David McCullagh considers the man behind the colossal achievements. McCullagh sketches a ground-breaking portrait of de Valera, his times and his complex, ever-shifting legacy. The concluding volume of this work, Rule 1932-1975, will be published in autumn 2018. 'De Valera can elicit hostility or, worse, gullibility in historians. McCullagh avoids these faults: dispassionate, comprehensive and the best exploitation yet of the voluminous de Valera archive.' John Bowman, historian and broadcaster. 'Combines the investigative skills of an experienced journalist with the detachment of an accomplished historian. This vividly readable and at times gripping biography tackles head-on all of the perennial de Valera controversies, including his parentage, his role in the 1916 Rising, his relationship with Michael Collins, his responsibility for the Civil War and his subsequent rise to power, and does so with acuity and objectivity. A comprehensive, mature biography, both enlightening and entertaining.' Maurice Manning

In this, the concluding volume of David McCullagh's monumental new life of the revolutionary and statesman, we join De Valera in 1932 as he takes the reins of power in the first Fianna Fáil government, and follow him as he confronts one challenge after another – the Economic War, the drafting of Bunreacht na hÉireann, the Emergency, the North, the declaration of the Republic, economic stagnation in the 1950s – and sets about gradually remaking a sovereign Ireland in his own image.Beautifully written and deeply researched, McCullagh's De Valera is a provocative and nuanced portrait of Ireland's most enigmatic leader, as well as a balanced assessment of his role in shaping our national self-image.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Masterfully blending narrative and interpretation, and R.F. Foster's Modern Ireland: 1600-1972 looks at how key events in Irish history contributed to the creation of the 'Irish Nation'. 'The most brilliant and courageous Irish historian of his generation' Colm Tóibín, London Review of Books 'Remarkable ... Foster gives a wise and balanced account of both forces of unity and forces of diversity ... a master work of scholarship' Bernard Crick, New Statesman 'A tour de force ... Anyone who really wants to make sense of Ireland and the Irish must read Roy Foster's magnificent and accessible Modern Ireland' Anthony Clare 'A magnificent book. It supersedes all other accounts of modern Irish history' Conor Cruise O'Brien, Sunday Times 'Dazzling ... a masterly survey not so much of the events of Irish history over the past four centuries as of the way in which those events acted upon the peoples living in Ireland to produce in our own time an "Irish Nation" ... a gigantic and distinguished undertaking' Robert Kee, Observer 'A work of gigantic importance. It is everything that a history book should be. It is beautifully and clearly written; it seeps wisdom through its every pore; it is full of the most elegant and scholarly insights; it is magnificently authoritative and confident ... Modern Ireland is quite simply the single most important book on Irish history written in this generation ... A masterpiece' Kevin Myers, Irish Times R. F. Foster is Carroll Professor of Irish History at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Hertford College, Oxford. His books include Modern Ireland: 1600-1972, Luck and the Irish and W. B. Yeats: A Life.

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A journey through the recent history of Ireland, viewing events from the perspective of avowed repubicans. The authors have interviewed nine Irish veterans who have lived through the Gaelic renaissance, the Easter Rising, the guerilla war against the British, and the subsequent civil war.