For the Cause of Liberty: A Thousand Years of Ireland's Heroes Book + PRICE WATCH * Amazon pricing is not included in price watch

For the Cause of Liberty: A Thousand Years of Ireland's Heroes Book

For more than 800 years, Ireland has had to define itself politically in relation to its next-door neighbor and sometime occupier, England. That fact has fueled generations of Irish revolutionary activity--and given rise to countless heroes, ordinary men and women who suffered and died in the cause of freedom. One person's hero is, of course, another's criminal, and Irish American journalist Terry Golway takes pains not to paint too saintly a portrait of men such as Daniel O'Connell, a Catholic emancipator who loathed rebellion but loathed oppression even more; Michael Collins, the soldier and politician who helped bring about the modern Irish state; Gusty Spence, the Ulster Protestant militant who, while in prison, became a convert to the cause of nonsectarian peacebuilding; and Gerry Adams, who helped bring militant Catholics into negotiations with their Protestant counterparts and the English government. While striving for balance, For the Cause of Liberty takes an overwhelmingly pro-Irish stand vis-à-vis England, which may not please some readers, as he charts the lives and accomplishments of dozens of historical figures major and minor. Those heroes of old may soon belong to a fading past; as Golway notes, approvingly, Northern Ireland seems well along on its path to peace, while the Republic is rapidly becoming "post-nationalist," with one of the fastest-growing economies in Europe, "outpacing Britain and even Germany." His vivid history reminds readers well, however, of the cost of that newfound wealth and harmony. --Gregory McNameeRead More

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  • Product Description

    For the Cause of Liberty is the story of Irish nationalism, from the legendary king Brian Boru, who united the chieftains of Ireland to drive out the Vikings, to the still-unresolved conflict in Northern Ireland. In a fast-paced narrative, Terry Golway tells a thousand years of Irish history, brilliantly describing the achievements of the patriots who kept alive the dream of Irish freedom until they finally succeeded.

    When England turned its attention toward its neighboring island during the Middle Ages, Ireland found itself at the beginning of a long struggle for identity. The English colonized Ireland, and in so doing wrote the opening chapter of a powerful and violent epic of suffering, sacrifice, and triumph. Over the centuries heroes emerged to lead the resistance to colonization and assimilation. In relating the dramatic stories of these heroes, Terry Golway tells us how the Irish saved themselves.

    Among the stories -- some famous, some little-known -- are those of Wolfe Tone, a leader of the 1798 rebellion who cut his own throat rather than submit to a hangman; Kevin Barry, executed at age eighteen rather than turn informer on the eve of independence in 1921; Bobby Sands, an IRA militant who died on a hunger strike in 1981 that called international attention to the conflict in Northern Ireland; and several remarkable women who played pivotal roles in Irish history, among them Anna Parnell, Countess Markievicz, and Bernadette Devlin.

    For the Cause of Liberty reveals that the struggle for Irish freedom was not a strictly religious dispute; in fact, many of the greatest heroes of the nationalist movement were Protestants, some of them descended only a few generations from English settlers. Terry Golway also reminds us that the United States played a role in this drama, especially after the heavy Irish immigration in the mid-1800s. (Eamon de Valera, who dominated Irish politics in the twentieth century, was born in the United States.)

    This is a thrilling chronicle of Irish aspiration over the centuries, a vivid narrative sure to fascinate anyone interested in Irish history.

  • 0684855569
  • 9780684855561
  • Terry Golway
  • 22 March 2000
  • Simon & Schuster Australia
  • Hardcover (Book)
  • 400
  • illustrated edition
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