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About This Book
'It was the most providential escape yet. It will probably have the effect of making them think that I am even more mysterious than they believe me to be, and that is saying a good deal.'
Michael Collins knew the power of his persona, and capitalised on what people wanted to believe. The image we have of him comes filtered through a sensational lens, exaggerated out of all proportion. We see what we have come to expect: 'the man who won the war', the centre of a web of intelligence that 'brought the British Empire to its knees'. He comes to us as a mixture of truth and lies, propaganda and misunderstanding. The willingness to see him as the sum of the Irish revolution, and in turn reduce him to a caricature of his many parts, clouds our view of both the man and the revolution.
Drawing on archives in Ireland, Britain and the United States, the authors question our traditional assumptions about Collins. Was he the man of his age, or was he just luckier, more brazen, more written about and more photographed than the rest? Despite the pictures of him in uniform during the last weeks of his life, Collins saw very little of the actual fight. He was chiefly an organiser and a strategist. Should we remember him as a master of the mundane rather than the romantic figure of the blockbuster film? The eight thematic, highly illustrated chapters scrutinise different aspects of Collins' life: origins, work, war, politics, celebrity, beliefs, death and afterlives. Approaching him through the eyes of contemporaries and historians, friends and enemies, this provocative book reveals new insights, challenging what we think we know about him and, in turn, what we think we know about the Irish revolution.
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Table of contents
- Cover
- Half-Title Page
- About the authors
- Title Page
- Contents Â
- Acknowledgements
- Timeline
- Introduction: âAnything that can be said about me, say itâ
- 1 âWe chose to consider ourselves outposts of our nationâ: Making Michael Collins
- 2 âPlease come in to see meâ: The Collins Method
- 3 âAre you Michael Collins the murderer?â: Collins at War
- 4 âPeople who are very busy are never so busy that they cannot do something extraâ: Collins and the Practice of Politics
- 5 âIâm on the side of those who do things, not on the side of those who say thingsâ: What Collins Believed
- 6 âMOST âWANTEDâ MAN IN THE WORLDâ: Collins and Celebrity
- 7 âIf he had ever been in a scrap heâd have learned to stay downâ: Collinsâs Death
- 8 âHeâd have hated the idea of being a bloody martyrâ: Collinsâs Afterlives
- Conclusion: âWe want something more than thatâ
- Notes
- Picture Credits
- Imprint page
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