I'd previously read Coogan's The Twelve Apostles, which introduced me to Michael Collins as a genius of political warfare and the prototype for a century of anti-imperialist guerilla warfare and assassination. I was hoping this book would provide a better picture of the man and his actions, but the title is misleading.

Instead, O'Connor writes a general history of the Irish revolt with a bent towards the literary and culture aspects. O'Connor was a dean of Irish letters, and as a child of the first free generation, had the benefit of knowing many of the principle actors. The basic thrust of O'Conner's thesis is that as the imperial project tottered in the 19th century, a group of Irish visionaries combined nationalism and Gaelic culture with a variety of political and military threads. This lead to the abortive 1916 Easter Rising, which has little effect except the siege and destruction of Dublin landmarks and scores of glorious martyrs (and how the Irish love their glorious martyrs). Collins was an adjutant in the rising, promoted when the principle leaders were executed by the British. With furious intelligence and efficiency, he located the weak point of Empire in the system of informers used to monitor the Irish, and put out those eyes with a series of calculated assassinations.

There was more to the revolution of course, with a widespread guerilla war of flying columns in the countryside, a cultural movement to support the revolt, and the partial diplomatic victory of independence in the Commonwealth. This partial victory was the basis for the subsequent Irish Civil War, and Collins was shot and killed by one of his own in a rural ambush.

O'Connor has some good stories, but this is a few trees, not a forest, and the one labeled 'Michael Collins' is a scanty shrubbery. I do credit the book for introducing me to Countess Markievicz, a feminist and Irish rebel with the solid fashion advice, "Dress suitably in short skirts and strong boots, leave your jewels in the bank and buy a revolver."