2 comments about Michael Collins and the Irish Republican Brotherhood.

1. I am very seriously dissapointed in this book. The author introduces it as 'faction'-a method I understand to imaginatively but credibly furbish up accepted historical facts. It is, however,pure fiction as the reviewer from New Mexico suspects. The author adds nothing that is not already established about Collins and the period other than an exponiential flight of fantasy. Even his most basic facts are wrong eg that there were 3 warships and artillery used by the fenians in the Canada 'assault' and, fatally, that Randolf Churchill became Prime Minister of Britain! With facts like these what can we make of the faction...two children...collaborative British-Irish assasination of the hero...? I'm thoroughly disgusted - probably cause I paid good money for the hardback - should'nt have bought it when in a hurry!



2. This rather odd combination of fiction and history is fascinating reading but raises questions about its sources and reliability. The allegations concerning Collins' relations with various women and the fallout from them in the Treaty negotiations is one area in which allegations go beyond any I've read elsewhere. Even more important are the allegations that Collins was assassinated as the result of a conspiracy between members of his own government (particularly Kevin O'Higgins, Emmet Dalton and William Cosgrave)and the British and that members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (Collins' main base of power) were involved on all sides. These contentions fly in the face of much that has been written about Collins and are not documented in any of the usual ways, thus raising questions about their reliability in the reader's mind.

No comments about The Political Career of Thomas Wriothesley, First Earl of Southampton 1505-1550, Henry Viii's Last Chancellor (Studies in British History).

No comments about Sylvia Pankhurst: A Life in Radical Politics.

No comments about Charles Hadfield: Canal Man and More.

No comments about Life Of Field Marshall His Grace The Duke Of Wellington Part Two.

1 comments about His Father's Son: The Life of Randolph Churchill.

1. This book carries on the family tradition of sons writing about fathers. The author's grandfather, the famous Prime Minister, had much earlier written a biography of his father, also named Randolph, which was generally poorly reviewed at the time and essentially constituted a glorification of the subject. The current work, which purports to be objective, reveals a startingly adventurous life, lived always within the shadow of the famous father. I think that objectivity is achieved (the author's father could be difficult, to way the least but was also generous to a fault and loyal regardless of consequences). The reader will be surprised at the many intellectual and other accomplishments of the subject of this biohgraphy. Toward the end of his life, Randolph was commissioned to write the Great Biography (about his famous father), and the period when he completed the first two volumes of this undertaking (Martin Gilbert finished the task) is particularly interesting.! ! The author's earliest recollections come into play in the second half of the book, which include a large number of historically significant individuals (of course, his famous grandfather, but many other British political luminaries as well). Churchill buffs will very much enjoy this book.

No comments about Frédéric II et Louis XV: D\'après des documents nouveaux. 1742 - 1744. Tome 2.

No comments about Diary of Thomas Burton, Esq. Member in the Parliaments of Oliver and Richard Cromwell, from 1656 to 1659: Now First Published from the Original Autograph Manuscript. Volume 3.

No comments about William Blake.

No comments about Henry I: King of England and Duke of Normandy.