Will I love The Man Who Made Ireland?

As a child and youth, O’Dwyer witnessed the depredations committed during the Irish War of Independence by British troops and their much-feared and resisted recruits, the Black and Tans. In this extensively researched biography, journalist-historian Coogan traces how the former accountant Michael Collins, as director of intelligence for the Irish Republican Army (IRA), astonished British governments used to crushing prior Irish rebellions.

After signing a controversial treaty creating the Irish Free State (with concessions opposed by the O’Dwyer family), Collins fell victim to an assassin’s bullet. I finished this biography filled with questions about Collins’ death and what might have… show more.