This book as a whole does not tell a story; that is, the trace of events and the overall course of Irish independence don't go from beginning to end and tell. Rather, each chapter depicts a significant time period in the history of Ireland that Collins, the author, witnessed. Everything is more or less in chronological order but it would be more accurate to say that each chapter told its own story. However, to state the obvious: the book is about Ireland's difficult but triumphant struggle for freedom—freedom of Britain and the long-sought after but denied freedom that was a human right. As Collins put it, “…it was freedom we sought for, not the name of the form of government we should adopt when we got our freedom.”
[...] This book was extremely helpful on certain key events and turning points in Irish history, but for someone who has no background on the subject, it's a little difficult to follow. It immediately delved in to these specific moments and times of Irish history that I had to really think about and put pieces together in order to understand. At first, I thought reading a book of a prominent political figure's speeches and articles was going to be well, a bore, since usually speeches and articles of such people are so loquacious that it's hard to get the point when it's surrounded by the shadows and fog of English semantics. [...]
[...] The National Government began to set up courts, police departments, and banks. Britain mocked Ireland at first but grew alarmed when its own power began to disintegrate. Britain engaged in a series of attempts to quiet the Irish. They murdered and wounded over four hundred Irishmen in a rebellion, broke up meetings everywhere, suppressed national newspapers, arrested over one thousand Irish men and women, and deported national leaders. Ireland was not discouraged. In the elections of 1920, the people stood by their decision as the majority surpassed that of 1918. [...]
[...] To me, it sounded like the tyrant wanted to keep its subjects under control. Other than that, there seemed to be no reason why England would want Ireland. I'm not sure, but I don't think Ireland has a great amount of natural resources that Britain would want. Whether all the above was true or not, it was not mentioned in this book. This chapter ended with the invitation of Irish leaders to discuss terms of peace with the British Prime Minister. [...]
[...] It is said that he was the man who single-handedly brought the British Empire to its knees.” In the path to freedom, “Michael Collins was the man who made modern Ireland possible.” In analyzing the accuracy of this text, the perspective of the voice must be identified. In this case, it was that of Irish patriot Michael Collins, who of course would denounce the British in every way possible while praising the goodwill of the Irish. However, he can't be too far off since everyone knows the period of England's occupation of Ireland was pretty atrocious, if not brutal. [...]
[...] “Distinctive Culture” In this chapter, my suspicions were confirmed: “Britain wanted us [Ireland] to satisfy her love of conquest.” Collins then goes on to describe the wonderful culture and nationality of the Irish that was almost destroyed by British occupation. A bit of early Irish history is given here, as far as tracing back to the Romans. I liked how the spirit of the country was embodied in Collins' eloquence. It was as if the spirit of Ireland itself could have been strong enough to fight the British, which in a more figurative sense it did. [...]
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