Eamon De Valera: The Man Who Was Ireland

Rating:
Summary: A lot of worthwhile reading!
Review: A long book, but necessary to get at De Valera's long life and sometimes bizarre behavior and get past the myths. Coogan does a great job to keep the book moving despite the need for lots of details.

Rating:
Summary: Thorny!
Review: Author Coogan's works on Irish history tend to be long, very well researched, deeply documented and rich in detail. They are written for the serious, not the casual reader. This biography of Eamon de Valera is no exception. Moreover, de Valera s life was complicated and controversial. He is scarcely a hero to many Irish Americans familiar with their native country's past. Most of all, he suffers-pitifully it says here- from comparisons to the true hero of Ireland?s struggle for independence-Michael Collins. Bad feeling between them was directly responsible for Ireland?s tragic Civil War in the mid 1920s. This reviewer freely admits to his definite prejudices against de Valera and one suspects that author Coogan agrees. The advice from here is to read Coogan s Michael Collins: The Man Who Made Ireland first. Those with ravenously whetted appetites may proceed-with caution- to this weighty and gloomy text. This reviewer's father once told him that one cannot understand modern Ireland without understanding de Valera. That much may be true-but why torture oneself? Why devote hours reading about a gloomy, narrow minded and devious Spanish Irishman such as this? And a math teacher no less! The bottom line is that both Collins and de Valera inspire strong feelings. Some actual knowledge of Irish history deepens this effect. The result is an abiding difficulty in writing a neutral review on one of those men just after you have just posted one on the other. This reviewer urges his amazon friends to read all the posted opinions on this weighty effort from the gifted, if long winded Tim Pat Coogan. Too much hand wriniging? Welcome to Irish history 101.

Rating:
Summary: Thorny!
Review: Author Coogan's works on Irish history tend to be long, very well researched, deeply documented and rich in detail. They are written for the serious, not the casual reader. This biography of Eamon de Valera is no exception. Moreover, de Valera's life was complicated and controversial. He is scarcely a hero to many Irish Americans familiar with their native country's past. Most of all, he suffers-pitifully it says here- from comparisons to the true hero of Ireland's struggle for independence-Michael Collins. Bad feeling between them was directly responsible for Ireland's tragic Civil War in the mid 1920s. This reviewer freely admits to his definite prejudices against de Valera and one suspects that author Coogan agrees. The advice from here is to read Coogan's "Michael Collins: The Man Who Made Ireland" first. Those with ravenously whetted appetites may proceed-with caution- to this weighty and gloomy text. This reviewer's father once told him that one cannot understand modern Ireland without understanding de Valera. That much may be true-but why torture oneself? Why devote hours reading about a gloomy, narrow minded and devious Spanish Irishman such as this? And a math teacher no less! The bottom line is that both Collins and de Valera inspire strong feelings. Some actual knowledge of Irish history deepens this effect. The result is an abiding difficulty in writing a neutral review on one of those men just after you have just posted one on the other. This reviewer urges his amazon friends to read all the posted opinions on this weighty effort from the gifted, if long winded Tim Pat Coogan. Too much hand wriniging? Welcome to Irish history 101.

Rating:
Summary: Eamon Devalera The Man Who Was Ireland
Review: In many ways a superior work, but only if you are aware of Coogan's bias, which is blindly pro Collins and unfairly anti Devalera. An anology would be a Nixon apologist [i.e. Pat Buchanan or William Safire] writing an "Objective Biography" of John F. Kennedy. Despite their obvious intellectual talents,neither is capable of an even handed analysis. Devalera was a Giant of the 20 th Century,despite the fact that he represented only a very small nation on the World Scene for nearly 40 yrs. He was the central figure in the the War of Independence with G.B., + in the formation + leadership of Eire in the League of Nations, W.W.11, + post W.W. 11 /U.N., + as a respected + influential nuetral leader.Coogan for all is literary skills, is simply incapable of objective analysis except on rare instance. The detail is impressive, the sources are broad, and the scope is massive ,but he simply finds it virtually impossible to see what history has proven; that Dev was the superior soul in intellect, vision, ethics, and historical perspective. Collins was a good man , but seriously flawed with human weaknesses; while Dev...not a saint,who really is?....was a monumental tower of basic decency,judgement, + historical insight + instinct. Harry Boland,a great Irish patriot, who was extremely close to both Collins + Devalera, choose Dev, + the Collins' forces made him pay with his life. He declared that Dev was "the true Chief" and that the greatness of the man lay in his " incorruptability".If the reader knows Irish history, and if he/she can seperate the bias from the facts, they will gain meaningful insights into Dev and the glory that was his Ireland.

Rating:
Summary: IRISH HISTORY AT ITS BEST
Review: Must read for anyone who wants to know history and politics from 1916to 1950 in Ireland,USA AND England.

Rating:
Summary: Long but thorough history of Irish leader
Review: Tim Pat Coogan compiles a sober and thorough history of Eamon deValera, the most influential Irish leader of the twentieth century. Combining painstaking research with first-hand accounts, Coogan presents a well-rounded portrait of this most complicated and controversial figure. Those who hold deValera in a saintly reverence may be angered at some of the less flattering depictions of the "lay cardinal." But this ranks as a most important read for anyone interested in tracking the course of twentieth century Ireland.

Rating:
Summary: Long but thorough history of Irish leader
Review: Tim Pat Coogan compiles a sober and thorough history of Eamon deValera, the most influential Irish leader of the twentieth century. Combining painstaking research with first-hand accounts, Coogan presents a well-rounded portrait of this most complicated and controversial figure. Those who hold deValera in a saintly reverence may be angered at some of the less flattering depictions of the "lay cardinal." But this ranks as a most important read for anyone interested in tracking the course of twentieth century Ireland.