John Redmond (Selected Letters and Memoranda, 1880-1918)

"John Redmond" is an invaluable collection of speeches, musings and private correspondence that provides key insights into the workings of this most avid political thinker and tragic Irish leader. Though Redmond left no diaries or personal memoir, as a leading voice in Irish politics for up to four decades, his thoughts were incessantly penned to paper or addressed to the Irish people. These thoughts defended Parnell's downfall, decided Ireland's role in the First World War, and prompted the opposing reaction of the Easter Rising; John Redmond was at the heart of all this activity, his successes and failures reflecting the course that was eventually taken out of his control. His untimely death in 1918, after a wave of shocks and disappointments, mark a tragic end to an immense personality. His speeches were of legendary significance and his letters exhibit a breath-taking mind in rapture to the moment - a man who felt himself to be on the precipice of securing Irish independence through democratic means. John Redmond offers new and startlingly direct perspectives on key moments in Ireland's early modern history and Redmond's political career; it is landmark work to better understand a landmark figure within Irish history. [Subject: Irish Studies, History, Politics, Biography]