Publisher's Synopsis
Sir Roger Casement was a British consul who came to prominence for his work on human rights abuses in the Congo, as revealed in the Casement Report in 1904, and in South America. Something of a folk hero and martyr, he was a humanitarian turned republican organiser who was stripped of his knighthood in 1911 and executed for treason in 1916. Here numerous scholars assess his contribution and legacy. This volume's absorbing essays include: examinations of Casement's work on behalf of the Congolese natives and the Amazonian Indians, for which he was knighted; studies of Casement's roots in County Antrim for answers on his republicanism and his defence of the underdog, including an essay delving into his poetry manuscripts; a study of Casement's relationship with the Irish Volunteers; an analysis of the work of the British Intelligence on the Casement trial, in which his 'Black Diaries' â€" possibly written during his time in Africa and displaying a promiscuous interest in young boys â€" were used to undermine the campaign for his clemency; and a sequence of specialised studies on his court cases. Casement's infamous 'Black Diaries', are contested, debated and critiqued in depth. Edited and introduced by Professor Mary E. Daly, this stunning volume adds a store of new research to the scholarship on one of Ireland's most complex historical figures and the world's early humanitarians. Â
