Publisher's Synopsis
Michael Collins has become an important figure in Irish history and even today, his tragic death is still the subject of discussion and speculation.;Born in West Cork in 1890, Collins joined the IRB (Irish Republican Brotherhood) in London in 1909. He returned to Ireland in 1916, and played a prominent part in the Rising against British occupation of Ireland.;One of the Treaty signatories, he was a member of the Executive Council of Sinn Fein, Commander-in-Chief of the pro-Treaty forces, and President of the Free State Executive Council. Elected Chairman of the Provisional Government in 1922, Michael Collins was killed in an ambush in Beal na mBlath in the same year.;These articles and speeches, first published in 1922, are written in a personal style in which Collins evaluates Irish heritage, puts forward his arguments in favour of the Treaty, and shows the possiblities for an Ireland of the future. "Our strength", he writes, "will depend upon our economic freedom and upon moral and intellectual force. In these we can be a shining light to the world."
