Publisher's Synopsis
William Smith O'Brien is known in Irish History as the stand-offish if conscientious leader of the failed 1848 Rising. Recently discovered journals prove him a writer of exceptional interest. Both before and after his four and a half years penal exile in Tasmania, O'Brien proved a passionate European traveller and analyst of the conditions and policies of numerous countries. Not till the arrival of Garret FitzGerald in the 20th century was any Irishman so conversant with European political, religious and social developments. Both before and after his free pardon in 1856, O'Brien acted as an unofficial ambassador at large for his country, being honourably received by the President Buchanan of the United States of America, Marshal McMahon, later President of France, and Pope Pius IX.
