The Immortal Irishman
The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero
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4.4 • 78 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
In the New York Times bestseller The Immortal Irishman, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Timothy Egan illuminates the dawn of the great Irish American story, with all its twists and triumphs, through the life of one heroic man.
A dashing young orator during the Great Hunger of the 1840s, Thomas Francis Meagher led a failed uprising against British rule, for which he was banished to a Tasmanian prison colony for life. But two years later he was “back from the dead” and in New York, instantly the most famous Irishman in America. Meagher’s rebirth included his leading the newly formed Irish Brigade in many of the fiercest battles of the Civil War. Afterward, he tried to build a new Ireland in the wild west of Montana — a quixotic adventure that ended in the great mystery of his disappearance, which Egan resolves convincingly at last.
“This is marvelous stuff. Thomas F. Meagher strides onto Egan's beautifully wrought pages just as he lived — powerfully larger than life. A fascinating account of an extraordinary life.”—Daniel James Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Facing the Mountain
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Those who have heard of Thomas Francis Meagher (1823 1867) will likely know him as a Union general in the Civil War, but Egan (The Big Burn), National Book Award winner for The Worst Hard Time, moves Meagher convincingly into the ranks of patriots of both the U.S. and Ireland. With novelistic skill, Egan fashions a dizzying tableau of the life of his restless subject. Meagher was an Irish revolutionary who was condemned to death but then exiled to Tasmania. He then escaped to America, where he lived in New York City and became active in Irish-American politics. He was later appointed general of the Union army's Irish Brigade (which helped knit oft-scorned Irish immigrants into the American fabric) and became a heroic war leader, before becoming lieutenant governor of the Montana Territory. Egan also reexamines evidence about Meagher's death in Montana, convincingly concluding that he was assassinated by frontier vigilantes resentful of his determination to create the rule of law. As history, Egan's book is solid; as storytelling, it's captivating. The work adds little to the broader picture of American history it focuses on the scenes in which Meagher participated, and those have been exhaustively covered elsewhere but it provides an impressive biography of a distinctive Irish-American figure, the patriot of two countries, faithful to each to his last.
Customer Reviews
The Immortal Irishman
Ones of the best books I’ve ever read! The story was captivating and it was superbly written, with amazing research and historical details.
Great book!
A must-read.
Great storytelling of a real hero.
Egan’s writing does a great job keeping the reader interested while detailing dates and facts of Meagher’s life. It is a smooth read that feels novel like.