Eamon de Valera: The Man Who Was Ireland

comprehensive bio,no punchs pulled,the man who was Ireland to rhe rest of the world for most of the 20th century,

Tim Pat Coogan is one of Ireland's better known journalists, a former editor of the de Valera owned Irish Press, and a noted biographer of Michael Collins. In this critical biography of Eamon De Valera, De Valera doesn't come off looking too good. More importantly, the criticisms Coogan makes of De Valera are well-founded, and well documented. Despite its many criticisms of De Valera, this book is not so much a book dedicated to denigrating De Valera, as Coogan's lamenting that Ireland was not led by Michael Collins, the brains behind its quest for independence, but rather by Eamon De Valera, who came to prominence as the only commandant in the uprising of Easter 1916 to be spared by the English, because he was deemed to be too insignificant. As a general rule politicians come in two types: the visionary whose foresight allows him or her to enact policies that are beneficial to the country, and the schmoozer, whose rhetorical abilities and eagerness to set up a spoils systems a la Tammany Hall allows them to enjoy long periods in power. Coogan emphatically asserts that De Valera was a professional schmoozer and master of bureaucratic infighting, and far less competent as a policy expert. He shows how DeV frequently chose an understanding of history that suited him, so-called "De Valera facts," was very pragmatic when the need arose "As so often happened, De Valera wrestled with his conscience, and won..." questions his paternity, mentions rumors about his relationship with his secretary. He makes much of De Valera's propensity to make political hay out of Ireland's partition, and plead for a reunification, all the while fusing church and state to such a degree as to make this inconceivable. His most trenchant criticisms are that De Valera plunged Ireland into a civil war to guarantee his preeminence in Irish politics, that he barely if at all understood the economic facts of life. Coogan himself writes that he bears the De Valeras a grudge for what he felt was their shabby treatment of their employees; perhaps for this reason he appears to underestimate the good that De Valera gained for Ireland by keeping it out of the war. This book is well-written in the sense that if you already have a background in Irish history, Coogan will articulately and thoroughly go over the controversies that he wishes to raise, and give you his take on them. If you don't know that much about Irish history, you'll find many of the issues he refers to be at the very least close to arcane and somewhat baffling.

Tim Pat Coogan compiles a sober and thorough history of Eamon deValera, the most influential Irish leader of the twentieth century. Combining painstaking research with first-hand accounts, Coogan presents a well-rounded portrait of this most complicated and controversial figure. Those who hold deValera in a saintly reverence may be angered at some of the less flattering depictions of the "lay cardinal." But this ranks as a most important read for anyone interested in tracking the course of twentieth century Ireland.

In many ways a superior work, but only if you are aware of Coogan's bias, which is blindly pro Collins and unfairly anti Devalera. An anology would be a Nixon apologist [i.e. Pat Buchanan or William Safire] writing an "Objective Biography" of John F. Kennedy. Despite their obvious intellectual talents,neither is capable of an even handed analysis. Devalera was a Giant of the 20 th Century,despite the fact that he represented only a very small nation on the World Scene for nearly 40 yrs. He was the central figure in the the War of Independence with G.B., + in the formation + leadership of Eire in the League of Nations, W.W.11, + post W.W. 11 /U.N., + as a respected + influential nuetral leader.Coogan for all is literary skills, is simply incapable of objective analysis except on rare instance. The detail is impressive, the sources are broad, and the scope is massive ,but he simply finds it virtually impossible to see what history has proven; that Dev was the superior soul in intellect, vision, ethics, and historical perspective. Collins was a good man , but seriously flawed with human weaknesses; while Dev...not a saint,who really is?....was a monumental tower of basic decency,judgement, + historical insight + instinct. Harry Boland,a great Irish patriot, who was extremely close to both Collins + Devalera, choose Dev, + the Collins' forces made him pay with his life. He declared that Dev was "the true Chief" and that the greatness of the man lay in his " incorruptability".If the reader knows Irish history, and if he/she can seperate the bias from the facts, they will gain meaningful insights into Dev and the glory that was his Ireland.

Since the execution of the leading Irish nationalist rebels after the Easter Rising of1916, nationalist Ireland has produced only two larger-than-life political figures. With the publication of Eamon De Valera: The Man Who Was Ireland, Ireland's leading journalist-historian Tim Pat Coogan has completed taking on both of these figures as biographical subjects. A few years earlier, Coogan gave us Michael Collins: The Man Who Made Ireland, lionizing the long-dead guerrilla commander who forced the British to withdraw from (most of) Ireland but who soon therafter lost his relatively young life to rebels he once led who felt he had compromised too much in obtaining Irish independence. Now Coogan tells the story of Collins' much longer-lived friend, "chief," and, ultimately, rival who harnessed that rebel force and turned it into a populist political movement that defined Ireland for a half-century and still casts a "long shadow" over the nation today. As usual Coogan does so in mostly elegant lucid prose that is only dwarfed by his monumentally detailed research. Every issue is here and to cite only a few: DeValera's mysterious Spanish paternity, his record as commandant during Easter Week, his controversial appeal for "extremist support" against Collins' Treaty with England, his role in the Irish Civil War, his influence and in-fighting with the Irish-American lobby, his return to mainstream politics with his Fianna Fail party, his League of Nations and World War II neutrality record, his Constitution and wearing down of Britain to obtain full Irish independence, his publications empire, his social and economic policies (or lack thereof). The only serious drawback of the book, apart from the length and academic style which may be a hindrance to some, is that the reader shold be aware that this book has a point of view. Coogan constantly reminds us that De Valera was a student of Macchiavelli's writings and does not do so to merely impress us with DeValera's literary interests.