Big Fellow, Long Fellow: A Joint Biography of Collins and de Valera

by T. Ryle Dwyer

Book Overview

Michael Collins and Eamon de Valera were the two most charismatic leaders of the Irish revolution. This joint biography looks first at their very different upbringings and early careers.

Both fought in the 1916 Easter Rising, although it is almost certain they did not meet during that tumultuous week. Their first encounter came when Collins had been released from jail after the rising but de Valera was still inside. Collins was one of those...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0717140849
• ISBN13: 9780717140848
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: Gill Books
• Length: 378 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.0" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

The Contrasting Worlds of Collins and De Valera

T. Ryle Dwyer's joint biography on Michael Collins and Eamon De Valera is a striking comparison and contrast of the two most important figures in twentieth-century Irish history. Dwyer's examination of the influence of Collins and De Valera on the events leading to the recognition of the Irish Free State, and subsequently the Irish Republic, highlights the dramatically different leadership styles, personalities, and crisis strategies of the Big Fellow and Long Fellow.This book is well researched, well written, and well organized. Many joint biographies fail in their efforts to flawlessly intertwine the lives of two radically different individuals. Dwyer moves back and forth from Collins to De Valera with skill and grace, and in a manner that demarcates their differences clearly to the reader. Dwyer's work also gives ample background of Irish and global events that led to the treaty with Britain, providing a context for readers unfamiliar with Irish history.The chapters on the early childhood of both De Valera and Collins are particularly well researched and effectively presented. Dwyer draws lines between several influential childhood events and the leadership style and personality that both leaders assumed later in life. Additionally, Dwyer's examination of Collins' role in the partitioning of Northern Ireland is exceptional. Overall, this book serves as a definitive study of the two most prominent figures in modern Irish history.

Two Very Different Fellows

An informative and interesting account of the lives and times of the two most famous leaders of the Irish fight for independence from Britain. While not as detailed or as exhaustively researched as other books on the two men, it is of particular interest because it presents them together and explores the contrasts between them which ultimately led to their split and the devastating civil war in Ireland, which was more tragic by far than the war against Britain. The theory of the book is that the difference in the background and upbringing of the two accounts for the eventual animosity between them--DeValera, the cold, reserved, patriotic and manipulative product of a dislocated and not very secure childhood, and Collins, the much-loved youngest child in a large, cohesive family, whose volatile, intelligent, charismatic personality created both enemies and almost fanatically loyal adherents. The contrasts are engrossing and illuminating, and the book is well worth reading to understand the dynamics behind the Irish War of Independence.

Big Fellow, Long Fellow

Picking this up by cahnce I was surprised by the details T. Ryle Dwyer went into. Such intimate looks into the personality's and the main hops, skips and jumps that went along with these two great men's lives. Highly enjoyable and hard to leave at home! Easy to read and sometimes fairly amusing.