Description
Book SynopsisTheobald Wolfe Tone (1763-1798) was the founder of Irish Republican nationalism. As such his political ideas and the circumstances of his life and early death have become powerful political weapons in the hands of later nationalists. Today his name still arouses strong passions and he is hailed as the first prophet of an independent Ireland. Published originally in 1989, Marianne Elliott’s book was the first major biography of Tone, using a wealth of new material to examine his personal life and public actions. Tracing him from his upbringing as a member of the Protestant elite, through his involvement in Irish radical politics, his exile in America, his secret negotiations with the French and return to Ireland with a French invasion force, to his trial for treason and his suicide while awaiting execution, it was a monumental publication that won numerous awards and gained much praise. This second edition brings this award-winning book up to date with new scholarship, new historical insights and fresh insights by Professor Marianne Elliott herself, making a crucial publication for all scholars and readers of Irish history.
Trade Review... Elliott is to be commended for this remarkable portrait.
Irish Literary SupplementTable of Contents
- List of Illustrations and Maps
- Acknowledgements
- A Tribute to Kay Dickason
- Introduction
- Part I Early Life (1763–1790)
- 1. Family and Education
- 2. Sentimental Schooling
- 3. Middle Temple
- 4. Gentleman of the Law
- Part II Politics (1790–1791)
- 5. Whig
- 6. Radical
- Part III Across the Religious Divide (1791)
- 7. Anti-Popery and the Rise of Presbyterian Radicalism
- 8. Argument on Behalf of the Catholics
- 9. Belfast and the Society of United Irishmen
- Part IV Agent to the Catholics (1792–1793)
- 10. Uniting the Sects
- 11. Catholic Agent
- 12. Mission to the North
- 13. Ascendancy on the Attack
- 14. Catholic Convention
- 15. Hopes Dashed
- Part V War Crisis (1793)
- 16. Witch Hunt
- 17. The United Irish Society in Disarray
- Part VI Revolutionary (1794–1795)
- 18. Treason
- 19. Emergence of a Revolutionary
- 20. Exile in America
- Part VII Mission to France (1796–1797)
- 21. Republican ‘Ambassador’ in Paris
- 22. Irish Invasion Plans
- 23. Adjutant-General
- 24. Bantry Bay
- 25. Roving Mission in Northern Europe
- 26. Demise of Hoche
- Part VIII Final Days (1797–1798)
- 27. Mission in Decline
- 28. Crisis
- 29. Trial and Death
- 30. Aftermath
- Conclusion: The Cult of Tone
- Notes
- Select Bibliography
- Index
