Victory of Sinn Fein: How it Won it and How it Used it

"P. S. Hegarty's bitter and ferocious The Victory of Sinn Fein was published in 1924 in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War. What makes it so gripping is the clarity with which it reflects a generally obscured aspect of the events it describes - the devastation and demoralisation of Irish nationalism by the Civil War. O'Hegarty's book, never republished until now, is remarkable because of its point of view. You could quote long passages of it and if you did not identify the author most people would assume that they were written by a diehard unionist or a contemporary revisionist." Fintan O'Toole Irish Times Dec 1998 "This is a neat and useful series, with an excellent uniform cover design." Books Ireland Dec 1998 "Those who come to The Victory of Sinn Fein knowing its reputation as an anti-Republican diatribe and attack on Republican women will be surprised by its exultant celebration of the achievement of statehood." Patrick Maume, Queen's University, Belfast Irish Political Studies 14 1999 "written with the urgency of troubled times and still retain[s its] freshness and argumentative force: excellent material for seminar discussions... well introduced by Garvin. His biographical essays are thoughtful, useful, and adopt an engaging combative stance on behalf of the writers." "the first entries in a welcome new series. They are hardily and handsomely constructed: a credit to their equally welcome new publisher." Peter Hart, Queen's University Belfast Irish Studies Review 7 (3) 1999 "University College Dublin Press has now published over thirty 'Classics of Irish History'. These contemporary accounts by well known personalities of historical events and attitudes have an immediacy that conventional histories do not have. Introductions by modern historians provide additional historical background and, with hindsight, objectivity." Books Ireland Nov 2007 "Scholars of nineteenth-century Irish and Irish-American politics should reacquaint themselves with these classics, part of a long running and immensely useful series from University College Dublin Press." Irish Literary Supplement Fall 2008

• Insurrection of 1916; re-emergence of Sinn Fein (1916-18); Irish Republican Brotherhood (1858-1916); De Valera (1916-19); Mick Collins (1909-21); Dail Eireann (1919); Sinn Fein policy in practice (1919-1921); Black-and-tan war; the new Griffith (1916-21); the crime of the Ulster boycott (1920); the moral collapse (1920-21); the surrender of England; the truce; the great betrayal; the great mistake; the great talk; the position created by the truce and the treaty; the pseudo-Republicans; the furies (1922); Mary Macswiney; after the ratification; the Irregulars, devil era; war against the Irish people; the death of Griffith; Michael Collins (September 1922); victory of the people; the humorous side; the responsibility of Mr De Valera; the Irish Free State; how it strikes a contemporary; the future of Ireland.