T. Ryle Dwyer is a prolific historian, journalist and author. He writes regularly for many papers, including the Irish Examiner.
"This is the only comparative biography of Eamon de Valera and
Michael Collins, and as such has established itself as a standard
work. It is now re-issued in pocket paperback format for the first
time. As fairly and as dispassionately as possible, Dwyer explores
the stark differences in the background and personalities of his
two subjects; the abandoned, probably illegitimate and essentially
loveless childhood of de Valera sharply counterpoints the warm
close environment into which Collins was born ...Dwyer's assessment
of the two
characters is fair."
*Evening Herald*
"This is an excellent book and goes far to giving a rounder
picture of the relationship between the two men than some earlier
works. In particular, Collins emerges as a pretty good schemer
himself, being a brilliant networker through his control of the
Irish Republican Brotherhood, his contacts in the police and civil
bureaucracies in both Britain and Ireland and through his
connections in the world of shipping and communications ...one
thing that comes out of Dwyer's
analysis very starkly is de Valera's fantastic self-confidence or
self-righteousness, depending on one's point of view ...a
well-written, competent and fair-minded book.
*Irish University Review*
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