THE LONG FELLOW: The Story of the Great Irish Patriot Eamon De Valera

The confused situation which existed in Ireland following the ill-fated Easter Rebellion in 1916, the multiple responses to the idea of Irish Nationalism which are usually consolidated and brushed off as ""the Irish Question,"" have been barely touched on for juvenile readers. Fortunately, this is less a biography than a history of those years when Eamon De Valera represented the most radical efforts, consistently demanding recognition of Irish nationalism without partition. The author's sentiment is clearly with De Valera. Occasionally this bias may seem a little unrestricted, as in his attempt to completely excuse Irish neutrality during WW II. But then it is hard to approach this subject without bias, and the enthusiasm of this treatment is in pleasant contrast to the text book histories which are blandly over-objective. The detail is extensive, and the emphasis on the personalities who led the various factions within Ireland and in England and the United States, help to lend clarity to this period. It should be a useful and interesting supplement to current history texts.