An extensive, scholarly biography of Irish leader Michael Davitt after his involvement with the Irish Land League.

Tells the story of a collaboration between two giants of late c19th Irish nationalism: John Devoy and Michael Davitt

Michael Davitt (1846-1906) is popularly known as the founder of the Irish National Land League and as the architect of the agrarian campaign of 1879-82. However, while the Land War was pivotal in Irish history, Davitt's lesser-known freelance political career after 1882, during which he engaged with a diverse range of issues and causes from the Boer War to Zionism, reveals a much more complex and, at times, contradictory political figure than that previously represented in Irish historiography. This book - now in paperback - is the first sustained study of Davitt's political career in its totality and views him in a broad political context of labor activism and international radicalism.

In 19th century Ireland, a new crop failure threatened the land and its people. This time round, a radical idea began to take hold: that famine was neither divine nor natural in origin but a political event, based on unequal power relations.

Michael Davitt (1846-1906) is popularly known as the founder of the Irish National Land League and as the architect of the agrarian campaign of 1879-82. However, while the Land War was pivotal in Irish history, Davitt's lesser-known freelance political career after 1882, during which he engaged with a diverse range of issues and causes, from the Boer War to Zionism, reveals a much more complex and, at times, contradictory political figure than that previously represented in Irish historiography. This book, the first sustained study of Davitt's political career in its totality, views him in a broad political context of labour activism and international radicalism.