My Fight for Irish Freedom

Every reader of great military history knows the moment. A handful of young men, barely out of their teens, poorly armed and with no money, decide the fight for freedom cannot wait any longer. And every fan of Irish history knows the pull of a story told by the man who fired the very first shot. My Fight for Irish Freedom was written for exactly these readers.

Modern readers of Irish history books are more demanding than they have ever been. They want firsthand testimony instead of secondhand summary, the real cost of life as an outlaw instead of a sanitized legend, and an account written by the man himself rather than reconstructed decades later. For fans of Irish civil war books and war books true stories, the challenge has always been finding a memoir this raw. This is not one of those books.

This classic Irish autobiography gives readers:

• The firsthand account of Dan Breen, leader of the Third Tipperary Brigade, and the man widely credited with firing the first shot of the War of Independence at Soloheadbeg.
• A vivid, unflinching record of what life was truly like on the run, with an army at one's heels and a thousand pounds on one's head.
• The story of how a group condemned on all sides slowly earned the support of the people, one of the most gripping threads in irish history.
• The staggering true numbers behind the campaign, a small band of young, untrained volunteers renewing the fight begun in 1916 against the full might of the British forces.

Just as the finest war memoirs earn their authority through firsthand detail rather than distance, this Irish autobiography builds its power through the voice of a man who lived every day of the danger he describes.

Inside this enduring account, readers will discover:

• A rare inside view of Irish revolutionary history, written not by a historian looking back but by the outlaw who was there.
• Honest reflections that many history books avoid, the fear, the burning belief in the cause, and the dark and bitter days that tested it.
• The extraordinary later life of Dan Breen, who went to prohibition era America and ran a speakeasy before returning home.
• The story of a man who became the first Republican to enter the Free State parliament, and went on to represent Tipperary for more than thirty years as its most popular legislator.

Long admired as one of the defining voices of the period, My Fight for Irish Freedom has earned its place among the finest irish history books in print, essential for anyone who wants the truth of the War of Independence from the man who helped start it.

My Fight for Irish Freedom offers:

• One of the most authentic irish history books available today, a firsthand record that has stood as essential reading for generations.
• A powerful addition to every shelf of irish civil war books and books about the IRA, telling the Tipperary story from the man who lived it.
• A gripping entry among british history books and irish authors kindle books alike, valued equally by readers, historians, and students of the period.
• A must read for anyone drawn to Irish freedom fighters and the extraordinary journey from outlaw to parliament.

The Truce came and the fighting ended, but the story of how a handful of poorly armed young men helped force a reckoning with an empire, and the remarkable life that followed, has never stopped being told. My Fight for Irish Freedom is the classic Irish autobiography every reader of true, firsthand history has been waiting for.