"Roger Casement was an internationally renowned figure at the beginning of the 20th century, famous for exposing the widespread atrocities against the indigenous people in King Leopold's Congo and his subsequent exposure--for which he was knighted in 1911--of the brutal conditions of enslaved labor in Peru. An Irish nationalist of profound conviction, he attempted, at the outbreak of World War I, to obtain German support and weapons for an armed rebellion against British rule. Apprehended and convicted of treason in a notorious trial that captured worldwide attention, Casement was sentenced to die on the gallows. A powerful petition drive for the commutation of his sentence was inaugurated by George Bernard Shaw and a host of other influential figures. A gay man, Casement kept detailed diaries of his sexual escapades, and the British government, upon discovering the diaries, circulated its pages to public figures, thereby crippling what had been a mounting petition for clemency. In 1916, he was hanged. In this gripping reimagining, acclaimed historian Martin Duberman paints a full portrait of the man for the first time. Tracing his evolution from servant of the empire to his work as a humanitarian activist and anti-imperialist, Duberman resurrects and recognizes all facets--from the professional to the personal--of the fantastic life of this pioneer for human rights"--Provided by publisher.

John Newsinger's work offers a new view of Irish republicanism in the 1860s, seeing it as part of a European-wide nationalist phenomenon alongside is crucial role in the evolution of Irish republicanism. Newsinger charts the rise and fall of the Fenian movement in detail in Ireland as well as in Britain and the USA, examining the key events, developments and personalities, in particular the Fenian's attempts to establish an alliance with British radicalism. The book also covers related themes such as the impact of the Famine on Irish society and the British response, Irish confederation and the 1848 rising and the politics of John Mitchel - the founder of Irish republicanism.