Michael Collins remains the most compelling figure of the Irish Revolution and is widely regarded as one of the founders of the modern Irish state. Charismatic, visionary and possessed of extraordinary energy, he was cut down in his prime at Béal na mBláth in August 1922, leaving behind the enduring question of what Ireland might have become had he lived. Many books have been written about Michael Collins, but this richly illustrated volume takes a unique approach to telling his story — through photographs, documents, newspapers and posters, all supported by carefully researched captions.

It traces Collins’s journey from rural West Cork to revolutionary leader, statesman and Commander-in-Chief during the Civil War. Many of the original black-and-white photographs have been painstakingly colourised by John O’Byrne, continuing his collaboration with Michael B. Barry.

The addition of colour gives the images a striking immediacy, bringing both Collins and his turbulent era vividly to life in this richly illustrated book.