About this item
The outlandish, untold story of the Irish American revolutionaries who tried to free Ireland by invading CanadaJust over a year after Robert E. Lee relinquished his sword, a band of Union and Confederate veterans dusted off their guns. But these former foes had no intention of reigniting the Civil War. Instead, they fought side by side to undertake one of the most fantastical missions in military history: to seize the British province of Canada and to hold it hostage until the independence of Ireland was secured.By the time that these invasions--known collectively as the Fenian raids--began in 1866, Ireland had been Britain's unwilling colony for seven hundred years. Thousands of Civil War veterans who had fled to the United States rather than perish in the wake of the Great Hunger still considered themselves Irishmen first, Americans second. With the tacit support of the U.S. government and inspired by a previous generation of successful American revolutionaries, the group that carried out a series of five attacks on Canada--the Fenian Brotherhood--established a state in exile, planned prison breaks, weathered infighting, stockpiled weapons, and assassinated enemies. Defiantly, this motley group, including a one-armed war hero, an English spy infiltrating rebel forces, and a radical who staged his own funeral, managed to seize a piece of Canada--if only for three days.When the Irish Invaded Canada is the untold tale of a band of fiercely patriotic Irish Americans and their chapter in Ireland's centuries-long fight for independence. Inspiring, lively, and often undeniably comic, this is a story of fighting for what's right in the face of impossible odds.
About the Author
Christopher Klein is a writer specializing in history. His latest book is When the Irish Invaded Canada: The Incredible True Story of the Civil War Veterans Who Fought for Ireland's Freedom (Doubleday, 2019) , which chronicles the outlandish story of a band of Irish-American revolutionaries who tried to free Ireland by attacking the British colony of Canada five times between 1866 and 1871 in what are known as the Fenian Raids. He is also the author of Strong Boy: The Life and Times of John L. Sullivan, America's First Sports Hero, Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands: A Guide to the City's Hidden Shores, and The Die-Hard Sports Fan's Guide to Boston. Christopher is a frequent contributor to History.com, the web site for the History Channel. He has also written for the Boston Globe, New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, Harvard Magazine, Red Sox Magazine, ESPN.com, Smithsonian.com, and AmericanHeritage.com. He lives in Andover, Massachusetts, with his wife and two children. Visit his website at christopherklein.com.
