This book is a collection of biographical essays that attempt to paint a comprehensive picture of the life of Thomas Francis Meagher. The book is large in scope, beginning with essays describing his grandfather's businesses in Newfoundland and Waterford and his father's political career as an Irish Catholic MP and supporter of O’Connell's repeal movement. The essays covering Thomas Francis Meagher's own life are also wide-ranging, beginning with essays dealing with his participation in the Young Ireland movement and the aborted 1848 rebellion and continuing with essays that pertain to Meagher's life in the United States as a politician and colonel in the Union army during the Civil War. For a life that was as far-flung as Meagher's was, the essay collection format works well; each topic is covered by a historian from the appropriate field, be it the local history of Waterford as it pertains to his father and grandfather, or the history of Montana as it pertains to Meagher's brief stint as Secretary of that territory at the end of his life. However, while the range of topics covered by the essays succeeds in presenting a comprehensive account of Meagher's life, the quality of the essays varies considerably throughout the book.

There are some standout contributions to the book, most notably John Mannion's “Genealogy, Geography and Social Mobility: The Family Background of Thomas Francis Meagher.” This essay details the rise of Thomas Meagher Sr., the grandfather of Thomas Francis Meagher, as a merchant in Newfoundland in the early 1800s. The essay presents an intriguing look into the vibrant Irish Catholic community of Newfoundland, where many became rich due to the demand for Newfoundland cod in the United Kingdom and Spain during the Napoleonic wars. Thomas Meagher Sr. became rich through this trade, and later returned to Ireland to set himself up as a landowner in Waterford. Mannion argues in this essay that life abroad in Newfoundland resulted in the “assimilation of a new sense of Irishness, a merging or discarding of highly localized homeland traditions” (20). It was this sense of Irishness that would encourage the son of Thomas Meagher Sr. to become involved in O’Connell's repeal movement, and his grandson to become a member of the Young Ireland movement.

The next two essays by Eugene Broderick and John M. Hearne contrast the Irish political careers of Thomas Meagher Jr. and his son, Thomas Francis Meagher. Thomas Meagher Jr. became heavily involved in O’Connell's emancipation and repeal movements, ultimately becoming an MP and a close friend of O’Connell himself. Like O’Connell, Thomas Meagher Jr. rejected outright the use of violence in the repeal movement. His son Thomas Francis Meagher on the other hand repudiated the politics of his father, and in his famous “Sword speech” argued that the use of violence was justified in the pursuit of liberty. It was this speech and his participation in the aborted 1848 rebellion that earned Thomas Francis Meagher a place in Arthur Griffith's pantheon of Irish nationalist heroes; more immediately for Meagher, it earned him a trip to Van Diemen's Land as a convict.

Broderick and Hearne's essays each present their subjects in an extremely positive light; Broderick in particular presents Thomas Meagher Jr. as the consummate politician, repeating on a number of occasions that he was a man of “essential decency and integrity … honesty and loyalty” (60). Broderick's main goal is to rehabilitate the constitutional politics of the father, which is clear from the outset by the title of his essay, “From the Shadow of His Son: ‘Honest Thomas Meagher’—The Father of an Irish Patriot.” Hearne likewise presents Thomas Francis Meagher in a noble light, describing him as a “Reluctant Revolutionary,” and arguing that Meagher only advocated violence as a last resort in the pursuit of liberty. Indeed, the “Sword speech” and participation in the 1848 rebellion notwithstanding, Hearne argues that Thomas Francis Meagher was “closest, ideologically, to the Liberator” (89). If Broderick and Hearne were not both at such pains to present their subjects in such a positive light, they might have been able to use the example of father and son to helpfully elucidate the divisions in the Irish Nationalist movement during this period. As it stands, the book misses this opportunity.

The later essays in the book follow the trend of presenting Meagher in a positive light, seeking to rehabilitate his image as a drunk, incompetent military commander and a bad politician in the United States. Rory T. Cornish argues that Meagher did the best he could in bad circumstances as the Colonel in command of the Irish Brigade in the Union army, and that he was never the same as a man or as a commander after his brigade was nearly destroyed at the battle of Fredericksburg. Likewise, John Axline argues that Meagher made the best of a bad situation as Secretary of Montana, doing everything he could, ultimately unsuccessfully, to reconcile the different political factions in the territory. These authors are at pains to present what can only be viewed as an unsuccessful military and political career in the United States in a positive light.

Perhaps the most successful of the later essays of the book does not pertain to Meagher at all; this is Michael Toomey's essay on John Mitchel. Toomey presents a short account of Mitchel's decision to become involved in the American Fenian movement as well as his choice to support the Confederacy in the United States Civil War. Meagher was the opposite of Mitchel, never getting seriously involved in the American Fenian movement and instead trying to assimilate into United States society, ultimately achieving his goal of becoming a politician. Instead of contrasting and exploring the differences of these individuals who had both been participants in the Young Ireland movement and prisoners in Van Diemen's Land, Pat McCarthy argues that Meagher was the “lost leader” of the Fenian Brotherhood. Instead of exploring why Meagher chose assimilation over participation in Fenianism, McCarthy presents Meagher's decision as a tragedy for the Fenian movement. It is rare to find biographies of Irish nationalists who left nationalism behind; not fully exploring this aspect of Meagher's life is an opportunity missed.