Thomas D'Arcy McGee (1825–1868)

https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3349781.html

McGee is a fascinating character, a Young Irelander who crossed the Atlantic and shifted dramatically from urging American annexation of Canada to playing a key role in the creation of the Canadian confederation in 1867, the year before he was assassinated coming home from a parliamentary debate in Ottawa (where he represented Montreal). He was one of the most noted orators of his time, and his death sent shockwaves through the Canadian political system.

Great orator he may have been, but his 1860 Popular History of Ireland is deadly dull, and I did not make it past the year 879 - chloroform in print, as Mark Twain so unkindly said of the Book of Mormon. Perhaps it livens up in the more modern period, but the early chapters are simply lists of kings without much sense of what if anything they actually did. I skipped ahead to some of the eras that I know a bit more about, and, well, the kindest thing to be said is that most of it has been overtaken by more recent scholarship.… (mais)