The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero by Timothy Egan

How do you cover the life of a man as interesting as Thomas Francis Meagher? Kicked out of Ireland as a rebel in the 1848 uprising, rescued as a escapee from the Australian penal colony, heralded as an Irish savior in America and decorated as one of General William T. Sherman's least favorite generals, Meagher lived a wild life. And Timothy Egan does a superb job of telling this story. 

As someone who has read a book or two about the Civil War, I appreciated most Egan's omission of so many details shoved into books about Civil War figures that have NOTHING to do with the story. This book might be the first book I have read that mentions Ulysses S. Grant WITHOUT mentioning he liked his stakes well done and if there was any blood visible he would not eat it. Or that Robert E. Lee was the only West Point cadet to graduate without a demerit (which is wasn't or even the first). Every, single Civil War book mentions one or the other of these trivial fact like anyone reading the book did not already know them OR had read them 9,999,999 times before. Egan skipped these, and for that, he has my respect. 

My one thought as I finished this book was WOW! What a story! Thomas Francis Meagher is definitely someone I would sit in an airport with waiting for a delayed flight. Since he is dead, and was well dead before the airplane was even invented, read this book instead!