Michael Laffan Libri

W. T. Cosgrave has been neglected by scholars in comparison with other prominent twentieth-century Irish leaders. This biography, by a leading Irish historian, uses sources not previously consulted to examine his career as local politician, rebel, minister, head of government for almost ten years, and opposition leader. In particular, it assesses his role as a state-builder and a key figure in the Irish democratic tradition.

Michael Francis Laffan offers a sweeping exploration of two centuries of interactions among Muslim subjects of empires and nation-states around the Indian Ocean world. He traces interlinked lives and journeys, examining engagements with Western, Islamic, and pan-Asian imperial formations to consider the possibilities for Muslims in an imperial age.