Theobald Wolfe Tone (1763-1798) was the founder of Irish Republican nationalism. As such his political ideas and the circumstances of his life and early death have become powerful political weapons in the hands of later nationalists. Today his name still arouses strong passions and he is hailed as the first prophet of an independent Ireland. Published originally in 1989, Marianne Elliott's book was the first major biography of Tone, using a wealth of new material to examine his personal life and