The Secret Court Martial Records of the Easter Rebellion

The British were caught totally by surprise in Dublin. Augustine Birrell, the chief secretary for Ireland, refused to take seriously the threat posed by the Irish Volunteers (IVF). “I laugh at the whole thing,” he wrote just two days before the rebellion. “I see no indication of a rising.”

Brian Barton provides a good, judicious overview of the rebellion, along with an in-depth profile of John Maxwell, who was appointed commander-in-chief of British forces during the uprising.