Great to see the Wall Street Journal publish a review of WHEN THE IRISH INVADED CANADA on page A15 in the June 17, 2019, print edition. “Mr. Klein is keen to celebrate the idealistic Fenians with their audacious dreams of national liberation, but he doesn’t fail to catalog the foolhardiness of their endeavors. His book…

A little over a year after the end of the Civil War, a private army of Irish-Americans marched into battle to undertake one of the most fantastical missions in military history—to kidnap Canada and ransom it for Ireland’s independence. It may sound like a bunch of blarney, but it’s a true story. In fact, the…

A little more than 24 hours after leading an invasion of Canada with an Irish-American army, John O’Neill could see the enemy approaching. From his perch atop a limestone ridge outside the village of Ridgeway, Ontario, O’Neill could see an army three times the size of his marching in their direction. Although outnumbered, O’Neill’s Fenian…

Thirteen months after Robert E. Lee laid down his sword at Appomattox Court House, former Confederate rebels slipped on their gray wool jackets. Union veterans longing to emancipate an oppressed people donned their blue kepis. Battle-hardened warriors from both the North and the South returned to the front lines, but not to reignite the Civil…