CHRISTOPHER KLEIN

“This is a government of the people, by the people and for the people no longer. It is a government by the corporations, of the corporations and for the corporations.” Rutherford B. Hayes, 1886. Gilded Age political corruption thrived because many public officials didn’t earn salaries but a cut of fees or taxes they collected,…

It was a dark day for brewers 100 years ago today when Prohibition took effect. During the ensuing 13-year ban on beer production during Prohibition forced America’s biggest brewers to find creative ways to remain in business. Brewers produced soft drinks, malted milk and fruit juices but pinned their real hopes on non-intoxicating beers that…

Thanks to Damian Shiels of the excellent Irish in the American Civil War web site for running this piece I wrote about John O’Neill, who repeatedly led a series of Irish-American invasions of Canada known as the Fenian Raids. Canada was O’Neill’s “white whale.” I’m convinced that at the time of his death, O’Neill had…

Fourteen tons of fireworks illuminated the New York night on May 24, 1883, to celebrate the completion of one of the greatest engineering feats of the Gilded Age—the Brooklyn Bridge. Billed as the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” the longest suspension bridge ever built at the time spanned the East River to link the twin…

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…

With the golden sunlight glimmering on their bayonets and the soft Vermont breezes tickling their green silk battle flag, the self-proclaimed Irish Republican Army marched off to war on the morning of May 25, 1870. Stopping on a country road outside a brick farmhouse just yards from his intended target, General John O’Neill ordered his…

Ever hear that story of Wilmer McLean? It was said the Civil War started in his front yard and ended in his front parlor. He abandoned his house after it was damaged in the Battle of Bull Run and moved to quieter pastures–in Appomattox–only to find his front parlor taken over in April 1865 so…