The New Williamsburg Book Club

On Saturday, March 21, 2026 we'll gather at 7 p.m. to discuss "The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary who became an American Hero" by Timothy Egan.

According to the description on Amazon.com: "In the New York Times bestseller, The Immortal Irishman, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Timothy Egan illuminates the dawn of the great Irish American story, with all its twists and triumphs, through the life of one heroic man.

As a dashing young orator in Ireland during the Great Hunger of the 1840's, Thomas Francis Meagher led a failed uprising against British rule for which he was banished to a Tasmanian prison colony for life. But two years later he was “back from the dead” and in New York, instantly the most famous Irishman in America. Meagher’s rebirth included his leading the newly formed Irish Brigade in many of the fiercest battles of the Civil War. Afterward, he tried to build a new Ireland in the wild west of Montana — a quixotic adventure that ended in the great mystery of his disappearance, which Egan resolves convincingly at last."

“This is marvelous stuff. Thomas F. Meagher strides onto Egan's beautifully wrought pages just as he lived — powerfully larger than life. A fascinating account of an extraordinary life.”—Daniel James Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Facing the Mountain

We hope you'll enjoy reading this two-continental biography. Come discuss it with friends and neighbors, and share some knoshes! Lisa