Born into the Anglo-Irish landowning class of Co. Down, Archibald Hamilton Rowan (1751–1832) led a colourful life. Heavily influenced by the celebrated radical John Jebb at Cambridge, and the revolutionary thinker Mary Wollstonecraft, he made waves throughout his career, weathering the wrath of his own class as he championed the causes of the poor and oppressed. Of a passionate disposition, he was involved in several duels, denounced the military for shooting dead tradesmen in Dublin for b...

William Drennan, founder and leader of the Society of United Irishmen, is long overdue a comprehensive biography. May Tyrants Tremble fills that gap and obliterates the historical consensus that, after being acquitted at his 1794 trial for sedition, Drennan withdrew from the United Irish movement. In fact, Fergus Whelan proves that Drennan remained a leading voice of Presbyterian radicalism until his death in 1820, and his ideals, along with those of Wolfe Tone and other pivotal United Iri...