Casement

FULLY REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION WITH A NEW AFTERWORD

Since his execution for high treason in 1916, Roger Casement has been lauded for his humanitarian activism in Africa and the Amazon. His life, however, has remained obscured behind speculation about his sexuality and his complicated contribution to Ireland’s revolutionary generation that took up arms against the British Empire. He lives on as an enduring enigma in the history of British-Irish relations—a figure who refuses easy categorisation, and whose legacy demands radical reconsideration.

Angus Mitchell traces the life of a man fatally divided between serving the empire and advancing demands for an independent Irish nation. Understanding his logical evolution from imperialist to revolutionary unmasks a coherent global dimension to the Irish struggle. The apparent contradictions of his life resolve into a singular commitment to humanity, justice, and universal principles of love and tolerance.

Beyond what it tells us about Casement’s fated path to the scaffold in Pentonville Prison, this biography invites readers to question the curation of national history,  the hidden power of archives, and the lasting impact of state secrecy.

Angus Mitchell is recognised internationally for his pioneering research on Roger Casement. He has edited three comprehensive volumes of documents that have transformed understanding of this complicated historical figure: The Amazon Journal of Roger Casement, Sir Roger Casement’s Heart of Darkness, and One Bold Deed of Open Treason: The Berlin Diary of Roger Casement 1914–1916. He collaborated on the making of the Brazilian film Secrets from Putumayo (2022) which recounts Casement’s journey up the Amazon in 1910.