An accessible yet scholarly account of the most significant week in modern Irish history, updated with new information only recently released On Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, an estimated force of 1,000-1,500 Irish men and women under arms attempted to seize Dublin, with the ultimate intention of bringing to an end British rule in Ireland and creating an independent Irish republic, to include all 32 counties of Leinster, Munster, Ulster, and Connaught. Their leaders, Patrick Pearse and James Connolly, knew that their chances of success were slight, yet they fought, and paid with their lives. This book seeks to explain why. Illuminating every aspect of that fateful Easter week, this account is based on an impressive range of original sources, and has been fully revised and expanded in the light of hundreds of witness statements only released by the Irish Bureau of Military History in 2004. It is a vivid depiction of the personalities and actions of the leaders on both sides, and provides an exceptional account of a city at war.