"Robert Emmet (1778-1803) was one of the most romantic of all Irish revolutionaries. His doomed relationship with Sarah Curran, his failed rebellion at the age of twenty-five and the brilliance of his speech from the dock, captured the popular imagination and created a powerful and enduring legend. W.B. Yeats declared that Emmet was the leading saint of Irish Nationalism." "This book reveals for the first time the complex and ingenious plans that Emmet devised for the rebellion. His youthful idealism and military talent proved insufficient, however, and his attempt to seize Dublin on 23 July 1803 was a dramatic failure. Captured soon after, Emmet won an unlikely victory with his extraordinary speech from the dock that is rightly considered to be one of the greatest courtroom orations in history. He died bravely on the scaffold the next day."--BOOK JACKET.