Captain Jack White: Imperialism, Anarchism & the Irish Citizen Army

by Leo Keohane

Captain Jack White DSO (1879-1946) is a fascinating yet neglected figure in Irish history. The son of Field Marshal Sir George White V.C., he became a Boer war hero, and, crucially, was the first Commandant of the Irish Citizen Army. One of the few notable figures in Ireland to declare himself an anarchist, Jack White led a remarkable life of action and was a most unsystematic thinker. As an accessible and original biography, this study is based on the White family papers and never-before-seen archival research. It is a long overdue assessment of Jack White's life and times, and it vividly brings to life the contradictory worlds and glamor of this mercurial figure, who knew Lord Kitchener; who was a dinner companion of King Edward and the Kaiser; who corresponded with H.G. Wells, D.H. Lawrence, and Tolstoy; and who shared a platform with G.B. Shaw, Conan Doyle, Roger Casement, and Alice Stopford Green. As the founder of the Irish Citizen Army along with James Connolly, Captain Jack White marched (and argued) with James Larkin during the 1913 Lockout, worked with Sean O'Casey, liaised with Constance Markievicz, and socialized with most of the Irish activists and literati of the early 20th century. As a man who lived many lives, White was the ultimate outsider beset by divided loyalties with an alternative philosophy and an inability to conform. [ Biography, Irish Studies, Military History, Political History]

302 pages, Hardcover

First published September 18, 2014

Reviews

[Sugarpunksattack Mick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leo Keohane's 'Captain Jack White' is a wonderful biography of a most peculiar, yet profound figure in Irish history. Keohane traces White's life from his time as a British colonial soldier fighting in the Boer war to his involvement in Irish revolutionary politics culminating in his part in creating the first working class army in history:the Irish Citizen Army. The author conveys story after story to demonstrate that White's personal philosophy was always that 'personal' if not esoteric. During the highpoint of his involvement in revolutionary Irish politics he never refrained from critiquing his fellow revolutionaries, not from a sectarian position, but a moral one. Although he never quite fit under any label, he was highly respected given his undying commitment towards radical politics.

Keohane expertly contextualizes White personally as well as explaining the broader figures and events occurring at the time, which was super helpful for folks not intimately familiar with some of the lesser known people and events. Keohane also does a superb job in situating all the available primary and secondary work on White. However, some chapters did rely perhaps too heavily on White's autobiography 'Misfit: A Revolutionary Life' without other independent sources. On the other hand, the autobiography is hard to find (if not out of print) which makes Keohane's book essential to anyone interested in Captain Jack White.

[R. Reddebrek · Rating 5 out of 5]

An easy to read biography on an interesting and hard to pin down personality. I'd only come across Jack White in O'Casey's History of the Irish Citizen Army so it was surprising to see how involved and active he was in Irish and British politics for decades.