Bianconi

1962 • 226 sayfa • EN

Yazan M. O'C. Bianconi, Sydney John Watson

"Charles Bianconi (1786-1875) revolutionized the transport system of nineteenth-century Ireland. This first full-length biography draws largely on his private papers and diaries. The authors describe his youth in Italy, his early days as a pedlar in Ireland and his beginnings as a coaching proprietor with one outside car. They go on to show how by sheer strength of character and organizing genius Bianconi rose from being a penniless foreigner to near-monopoly of transportation through the length and breadth of his adopted country. His story embraces the history of Ireland in its most stirring times, since he bridged the gap between Robert Emmet and Charles Stewart Parnell. He saw the horrors of the land war and the miseries of the famine. Whiteboys, Orangemen, Repealers, The Young Ireland Party and the Fenians--they all engaged his attention: for he was most active in politics and local government. He became a mayor, magistrate, grand-juror and deputy lieutenant for his country and he was also the devoted friend and helper of Daniel O'Connell in the struggle for Catholic Emancipation. There were three women who profoundly influenced Bianconi's life. His deep and abiding love for his childhood friend Giovanna, his 'mild flirtation' with Julia, which persisted over seventy years, and his enigmatic married life with Eliza all add fascination to the story of this complex character whose long and eventful career is seen against the ever-intriguing background of the period."--Front flap of book jacket.