Easter Monday, April 24, 1916: James Connolly, a 48-year-old Edinburgh-born Marxist and former British soldier, stands at the top of the steps of Liberty Hall, Dublin. "We are going out to be slaughtered," Connolly told his comrades, setting in motion the Easter Rising of 1916, an armed struggle that would end with his execution two weeks later. This is not a traditional biography, but a book about O'Callaghan's relationship with a man who was to deeply influence his formative years; it is about the politics of violent extremism that O'Callaghan subsequently became caught up in; and it's about the kind of individuals who are willing to sacrifice everything for a holy cause.