Women played a crucial role in both the personal and the working life of Michael Collins, particularly in the perilous years from 1916 to 1922 when they smuggled messages, spied on the British government, and protected him from arrest.

Woven into this fascinating narrative of Collins's life are friends Susan Killeen and Madeline (Dilly) Dicker; society ladies Moya Llewylen Davies and Lady Hazel Lavery; Kitty Kiernan, from whose correspondence we get a glimpse of romantic passion in the midst of turmoil; and many others who participated in the national struggle, women such as Kathleen Clarke, Leslie Price de Barra, Peg Barrett, Nancy O'Brien, Madge Hales and Collins's sister Mary Collins Powell.