Roger Casement. A Guide to the Forged Diaries. Dublin: Appolo Press, 1962. Pp 183. A nice bright copy in dust jacket. Illustrated with 18 plates.

Roger Casement (1864 -1916) was a Diplomat & Irish Nationalist. He worked for the British Foreign Office as a diplomat & later became a humanitarian activist, poet & Easter Rising leader. During WWI he made efforts to gain German military aid for the 1916 Easter Rising.

For his part in the Rising, Casement was arrested, convicted & executed for high treason. Before the trial, the British government circulated excerpts said to be from his private journals, known as ‘The Black Diaries’, which detailed homosexual activities. Given prevailing views & existing laws on homosexuality, this material undermined support for clemency for Casement.