Erskine Childers, A Very English Irishman Stranger than fiction - Roy Foster explores the metamorphosis of a stiff-upper-lip Boy's Own novelist into a Sinn Fein martyr. Roy Foster | Published in History Today Volume 38 Issue 10 October 1988 To continue reading this article you need to purchase a subscription, available from only £5. Start my trial subscription now If you have already purchased access, or are a print & archive subscriber, please ensure you are logged in. Please email digital@historytoday.com if you have any problems. Popular articles US President or American Caesar? Hezbollah’s Long March out of the Shadows