On 25 October 1914 James Larkin boarded the Liverpool boat at Dublin, shadowed by two detectives. Ahead, he hoped, lay an international lecture tour that would restore his vigour and reputation as one of the greatest labour agitators in the English-speaking world. Larkin's decision to leave Ireland was not in itself controversial. It was widely believed at the time, and since, that he was exhausted by the 1913 lock-out and would return after a few months' recuperation. Similarly, his curious record in the USA has not been subjected to critical scrutiny. Short, selective sketches by Fox, Nevin and O'Riordan have dwelt on the most sympathetic episodes of Larkin's American years, notably his trial in 1920, and imprisonment from 1920 to 1923.1 In the only extensive account, Emmet Larkin accepts his subject's interpretation of events and treats his US career as of a piece with a life of selfless struggle.2 Many obvious questions remain unanswered. Why did Larkin go to the USA? Did he, as he claimed, attempt to return to Ireland? Why did he engage in relatively little trade union work in America? What were his relations with the American left? And what effect did the experience have on him? Born of Irish parents in Liverpool in 1874, Larkin had come to Ireland as a union organizer in 1907, led a dramatic strike in Belfast, founded the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU) in 1908, and enjoyed spectacular success and popularity from 1911 to 1913, boosting ITGWU membership to some 20,000 and earning Lenin's admiration as a 'remarkable speaker and a man of seething energy [who] has performed miracles among the unskilled workers'.3 When 404 Dublin employers combined in September 1913 to smash the ITGWU by locking out over 25,000 workers, Larkin appealed to British trade unionists to black Dublin goods and, with typical theatrical flair, promised to raise a 'fiery cross' in Britain. The 'fiery cross', a punishing schedule of rallies, attracted huge crowds and international atten-