How much of what exceptional people achieve can be put down to drive or initiative or destiny and what exactly do we mean by those things?

What if such remarkable people and their extra-ordinary accomplishments were almost of themselves inescapable or unstoppable?

Such is the somewhat radical thesis at the heart of these fascinating pen pictures of exceptional Irish figures whose lives and feats are viewed through this new prism.

Certainly there is ever-increasing coverage and awareness of autism and Aspergers syndrome in the media, in films such as Rainman and in literature — most notably in the hugely successful book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon which won the Whitbread Prize.

Very often people who are affected by Aspergers exhibit high-level abilities in certain areas, other physical or behavioral traits may also be apparent. In Unstoppable Brilliance, the authors seek to demonstrate the particular facts, foibles and attributes of many well-known Irish historical figures, and show that in many ways their drive, focus and considerable achievements were almost inevitable given their high-level aptitude in particular fields an aptitude not entirely of their own making or volition.