You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
This book analyzes the underlying reasons behind the formation of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), its development, where this current in Irish republicanism is at present and its prospects for the future. Tommy McKearney, a former IRA member who was part of the 1980 hunger strike, challenges the misconception that the Provisional IRA was only, or even wholly, about ending partition and uniting Ireland. He argues that while these objectives were always the core and headline demands of the organization, opposition to the old Northern Ireland state was a major dynamic for the IRA’s armed campaign. As he explores the makeup and strategy of the IRA he is not uncritical, examining alternative options available to the movement at different periods, arguing that its inability to develop a clear socialist program has limited its effectiveness and reach. This authoritative and engaging history provides a fascinating insight into the workings and dynamics of a modern resistance movement.
For decades, the British and Irish had 'got used to' a situation without parallel in Europe: a cold, ferocious, persistent campaign of bombing and terror of extraordinary duration and inventiveness. At the heart of that campaign lies one man: Gerry Adams. From the outbreak of the troubles to the present day, he has been an immensely influential figure. The most compelling question about the IRA is: how did a man who condoned atrocities that resulted in huge numbers of civilian deaths also become the guiding light behind the peace process? Moloney's book is now updated to encompass the anxious and uneasy peace that has prevailed to 2007.
The Secret Army is the definitive work on the Irish Republican Army. It is an absorbing account of a movement that has had a profound effect on the shaping of the modern Irish state. The secret army in the service of the invisible Republic has had a powerful effect on Irish events over the past twenty-five years. These hidden corridors of power interest Bell and inspired him to spend more time with the IRA than many volunteers spend in it. This book is the culmination of twenty-five years of work and tens of thousands of hours of interviews. Bell's unique access to the leadership of the republican movement and his contacts with all involved—British politicians, Irish politicians, policemen...
A timely work of major historical importance, examining the whole spectrum of events from the 1916 Easter Rising to the current and ongoing peace process, fully updated with a new afterword for the paperback edition. ‘An essential book ... closely-reasoned, formidably intelligent and utterly compelling ... required reading across the political spectrum ... important and riveting’ Roy Foster, The Times ‘An outstanding new book on the IRA ... a calm, rational but in the end devastating deconstruction of the IRA’ Henry McDonald, Observer ‘Superb ... the first full history of the IRA and the best overall account of the organization. English writes to the highest scholarly standards ... Moreover, he writes with the common reader in mind: he has crafted a fine balance of detail and analysis and his prose is clear, fresh and jargon-free ... sets a new standard for debate on republicanism’ Peter Hart, Irish Times 'The one book I recommend for anyone trying to understand the craziness and complexity of the Northern Ireland tragedy.’ Frank McCourt, author of Angela’s Ashes
In 1974, Shane O'Doherty received 30 life sentences for IRA letter-bomb offences. After 15 months in prison, he reached the conclusion that violence was utterly wrong. This autobiography offers both a portrait of an IRA terrorist and a plea for an end to the continuing atrocities.
This updated edition of the history of the IRA now includes behind-the-scenes information on the recent advances made in the peace process. Coogan examines the IRA's origins, its foreign links, the bombing campaigns, and hunger strikes.
"Featuring facsimilies of the actual coded documents, the book delves into nearly every matter conceivable for a paramilitary organisation, ranging from the importation of explosives to the use of IRA informants in the gardai. Documents detail the IRA's secret agreement with the Soviet Union and its attempts to provide military assistance to China; military espionage in America; plans to stage a gas attack on Dublin; the IRA's infiltration of the GAA and control of the Kerry football team and the struggle with Eamon de Valera and Fianna Fail. The book provides an unnerving insight into how the IRA saw itself and conducted its dangerous business in secrecy."--BOOK JACKET.
This book examines the grass-roots relationship between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the civilian population during the Irish Revolution. It is primarily concerned with the attempts of the militant revolutionaries to discourage, stifle, and punish dissent among the local populations in which they operated, and the actions or inactions by which dissent was expressed or implied. Focusing on the period of guerilla war against British rule from c. 1917 to 1922, it uncovers the acts of 'everyday' violence, threat, and harm that characterized much of the revolutionary activity of this period. Moving away from the ambushes and assassinations that have dominated much of the discourse on the r...
Klappentext: For more than four years Martin McGartland risked his life working undercover as a British agent inside the Provisional IRA. His first book FIFTY DEAD MEN WALKING describes how he was kidnapped by the Provos and taken to a flat to face interrogation and torture, knowing that execution would follow. So, in a desperate bid to save his life, he threw himself from a second-floor window of a block of flats and somehow, miraculously, survived. DEAD MAN RUNNING follows the extraordinary life of Martin McGartland after he re-settles on the mainland and assumes a new identity. It tells of the discovery that his abduction by the IRA was not as a result of Provo intelligence. He had been d...
The Irish Republican movement was one of the most significant revolutionary movements of the twentieth century. This book focuses on the issue of republican splits, which created the Provisional and Official republican movements, and the subsequent develo