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Could you share some of the books you've read? I think I have a better knowledge of the history than the average English person, but I'm also very conscious tha

Could you share some of the books you've read? I think I have a better knowledge of the history than the average English person, but I'm also very conscious that I've probably only scratched the surface on a very complex and tangled history. I've heard that said about the IRA by people from the UK intellegence/security services. There was a level of "trust" and predictability between enemies that made it possible to negotiate a peace and to have channels of communication between them which were essential in the early days of the peace process. I think it helped that there was a comprehensible end-goal for the IRA. This contrasts with the current rather nebulous aims of islamic and far-right terrorism in the UK, and their rather chaotic, ill-disceplined and isolated little groups.

mhoad 4y ago
Yeah of course! I break them out into a few different categories depending on what you're actually looking for. For a straight up history perspective that also goes pretty deep into the shadowy nature of it all I enjoyed The Dirty War by Martin Dillon. I also enjoyed one called The Morality of Terrorism which does a nice job of jumping between the theoretical and practical aspects about the "just war theory" and also looks at from a real politik point of view if it was worth it? The answer was unsurprisingly no and makes the argument that in many ways the PIRA ended up where they started or at least that the conditions of the GFA were similar to a potential ceasefire deal that was on the cards early on in the war. They had the tools they needed by that point to pursue their political goals without violence and that it was all ultimately a strategic mistake and everyone is worse off for it. Then there are a bunch of autobiographies from various points of view which capture a lot of that gritty on the ground detail and the behind the scenes thinking. == Insider: Gerry Bradley's Life in the IRA == This is the POV from a particularly senior operations guy in the IRA and has this interesting subcontext looking at how the popularity for the war changes over the years from this kind of "patriotic struggle" to just something extremely dark that people want nothing to do with and in the process he goes from a hero to villain figure in the eyes of many and his own disillusionment with it all. He had to go into hiding after writing this book and then killed himself shortly after presumably because of that level of disillusionment. == The Volunteer : A Former IRA Man's True Story == Interesting story about how this guy gets radicalised at a young age and goes on to be the most famous bomb maker during the war, his eventual capture and deradicalisation. More of a real foot solider level perspective with no real influence on the scenario around him. It's real "true believer" stuff to something entirely different by the end of it all. == Watching The Door: A Memoir 1971-1978 by Kevin Myers == This is the point of view of a local catholic journalist who was kind of the eyes and the ears on the ground for a lot of the world at the time. == MRF Shadow Troop by Simon Cursey == This story as told by one member of the secret and particularly controversial British intelligence units during the war. == Southside Provisional by Kieran Conway == The story as told by the PIRAs own head of intelligence and his experience going up against the British security services. Provides a interesting look at things from the leadership level inside the group. == Fifty Dead Men Walking, Martin McGartland == The story as told by a guy who starts in the IRA in a supporting role rather than an operational capacity and is eventually recruited to spy for for the British who had access to the inner circle of the PIRAs upper command (he was their driver) and how he was eventually discovered, and in a very dramatic turn of events was able to escape by jumping from a 3rd story window right before they were about to kill him. It's a good example I thought about my original comment where the concept of "good and bad" in the troubles just doesn't work well as a framing no matter how much we want it to. The entire thing was a massive shit show and this kind of helps to unwind some of those romantic notions people seem to have in the younger generations of that period. His story also went on to become a movie by the same name which if I recall correctly is on YouTube.
- noneeeed 4y ago
  Great, thanks for that. Lots of reading to queue up :)

mhoad 4y ago

Yeah of course! I break them out into a few different categories depending on what you're actually looking for. For a straight up history perspective that also goes pretty deep into the shadowy nature of it all I enjoyed The Dirty War by Martin Dillon. I also enjoyed one called The Morality of Terrorism which does a nice job of jumping between the theoretical and practical aspects about the "just war theory" and also looks at from a real politik point of view if it was worth it? The answer was unsurprisingly no and makes the argument that in many ways the PIRA ended up where they started or at least that the conditions of the GFA were similar to a potential ceasefire deal that was on the cards early on in the war. They had the tools they needed by that point to pursue their political goals without violence and that it was all ultimately a strategic mistake and everyone is worse off for it. Then there are a bunch of autobiographies from various points of view which capture a lot of that gritty on the ground detail and the behind the scenes thinking. == Insider: Gerry Bradley's Life in the IRA == This is the POV from a particularly senior operations guy in the IRA and has this interesting subcontext looking at how the popularity for the war changes over the years from this kind of "patriotic struggle" to just something extremely dark that people want nothing to do with and in the process he goes from a hero to villain figure in the eyes of many and his own disillusionment with it all. He had to go into hiding after writing this book and then killed himself shortly after presumably because of that level of disillusionment. == The Volunteer : A Former IRA Man's True Story == Interesting story about how this guy gets radicalised at a young age and goes on to be the most famous bomb maker during the war, his eventual capture and deradicalisation. More of a real foot solider level perspective with no real influence on the scenario around him. It's real "true believer" stuff to something entirely different by the end of it all. == Watching The Door: A Memoir 1971-1978 by Kevin Myers == This is the point of view of a local catholic journalist who was kind of the eyes and the ears on the ground for a lot of the world at the time. == MRF Shadow Troop by Simon Cursey == This story as told by one member of the secret and particularly controversial British intelligence units during the war. == Southside Provisional by Kieran Conway == The story as told by the PIRAs own head of intelligence and his experience going up against the British security services. Provides a interesting look at things from the leadership level inside the group. == Fifty Dead Men Walking, Martin McGartland == The story as told by a guy who starts in the IRA in a supporting role rather than an operational capacity and is eventually recruited to spy for for the British who had access to the inner circle of the PIRAs upper command (he was their driver) and how he was eventually discovered, and in a very dramatic turn of events was able to escape by jumping from a 3rd story window right before they were about to kill him. It's a good example I thought about my original comment where the concept of "good and bad" in the troubles just doesn't work well as a framing no matter how much we want it to. The entire thing was a massive shit show and this kind of helps to unwind some of those romantic notions people seem to have in the younger generations of that period. His story also went on to become a movie by the same name which if I recall correctly is on YouTube.

noneeeed 4y ago
Great, thanks for that. Lots of reading to queue up :)