Product Description

In 1919, Michael Collins conceived of a scheme to knock out the eyes and ears of the British Administration at Dublin Castle by undermining and terrorising the police so that the British would react blindly and drive the Irish people into the arms of the Irish Republican Army. The Bureau of Military History interviewed those involved in this scheme in the early 1950s with the assurance that the material would not be published in their lifetimes. A few of the contributions were made available by the families of those involved, but the bulk of them have only recently been released. This the first book to make use of those interviews. It makes fascinating, almost unique reading, because they contain first-hand descriptions in which men speaking candidly of their involvement in killing selected people at close range. As a result it throws a considerable amount of new light on the activities of the Squad and the intelligence operations of Michael Collins.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #246664 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

About the Author
T. Ryle Dwyer was educated in Tralee CBS and at the University of North Texas, USA, where he received BA, MA and PhD degrees in history. He is a regular columnist with the Irish Examiner and has published eighteen books on different aspects of twentieth century Irish history, including a highly-acclaimed biography of Charles J. Haughey, Short Fellow.

Customer Reviews

A good history book
Factually very good as it covers all the incidents but it is presented as a series of events rather than spending time developing the background of the characters so it's not very entertaining.

God Bless The Big Fella
The previous reviewer is totally off his/her head. The source material from this book is from newly released evidence. It provides an insight into the mind of one of Irelands greatest sons. The author treats this material with the reverence and respect that it deserves. I challenge the previous reviewer to write a better account.

Interesting stuff, but....
Perhaps because this is only a small part of a bigger picture, on which I have read very little, it comes across as a list of names, and the outline of deeds that sometimes appear to lack context. I haven't read anything else by this author, yet, but his style is a bit 'immature' -lists of names, etc., rather than a gripping read. I know that this type of material, based on interviews and recollections of the participants creates its own limitations and problems, but it just did not seem to 'flow'. It was interesting to get an idea of how many people, apparently on the side of the 'Crown', were not. It would have been better to read this after reading more general books on the 'Troubles' and on Michael Collins, so I will probabaly read more by this author, but this first try was a disappointment