Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #93790 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 271 pages

Synopsis
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History interviewed those involved in this scheme in the early 1950s with the assurance that the material would not be published in their lifetimes.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.

Customer Reviews

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