Product Description

Ireland s War of Independence generated a wealth of published material but little from a British perspective. Yet many British servicemen left fascinating accounts of their time in Ireland from 1918 to 1921. These eyewitnesses describe military operations, the IRA, the Irish, their own forces actions, morale and relationships with local communities. Secret contacts between the British and the IRA and the use and abuse of intelligence are also detailed. It will surprise readers to learn many servicemen felt they were let down by British politicians agreeing to a truce and treaty. Others are outspoken in their dislike of war and the campaign. The author has gone deep into British military archives to unearth their stories.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #69917 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 210 pages

About the Author
WILLIAM SHEEHAN is a graduate of University College Cork. From Kanturk in County Cork, he has worked in the Health Services and is currently researching a PhD thesis on the Irish War of Independence as well as lecturing at University College Limerick. He is also a member of the Reserve Defence Forces. His second book, Fighting for Dublin, was published in June 2007.

Customer Reviews

Excellent Insights
This excellent book provides a much needed exploration from the British Army's perspective of the war in Ireland from 1918-1921. Sourced from diaries, lectures and interviews the author builds a useful compendium of first person accounts of the troubles from such luminaries as Percival (of Singapore notoriety), at the time a successful Intelligence Officer with the Essex Regiment, and Montgomery. Most of the accounts are from officers, which is a pity, but the book leads with the diary entries of Pvt J P Swindlehurst of the Lancashire Fusiliers.

There is much in the book for military buffs as well those interested in the history. Where else would you find a discourse on the differing merits of the Peerless and Rolls Royce armoured cars, the use of 'Q' trucks, or an understanding of the early limitations of WT (Wireless Telegraphy - radio) in the post-WWI British Army?

In the popular fiction of the small and big screens the war has been depicted almost wholly from the perspective of the Irish Republican movement, with the Crown Forces subject to crude stereotyping and caricature in overtly partisan films like 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley'. Often these treatments are more about 'Brit-bashing' than any real attempt to get under the skin of the period. Mr Sheehan's book goes no little distance to restoring a long needed balance and is refreshing in its objective and impartial handling of the evidence.

Photographic content is comprehensive but somewhat fuzzy in reproduction. I doubt the photograph on page 95 shows Percival, although often identified as such. He was and is demonised by the Republican movement and this image reinforces those prejudices - but I venture it is not he. The sad photographs of the aftermath of ambushes on pages 211 and 214 are poignant reminders of the nature of conflicts such as these. Percival's two lectures on guerilla warfare in Ireland resonate even today, particularly his views on the dangers of road transport dependency in transferring the operational initiative to the guerilla.

Recommended and long overdue.

A rare view among books on the Irish War of Independence
It's not every day one gets to read from the British point of view on a bloody conflict between 1918 and 1922. While a huge majority of works since the 1960's on Irish history covering the period have been from the IRA, the IRB and Nationalists' views (including the Unionists of Ulster/Northern Ireland), very few have bothered to cover the actual view point from the ordinary British servicemen as well as the officers, the military command in Dublin Castle and of course the barracks/garrisions surrounded by a hostile landscape in the country. It does cover letters, diaries and opinions of those sevicemen and officers who certainly felt they were winning a war against the IRA only to be let down by the British Government. Should be essential reading for those who want a balanced view of the conflict.