{"title":"Books About Northern Ireland","description":"\u003cp\u003eBooks about the Troubles and Northern Ireland, gathered by Belfast Books at 112 York Road in north Belfast. If you're looking for the best books on the Troubles to start with, or something set in the streets you know, this is where we keep them together.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYou'll find histories of the conflict from the late 1960s to the Good Friday Agreement, accounts of the IRA, loyalist groups, the RUC and the British Army, and the intelligence war that ran underneath it all. There are memoirs from people who lived through the Troubles in Northern Ireland, true crime from the period, and books on the inquiries and cover ups that followed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt isn't only history. Novels and fiction about the Troubles in Northern Ireland sit here too, along with books set in Belfast and books from Northern Ireland writers about life after the ceasefires.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEach title is a book we stock and post from Belfast. If you can't find what you're after, ask us and we'll track it down.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eQuestions about books on the Troubles\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhere do you start with books about the Troubles?\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA single volume history gives you the overall story of the conflict. From there, choose memoir, investigation or fiction depending on what you want to understand. Our \u003ca href=\"\/pt\/products\/the-troubles-starter-bundle-four-essential-books-1\"\u003eTroubles book set\u003c\/a\u003e puts a history, an investigation and first hand accounts together.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAre there novels about the Troubles?\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eYes. Alongside history and memoir we keep fiction about the Troubles in Northern Ireland, including novels set in Belfast.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eDo you have books set in Belfast?\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eYes. Novels and memoirs set in Belfast sit in this collection, and we're a Belfast bookshop ourselves, on York Road.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"kincora-britains-shame-mountbatten-mi5-the-belfast-boys-home-sex-abuse-scandal-and-the-british-cover-up-9781785375545","title":"Kincora: Britain's Shame : Mountbatten, MI5, the Belfast Boys’ Home Sex Abuse Scandal and the British Cover-Up","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe boys sent to Kincora, a home in east Belfast that ran from 1958 to 1980, are at the centre of this book by Chris Moore. It deals with the sexual abuse they suffered there and with claims that it was covered up. Moore draws on survivors' testimony and on help from George Caskey, the retired chief superintendent who ran the police investigation. It's for readers interested in the history of Kincora Belfast, including the Mountbatten Kincora allegations raised in the title.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMoore calls Kincora Britain's shame, and his title also names Lord Mountbatten and MI5. Robin Ramsay, reviewing for Lobster magazine, traces four strands, Moore's decades of digging, how three abusers came to run the home, William McGrath and fringe loyalist politics, and the role of MI5. The book's allegations about Mountbatten and Kincora rest on Moore's reporting of survivors' accounts.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn January 2017 the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry, chaired by Sir Anthony Hart, found no credible evidence of a paedophile ring of Establishment figures at the home. Moore's book challenges that finding. He told the Andersonstown News in September 2025 that he didn't believe the full truth had yet emerged, as official files stay closed until 2065 and 2085.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMoore began reporting in Northern Ireland in 1968, joined BBC Northern Ireland in 1979 and has followed the story since the early 1980s. His earlier The Kincora Scandal book came out in 1996, and Paul Foot in the London Review of Books judged its main conclusion hard to argue with, though he questioned its reliance on police sources. This Chris Moore Kincora account is published in paperback by Merrion Press.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp data-bb-audio=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eListen while you read.\u003c\/strong\u003e The audiobook is on Libro.fm, and part of every sale comes back to our shop. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/bb-listen.thomasjohnjunk.workers.dev\/a\/9781785375545?s=product\"\u003eGet the audiobook\u003c\/a\u003e, and it opens the edition sold in your country.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chris Moore","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55706699137402,"sku":"9781785375545","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9781785375545.jpg?v=1765919023"},{"product_id":"big-girl-small-town-propulsive-and-touching-get-ready-to-meet-your-new-best-friend-9781529304220","title":"Big Girl, Small Town : Propulsive and touching, get ready to meet your new best friend","description":"\u003cp data-bb-audio=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eListen while you read.\u003c\/strong\u003e The audiobook is on Libro.fm, and part of every sale comes back to our shop. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/bb-listen.thomasjohnjunk.workers.dev\/a\/9781529304220?s=product\"\u003eGet the audiobook\u003c\/a\u003e, and it opens the edition sold in your country.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Gallen, Michelle\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eNorthern Ireland\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 18 February 2021 by John Murray Press (John Murray Publishers Ltd) in the United Kingdom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 320 pages\u003cbr\u003e128 x 197 x 23 | 220g\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Milkman meets Derry Girls. A cracking read' Sinead Moriarty'A thrillingly fresh, provocative and touching voice' Marian KeyesRoutine makes Majella's world small but change is about to make it a whole lot bigger.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e*Stuff Majella knows*-God doesn't punish men with baldness for wearing ladies' knickers-Banana-flavoured condoms taste the same as nutrition shakes-Not everyone gets a volley of gunshots over their grave as they are being lowered into the ground*Stuff Majella doesn't know*-That she is autistic-Why her ma drinks-Where her da isOther people find Majella odd. She keeps herself to herself, she doesn't like gossip and she isn't interested in knowing her neighbours' business. But suddenly everyone in the small town in Northern Ireland where she grew up wants to know all about hers. Since her da disappeared during the Troubles, Majella has tried to live a quiet life with her alcoholic mother. She works in the local chip shop (Monday-Saturday, Sunday off), wears the same clothes every day (overalls, too small), has the same dinner each night (fish and chips, nuked in the microwave) and binge watches Dallas (the best show ever aired on TV) from the safety of her single bed. She has no friends and no boyfriend and Majella thinks things are better that way.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e But Majella's safe and predictable existence is shattered when her grandmother dies and as much as she wants things to go back to normal, Majella comes to realise that maybe there is more to life. And it might just be that from tragedy comes Majella's one chance at escape.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'It's a smasher' Kathy Burke'Bawdy yet beautiful, full of everyday tragedy, absurdity and truth. I grew extraordinarily attached to Majella' Sara BaumeSHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARDSHORTLISTED FOR THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS NEWCOMER OF THE YEARSHORTLISTED FOR THE COMEDY WOMEN IN PRINT PRIZELONGLISTED FOR THE ONDAATJE PRIZE\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gallen, Michelle","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55706780434810,"sku":"9781529304220","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9781529304220.jpg?v=1757507592"},{"product_id":"versions-of-a-girl-a-wild-heartbreaking-exhilarating-ride-daisy-buchanan-9781802795165","title":"Versions of a Girl : 'A wild, heartbreaking, exhilarating ride' Daisy Buchanan","description":"\u003cp data-bb-audio=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eListen while you read.\u003c\/strong\u003e The audiobook is on Libro.fm, and part of every sale comes back to our shop. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/bb-listen.thomasjohnjunk.workers.dev\/a\/9781802795165?s=product\"\u003eGet the audiobook\u003c\/a\u003e, and it opens the edition sold in your country.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Gray, Catherine\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eNorthern Ireland\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 4 July 2024 by Headline Publishing Group (Mountain Leopard Press) in the United Kingdom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHardback | 368 pages\u003cbr\u003e163 x 242 x 36 | 586g\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'No other writer has ever made me laugh and cry as much as Catherine Gray'Daisy May Cooper'Tender, lush and electric; a wild, heartbreaking, exhilarating ride'Daisy Buchanan'Exquisite, stunning, executed brilliantly'Poorna BellDo we become who we are because of our parents, or in spite of them?Fern's mother is a social climber and a former ballet dancer who lives a plush life in a London townhouse.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFern's father only climbs if there's a bottle at the top, has an IQ of 133 and lives hand-to-mouth in Californian motels.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAged fourteen, Fern has spent equal time with each of her parents. That is, until an unexpected visitor triggers a life-changing dilemma: whether she should get on a plane to London to be with her mother, or stay in California with her father. Here, Fern's narrative splices in two.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwo possible lives, one person. Each Fern will grow in wildly different, but eerily similar directions. Both must determine who they want to be - and how they deal with a thorny problem which threatens to undo them all: a murder.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWarm and brilliantly wise, this is the irresistible fiction debut from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e? Readers are loving Versions of a Girl: ?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e 'What a fabulous book - read in 3 days which hasn't happened a long time!' ? ? ? ? ?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'This isn't just a book-it's an experience that sticks with you' ?  ? ? ? ?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'I can't think anyone who wouldn't enjoy this book... a damn good read' ? ? ? ? ?\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gray, Catherine","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55706781385082,"sku":"9781802795165","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9781802795165_ddb5bc26-8ba7-483d-86cb-74616d493012.jpg?v=1757507510"},{"product_id":"justice-for-my-father-a-must-read-paul-williams-9781804189771","title":"Justice For My Father : 'A must-read' - Paul Williams","description":"\u003cp\u003eOn 25 March 1983 Brian Stack, chief prison officer at Portlaoise Prison, was shot while off duty as he left the National Boxing Stadium in Dublin, and Justice For My Father is his son's account of what followed. He lived for about 18 months, paralysed and with severe brain damage, and died on 29 September 1984, leaving his wife Sheila and their three young sons. Austin was 14 at the time. For readers interested in the Troubles, the book shows that period through the experience of a victim's family.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAccording to Laois Today, the family pressed the Garda from 2006, learned that physical evidence from the original inquiry had been mislaid, and received an apology from the Garda Commissioner in 2019 for failings in the investigation. In 2013 Gerry Adams arranged a meeting at which a man described as a former senior IRA figure read a statement acknowledging that IRA members had shot Brian Stack. The IRA side said the shooting was not sanctioned, a claim the author disputes. He and Adams have since disagreed in public about what was said at that meeting. No one has been convicted of the killing, and the Garda investigation is described as ongoing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe author is a retired Assistant Governor in the Irish Prison Service who lives in Portlaoise, advocates restorative justice and campaigns for a post conflict commission in Ireland.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRay Burke, reviewing for The Irish Times, praised the family's persistence and called the book \"an important and bleak retrospective on Ireland during the Troubles\". The cover carries an endorsement from crime journalist Paul Williams. In March 2025 Austin Stack presented a copy of Justice For My Father to President Michael D Higgins at an Áras event for innocent victims of the Troubles.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Stack, Austin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55706781516154,"sku":"9781804189771","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9781804189771_b6a45d57-7e2d-49fe-9743-0448b9fc850d.jpg?v=1758044940"},{"product_id":"close-to-home-9780241996409","title":"Close to Home","description":"\u003cp data-bb-audio=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eListen while you read.\u003c\/strong\u003e The audiobook is on Libro.fm, and part of every sale comes back to our shop. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/bb-listen.thomasjohnjunk.workers.dev\/a\/9780241996409?s=product\"\u003eGet the audiobook\u003c\/a\u003e, and it opens the edition sold in your country.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Michael Magee\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eNorthern Ireland\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 4 April 2024 by Penguin Books Ltd in the United Kingdom.\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 288 pages\u003cbr\u003e197 x 129 x 20 | 206g\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWINNER OF THE ROONEY PRIZE FOR LITERATURE 2023WINNER OF THE NERO BOOK AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION 2023WINNER OF THE JOHN MCGAHERN PRIZE 2024WATERSTONES IRISH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023Sean is back. Back in Belfast and back into old habits. Back on the mad all-nighters, the borrowed tenners and missing rent, the casual jobs that always fall through. Back in these scarred streets, where the promised prosperity of peacetime has never arrived. Back among his brothers, his ma, and all the things they never talk about. Until one night Sean finds himself at a party – dog-tired, surrounded by jeering strangers, his back against the wall – and he makes a big mistake.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Staggeringly humane, unfaltering, taut and tender... [It] feels like that rarest of things: a genuinely necessary book' Guardian'Every detail rings true, every character is fleshy and real and heartbreaking... Michael Magee has a remarkable talent' Sunday TimesSHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD 2024SHORTLISTED FOR THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR 2023SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2023SHORTLISTED FOR THE EWART-BIGGS PRIZE 2023SHORTLISTED FOR THE AUTHORS’ CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2024SHORTLISTED FOR THE DIVERSE BOOK AWARDS 2024LONGLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE FOR LITERATURE 2024ONE OF SARAH JESSICA PARKER’S BEST BOOKS OF 2023BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 ACCORDING TO THE TIMES AND IRISH TIMES\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Michael Magee","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55706781745530,"sku":"9780241996409","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9780241996409.jpg?v=1765918951"},{"product_id":"ash-keys-new-selected-poems-9781787334854","title":"Ash Keys : New Selected Poems","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Michael Longley\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eNorthern Ireland\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 24 July 2025 by Vintage Publishing (Jonathan Cape) in the United Kingdom.\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 208 pages\u003cbr\u003e197 x 131 x 19 | 200g\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA collection of Michael Longley's greatest poems, spanning an extraordinary career of sixty years as one of the Belfast triumverate, alongside Seamus Heaney and Derek Mahon'One of the world's greats' IRISH NEWS'A keeper of the artistic estate, a custodian of griefs and wonders' SEAMUS HEANEYThe title of Michael Longley’s New Selected Poems is taken from his poem ‘Ash Keys’. The wing-shaped, wind-borne seeds of the ash-tree might be an image for poems in search of their readers. This selection, based on thirteen individual collections, represents Longley’s unusual range as a lyric poet.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt shows how his themes, genres and forms have evolved and interlaced since the 1960s. Love, violence, the natural world, art, psychodrama, family, the Great War, the Homeric past and Northern Ireland’s troubled present cohabit in these pages – as do depth, wit and beauty.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'His work is of the level that would be befitting of a Novel Prize for Literature' MICHAEL D HIGGINS'Michael Longley’s latest lines are just as restless and as promising as his first' Times Literary Supplement\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Michael Longley","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55706781909370,"sku":"9781787334854","price":13.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9781787334854.jpg?v=1765918944"},{"product_id":"northern-ireland-the-troubles-from-the-provos-to-the-det-1968-1998-9781526729170","title":"Northern Ireland: The Troubles : From The Provos to The Det, 1968-1998","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Kenneth Lesley-Dixon\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eNorthern Ireland\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 2 May 2018 by Pen \u0026amp; Sword Books Ltd (Pen \u0026amp; Sword Military) in the United Kingdom as part of 'the A History of Terror' series.\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 128 pages, 60 black and white illustrations\u003cbr\u003e233 x 163 x 9 | 354g\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is, of course, no secret that undercover Special Forces and intelligence agencies operated in Northern Ireland and the Republic throughout the 'troubles', from 1969 to 2001 and beyond. What is less well known is how these units were recruited, how they operated, what their mandate was and what they actually did. This is the first account to reveal much of this hitherto unpublished information, providing a truly unique record of surveillance, reconnaissance, intelligence gathering, collusion and undercover combat.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn astonishing number of agencies were active to combat the IRA murder squads ('the Provos'), among others the Military Reaction Force (MRF) and the Special Reconnaissance Unit, also known as the 14 Field Security and Intelligence Company ('The Det'), as well as MI5, Special Branch, the RUC, the UDR and the Force Research Unit (FRU), later the Joint Support Group (JSG)). It deals with still contentious and challenging issues as shoot-to-kill, murder squads, the Disappeared, and collusion with loyalists. It examines the findings of the Stevens, Cassel and De Silva reports and looks at operations Loughgall, Andersonstown, Gibraltar and others.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kenneth Lesley-Dixon","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55706847248762,"sku":"9781526729170","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9781526729170_a6c061f0-703f-4773-b9f5-b4da15535c57.jpg?v=1765919006"},{"product_id":"cross-9781803510842","title":"Cross","description":"\u003cp data-bb-audio=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eListen while you read.\u003c\/strong\u003e The audiobook is on Libro.fm, and part of every sale comes back to our shop. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/bb-listen.thomasjohnjunk.workers.dev\/a\/9781803510842?s=product\"\u003eGet the audiobook\u003c\/a\u003e, and it opens the edition sold in your country.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Duffy, Austin\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eModern \u0026amp; contemporary fiction (post c 1945)\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 5 June 2025 by GRANTA BOOKS in the United Kingdom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | \u003cbr\u003e128 x 198 x 21 | 210g\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1994, the summer of the ceasefire. In the Northern Irish border town of Cross, after decades of violent protest against British rule, a community plays out its end game. Francie, a principled elder of the cause, has authorised the murder of a policeman; his teenage henchmen are triumphant at pulling it off. In the town square, the Widow Donnelly protests because her son has gone missing. Young Cathy Murphy, the daughter of a Protestant, is trying to find her place among a people who ignore her, and pathological Handy Byrne, whose marksmanship makes him a valuable weapon, is out of control. Meanwhile, paranoia is growing because operations are beginning to go wrong. The townsfolk suspect a tout, but no one is willing to accept the evidence before their eyes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCross is an extraordinary act of ventriloquism, intimately capturing the language, humour, loyalties and divisions within a lawless town, where violence is rewarded and complicity is second nature. It is an intricate tale of betrayal and brutality at the height of the Troubles, a moving, powerful and empathetic lament for a community that has lost its way in its battle for the nation.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Duffy, Austin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55714286567802,"sku":"9781803510842","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9781803510842_2918157d-6bbb-4aeb-8ef9-66414bb6dac2.jpg?v=1755694125"},{"product_id":"northern-ireland-a-very-short-introduction-9780198825005","title":"Northern Ireland : A Very Short Introduction","description":"\u003cp data-bb-audio=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eListen while you read.\u003c\/strong\u003e The audiobook is on Libro.fm, and part of every sale comes back to our shop. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/bb-listen.thomasjohnjunk.workers.dev\/a\/9780198825005?s=product\"\u003eGet the audiobook\u003c\/a\u003e, and it opens the edition sold in your country.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Mulholland, Marc (Professor of Modern History, St Catherine's College, University of Oxford)\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eNorthern Ireland\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 26 March 2020 by OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS in the United Kingdom as part of 'the Very Short Introductions' series.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 160 pages, 15 black and white images\u003cbr\u003e174 x 108 x 10 | 140g\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the Plantation of Ulster in the seventeenth century to the entry into peace talks in the late twentieth century the Northern Irish people have been engaged in conflict - Catholic against Protestant, Republican against Unionist. The traumas of violence in the Northern Ireland Troubles have cast a long shadow. For many years, this appeared to be an intractable conflict with no pathway out. Mass mobilisations of people and dramatic political crises punctuated a seemingly endless succession of bloodshed. When in the 1990s and early 21st century, peace was painfully built, it brought together unlikely rivals, making Northern Ireland a model for conflict resolution internationally. But disagreement about the future of the province remains, and for the first time in decades one can now seriously speak of a democratic end to the Union between Northern Ireland and Great Britain as a foreseeable possibility. The Northern Ireland problem remains a fundamental issue as the United Kingdom recasts its relationship with Europe and the world. In this completely revised edition of his Very Short Introduction Marc Mulholland explores the pivotal moments in Northern Irish history - the rise of republicanism in the 1800s, Home Rule and the civil rights movement, the growth of Sinn Fein and the provisional IRA, and the DUP, before bringing the story up to date, drawing on newly available memoirs by paramilitary militants to offer previously unexplored perspectives, as well as recent work on Nothern Irish gender relations. Mulholland also includes a new chapter on the state of affairs in 21st Century Northern Ireland, considering the question of Irish unity in the light of both Brexit and the approaching anniversary of the 1921 partition, and drawing new lessons for the future.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mulholland, Marc (Professor of Modern History, St Catherine's College, University of Oxford)","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55718532743546,"sku":"9780198825005","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9780198825005_84bc30ca-d436-4eb4-a6fe-35be54b9c4bf.jpg?v=1757507533"},{"product_id":"stakeknifes-dirty-war-the-inside-story-of-scappaticci-the-iras-nutting-squad-and-the-british-spooks-who-ran-the-war-9781785374470","title":"Stakeknife's Dirty War : The Inside Story of Scappaticci, the IRA's Nutting Squad and the British Spooks Who Ran the War","description":"\u003cp\u003eFreddie Scappaticci, the Belfast man widely alleged to have been the British agent codenamed Stakeknife, is at the centre of this Stakeknife book by Richard O'Rawe. Stakeknife's Dirty War also looks at the IRA's internal security unit, known as the Nutting Squad, and at how British intelligence ran its agents, including through the Army's Force Research Unit. It is for readers interested in informers, agents and the IRA during the Troubles.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eO'Rawe drew on interviews with former IRA volunteers, many of them anonymous, and on his own experience. He estimates that Scappaticci was involved in 35 killings and argues that his handlers knew of killings in advance, claims the Irish Times and the Irish Echo present as his own. Scappaticci always denied being Stakeknife, and he died in England in 2023 without being convicted of any Troubles related offence.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eO'Rawe is a former IRA member who was interned in 1973, spoke for the hunger strikers and later worked for Sinn Fein. He told the Irish Echo that his IRA past helped him gain the trust of former volunteers. His earlier books include Blanketmen, a prison memoir of the hunger strike.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConor Lenihan, a former Irish government minister, reviewed it in Village magazine under the headline \"Close as we'll ever get to the truth\". Kevin Kiely gave it a strongly positive review in History Ireland. Since this Stakeknife book appeared in 2023, the Operation Kenova interim report of March 2024 found that Stakeknife probably cost more lives than he saved, without naming him. The final Kenova report in December 2025 did not confirm Scappaticci as the agent, because of the government's neither confirm nor deny policy, but said he had told his wife and an associate that he was.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp data-bb-audio=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eListen while you read.\u003c\/strong\u003e The audiobook is on Libro.fm, and part of every sale comes back to our shop. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/bb-listen.thomasjohnjunk.workers.dev\/a\/9781785374470?s=product\"\u003eGet the audiobook\u003c\/a\u003e, and it opens the edition sold in your country.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richard O'Rawe","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55730656936314,"sku":"9781785374470","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9781785374470.jpg?v=1754659013"},{"product_id":"killing-thatcher-the-ira-the-manhunt-and-the-long-war-on-the-crown-9780008476694","title":"Killing Thatcher : The IRA, the Manhunt and the Long War on the Crown","description":"\u003cp data-bb-audio=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eListen while you read.\u003c\/strong\u003e The audiobook is on Libro.fm, and part of every sale comes back to our shop. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/bb-listen.thomasjohnjunk.workers.dev\/a\/9780008476694?s=product\"\u003eGet the audiobook\u003c\/a\u003e, and it opens the edition sold in your country.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Carroll, Rory\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eUnited Kingdom, Great Britain\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 28 March 2024 by HarperCollins Publishers (Mudlark) in the United Kingdom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 416 pages\u003cbr\u003e197 x 129 x 25 | 286g\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA Sunday Times Paperback of the Year 2024\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  The Sunday Times Bestseller and Waterstones Paperback of the Year 2024\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  A Sunday Times History Book of the Year\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA Spectator Book of the Year\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Irish Times No.1 Bestseller\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  ‘As taut as a fictional thriller’ Mail on Sunday\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  ‘Gripping, detailed and richly layered’ Guardian\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  KILLING THATCHER is the gripping account of how the IRA came astonishingly close to killing Margaret Thatcher and to wiping out the British Cabinet – an extraordinary assassination attempt linked to the Northern Ireland Troubles and the most daring conspiracy against the Crown since the Gunpowder Plot.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e In this fascinating and compelling book, veteran journalist Rory Carroll retraces the road to the infamous Brighton bombing in 1984 – an incident that shaped the political landscape in the UK for decades to come. He begins with the infamous execution of Lord Mountbatten in 1979 – for which the IRA took full responsibility – before tracing the rise of Margaret Thatcher, her response to the ‘Troubles’ in Ireland and the chain of events that culminated in the hunger strikes of 1981 and the death of 10 republican prisoners, including Bobby Sands. From that moment on Thatcher became an enemy of the IRA – and the organisation swore revenge.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Opening with a brilliantly-paced prologue that introduces bomber Patrick Magee in the build up to the incident, Carroll sets out to deftly explore the intrigue before and after the assassination attempt – with the story spanning three continents, from pubs and palaces, safe houses and interrogation rooms, hotels and barracks. On one side, an elite IRA team aided by a renegade priest, US-raised funds and Libya’s Qaddafi and on the other, intelligence officers, police detectives, informers and bomb disposal officers. An exciting narrative that blends true crime with political history, this is the first major book to investigate the Brighton attack.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Carroll, Rory","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55744732594554,"sku":"9780008476694","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9780008476694.jpg?v=1760100913"},{"product_id":"the-shankill-butchers-a-case-study-of-mass-murder-9780099738107","title":"The Shankill Butchers : A Case Study of Mass Murder","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Martin Dillon\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eTrue crime\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 19 July 1990 by Cornerstone (Arrow Books Ltd) in the United Kingdom.\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 416 pages, 1\u003cbr\u003e177 x 147 x 24 | 306g\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe bestselling investigation of one of Northern Ireland's most brutal and infamous murder cases'Makes for gripping but altogether terrifying reading' Washington Times'Dillon is recommended reading for anyone wishing to understand the complexities of British-Irish politics. He stands alone as one of the most creative writers of our time' Irish Times'This was the ultimate way to kill a man.'In the 1970s, in some of the most violent days of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, a group of Protestant paramilitaries embarked on a spree of indiscriminate murder in the Shankill area of Belfast, leaving thirty Catholics dead.  Their leader was Lenny Murphy: a fanatical Unionist whose childhood was marked by sectarian violence, Murphy swore revenge on all Catholics, and with his gang wreaked havoc onto an already fractured city.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNot for the squeamish, The Shankill Butchers is a horrifying and detailed account of one of the most brutal series of murders in the history of Northern Ireland - a phenomenon whose real nature has been obscured by the troubled and violent context from which it sprang.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Martin Dillon","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55744950272378,"sku":"9780099738107","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9780099738107_3128e839-4acb-4eda-bed3-f13245806580.jpg?v=1765919037"},{"product_id":"one-day-in-my-life-9781856353496","title":"One Day In My Life","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: The Bobby Sands Trust\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eNorthern Ireland\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 1 January 2001 by The Mercier Press in Ireland.\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 118 pages\u003cbr\u003e197 x 188 x 10 | 126g\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBobby Sands was 27 years old when he died. He spent almost nine years of his life in prison because of his Irish republican activities. He died, in prison, on 5 May 1981, on the sixty-sixth day of his hunger strike at Long Kesh Prison, outside Belfast. This book documents a day in the life of Bobby Sands. It is a tale of human bravery, endurance and courage against a backdrop of suffering, terror and harassment. 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Over 10,000 troops were on active service during much of the campaign, which saw armoured vehicles, helicopters and special forces deployed onto the streets of Ulster. In this book, Dr Aaron Edwards considers the strategic, operational and tactical aspects of Operation Banner, as the Army’s military objectives morphed from high-profile peacekeeping into a covert war against the IRA. Using personal testimony from both sides of the sectarian divide, as well as insights from the soldiers themselves, he presents an authoritative introduction to the Army’s role in the Troubles, providing expert analysis of Operation Banner’s successes and failures.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUpdated and revised for the new edition, with full-colour maps and 50 new images, this is an accessible introduction to the complicated yet fascinating history of modern Britain‘s longest military campaign.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Edwards, Aaron (Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, UK)","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55882718249338,"sku":"9781472857149","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9781472857149.jpg?v=1757507489"},{"product_id":"a-belfast-child-my-true-story-of-life-and-death-in-the-troubles-9781789462746","title":"A Belfast Child : My true story of life and death in the Troubles","description":"\u003cp\u003eSet on the Glencairn estate in loyalist west Belfast in the 1970s, A Belfast Child is a memoir of growing up during the Troubles. It is a first hand account for readers interested in loyalist west Belfast and the Troubles. The author, John Chambers, was born on 16 July 1966 and grew up in Glencairn.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChambers says he was raised in a loyalist family. He says his father was a UDA member and his grandparents were loyalists from Sandy Row. His mother, a Catholic from the Falls Road, left when he was about three, and he says he was told she had died. He says he looked for her for about 25 years, and the book describes his journey to Preston to meet her.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChambers also recalls losing his father when he was 13, after which the family was split among relatives. He describes a childhood illness, osteomyelitis, that led to sixteen operations on his leg. The second part of the book follows his teenage years in mod culture and loyalism, and his move to London in the 1980s.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn A Belfast Child John Chambers tells his own story, and a testimonial from Chambers on Tom Henry's website says the book was written with Tom Henry as ghostwriter. Chambers also runs the Belfast Child website, where he keeps a blog and lists of Troubles related films, books, documentaries and deaths. This is the paperback edition, published by John Blake Publishing on 3 September 2020, with 304 pages.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chambers, John","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55882719232378,"sku":"9781789462746","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9781789462746.jpg?v=1757507521"},{"product_id":"the-provos-the-ira-and-sinn-fein-9780747538189","title":"The Provos : The IRA and Sinn Fein","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Taylor, Peter\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eNorthern Ireland\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 24 September 1998 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC in the United Kingdom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 432 pages\u003cbr\u003e196 x 129 x 29 | 346g\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe first part of the landmark trilogy documenting modern-day Northern Ireland, by the author of Loyalists and BritsThis work examines the Provos, from 1969, when the IRA was effectively dead and buried, to within a few short years, when it had resurrected to become the most feared and sophisticated terrorist organization in the world. The book is based on in-depth interviews with key personalities in the Army, Police, British and Irish governments, giving first-hand accounts of the key events. It contains material not included in the television series being broadcast on BBC 1 in autumn 1997. Never before has an outsider had such access to record the remarkable history of the provisional IRA and Sinn Fein, from their dramatic beginnings to the critical juncture they have reached today - on the brink of becoming part of the cabinet in the new government of Northern Ireland. An astonishing story, told as only Peter Taylor could.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere are no images in this edition*PRAISE FOR PETER TAYLOR*‘Only a journalist of Peter Taylor’s standing could have persuaded people from all sides in the conflict to cooperate in such a manner. The result was a first-rate piece of journalism. It was also first-rate history’ Guardian\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Taylor, Peter","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55882719854970,"sku":"9780747538189","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9780747538189.jpg?v=1757507537"},{"product_id":"making-sense-of-a-united-ireland-should-it-happen-how-might-it-happen-9780241995778","title":"Making Sense of a United Ireland : Should it happen? How might it happen?","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: O'Leary, Brendan\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eNorthern Ireland\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 16 May 2024 by Penguin Books Ltd in the United Kingdom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 384 pages\u003cbr\u003e197 x 128 x 23 | 294g\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Should be required reading for everyone - including unionists - who are interested in and concerned about the fate of this island' Dublin Review of Books'Compelling' Financial TimesWill Ireland really reunite?A century ago the resolution to Ireland’s long struggle for independence was a settlement that saw six of its northern counties remain in the United Kingdom while the other twenty-six formed the new Republic of Ireland. Since partition the unification of the two parts of the island has seemed impossible, particularly because of the bloody legacy of past conflict.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHowever, by 2030, if not sooner, demographic and electoral advantages of Ulster unionists, who wish to remain part of the UK, will be over. And in the light of Brexit, the rising popularity of the Irish nationalist party Sinn Féin, political developments both sides of the border, and within Great Britain, Irish unification referendums will become increasingly likely. Yet even those who want these to happen are not prepared.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMaking Sense of a United Ireland is a landmark exploration of this most contentious of issues. Distinguished political scientist Brendan O'Leary - a global expert on divided places, who has been profoundly engaged with the Irish question for nearly four decades - argues that the time to consider the future of the island of Ireland is now.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'The first comprehensive manual of Irish unification' Irish Times‘Several books have been written about this subject . . . for sheer intellectual firepower O’Leary wins first prize’ Business Post 'A tour de force' Globe and Mail'A must-read for anyone who lives in Northern Ireland and thinks seriously about its future. [O'Leary has] thought through the implications of possible unity so deeply it would be foolish for anyone who seeks it or opposes it to ignore his book' Cathal Mac Coille'Impressively researched and well-argued … detailed and readable' Irish Independent'Brilliant' Brian Feeney, Irish News'Highly readable, stylishly written, and essential' Irish Central\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"O'Leary, Brendan","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55882719986042,"sku":"9780241995778","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9780241995778.jpg?v=1757507541"},{"product_id":"the-rule-of-the-land-walking-irelands-border-9780571313372","title":"The Rule of the Land : Walking Ireland's Border","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Carr, Garrett\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eNorthern Ireland\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 2 November 2017 by FABER \u0026amp; FABER in the United Kingdom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 320 pages\u003cbr\u003e199 x 131 x 20 | 268g\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the wake of the EU referendum, the United Kingdom's border with Ireland has gained greater significance: it is set to become the frontier with the European Union. To uncover its secret landscape, with a troubled past and an uncertain future, Garrett Carr travelled Ireland's border on foot and by canoe. This invisible line has hosted smugglers and kings, runaways, peacemakers, protestors and terrorists, revealing the tumult of a border, changing the way we look at nationhood, land and power. From encounters with border dwellers to uncovering rituals, hidden pathways and ancient monuments, this book presents the borderland as a unique realm of its own, and asks what it holds for the future.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Carr, Garrett","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55882720117114,"sku":"9780571313372","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9780571313372_fabe6555-a7d7-4a7c-98ed-d6930ce63229.jpg?v=1758044833"},{"product_id":"rough-beast-my-story-and-the-reality-of-sinn-fein-9781804540138","title":"Rough Beast : My Story and the Reality of Sinn Fein","description":"\u003cp data-bb-audio=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eListen while you read.\u003c\/strong\u003e The audiobook is on Libro.fm, and part of every sale comes back to our shop. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/bb-listen.thomasjohnjunk.workers.dev\/a\/9781804540138?s=product\"\u003eGet the audiobook\u003c\/a\u003e, and it opens the edition sold in your country.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Mairia Cahill\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eNorthern Ireland\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 12 September 2024 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (Apollo) in the United Kingdom.\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 464 pages, 1 x 8pp bw plate section\u003cbr\u003e200 x 130 x 30 | 340g\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNUMBER 1 BESTSELLER IN THE IRISH NON-FICTION CHARTS'Rough Beast is shocking, important and unputdownable.' Roddy DoyleRough Beast is Máiría Cahill's harrowing story of her life and of what she went through at the hands of what is now Ireland’s largest and richest party. That story is told here for the first time in full detail and with unsparing honesty. It is a story of unimaginable trauma and political corruption. It brings to life a world of paramilitary secrecy and parallel laws, but above all it is the story of one young woman’s defiance of the power wielded by ex-gunmen inspiring fear and silence, and their influence over elected politicians.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMáiría Cahill grew up steeped in the traditions of Irish republicanism and the shadowy world of the IRA: her great-uncle Joe was one of the main founders of the Provisional IRA and her grandfather was Gerry Adams's mentor in the republican movement. From an early age she seemed destined for a glittering career within the increasingly successful political machine of Sinn Féin, which was then enjoying the aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement. She worked in a radio station alongside leading republicans; the Sinn Féin offices were her second home. She knew Gerry Adams and other senior republicans as family friends.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut at the age of 16, she was sexually abused by a prominent Belfast IRA man. When she confided in some friends she trusted about the abuse, one of them told the IRA without Máiría's knowledge. A year later the organisation came calling, and forced her to take part in an inept and grotesquely insensitive internal investigation. She was subjected to round after round of interrogations by senior IRA men and women, usually in a network of safe houses around Belfast. Doubt was cast on her account of what had been done to her. Her assailant was allowed to confront and denounce her. 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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\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"English, Richard","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55882721100154,"sku":"9781447212492","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9781447212492.jpg?v=1757507589"},{"product_id":"operation-chiffon-the-secret-story-of-mi5-and-mi6-and-the-road-to-peace-in-ireland-9781526659644","title":"Operation Chiffon : The Secret Story of MI5 and MI6 and the Road to Peace in Ireland","description":"\u003cp\u003eOperation Chiffon centres on an intelligence officer known only as Robert, who served in both MI6 and MI5 and ran a secret channel between British intelligence and the republican leadership in the early 1990s. The book carries his first account on the record. Alongside him stand Brendan Duddy, the Derry businessman who acted as intermediary and hosted meetings at his home, and Michael Oatley, the MI6 officer who set up an earlier channel and reopened contact with Martin McGuinness.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt the centre of the book is a meeting in March 1993, when Robert met Martin McGuinness and Gerry Kelly. It took place after the British government had called off talks following IRA bombs in England that killed two young boys. According to BBC reporting summarised by the intelligence history writer Tom Griffin, Robert's words there were not authorised by the government, and he went ahead despite being told not to by the head of MI5 in Northern Ireland. The book accompanied a BBC Two documentary broadcast on 25 March 2023, marking 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePeter Taylor is a BBC journalist who has reported on the Northern Ireland conflict and political violence for around 50 years, having earlier worked on ITV's This Week and BBC Panorama. His earlier books Provos, Loyalists and Brits each examine the conflict from one of its main parties, and this one was presented as completing a quartet.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWriting on Substack, Griffin credited Taylor with a scoop in Robert's testimony, though he noted that much of the ground had been covered before and that Taylor plays down the rivalry between MI5 and MI6. Dr Robert Lyman MBE called it \"an excellent book\" in The War Room, while arguing that it is too lenient on republican paramilitaries. This Bloomsbury paperback of Operation Chiffon was published in March 2024 and runs to 400 pages.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp data-bb-audio=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eListen while you read.\u003c\/strong\u003e The audiobook is on Libro.fm, and part of every sale comes back to our shop. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/bb-listen.thomasjohnjunk.workers.dev\/a\/9781526659644?s=product\"\u003eGet the audiobook\u003c\/a\u003e, and it opens the edition sold in your country.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Taylor, Peter","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55882721198458,"sku":"9781526659644","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9781526659644.jpg?v=1757507589"},{"product_id":"the-slowworms-song-9781529354232","title":"The Slowworm's Song","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Andrew Miller\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eNorthern Ireland\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 19 January 2023 by Hodder \u0026amp; Stoughton (Sceptre) in the United Kingdom.\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 288 pages, none\u003cbr\u003e130 x 198 x 26 | 206g\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e? Out now: The Land in Winter, shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2025 ?The Slowworm's Song: a tender tale of guilt, a search for atonement and the hard, uncertain work of loving'Sublime'Independent'Masterful'Sunday Times'Beautiful'SpectatorAn ex-soldier and recovering alcoholic living quietly in Somerset, Stephen Rose has just begun to form a bond with Maggie, the daughter he barely knows, when he receives a summons - to an inquiry in Belfast about an incident during the Troubles, which he hoped he had long outdistanced. Now, to testify about it could wreck his fragile relationship with Maggie. And if he loses her, he loses everything.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe decides instead to write her an account of his life - a confession, a defence, a love letter. Also a means of buying time. But as time runs out, the day comes when he must face again what happened in that distant summer of 1982.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePraise for Andrew Miller'Andrew Miller's writing is a source of wonder and delight' Hilary Mantel'One of our most skilful chroniclers of the human heart and mind' Sunday Times'One of the best writers at work today' Telegraph'A wonderful storyteller' Spectator'One of those rare novelists who can rock up in any time and place and convincingly inhabit that particular historical moment' The Times\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Andrew Miller","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55882721263994,"sku":"9781529354232","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9781529354232.jpg?v=1765918972"},{"product_id":"killing-rage-9781862070479","title":"Killing Rage","description":"\u003cp\u003eSet in Newry and South Down during the Troubles, Killing Rage by Eamon Collins is his autobiographical account of his years in the Provisional IRA. He wrote it with Mick McGovern, and Granta first published it in 1997. It is a first hand record for readers interested in the Troubles and the inner workings of the IRA.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCollins was born in Newry in 1954, studied law at Queen's University Belfast and later worked as a customs officer. By his own account, Eamon Collins's IRA role was that of an intelligence officer in the Newry and South Down area. Encyclopedia.com says he did not kill anyone himself but identified targets and helped organise attacks, including on off duty members of the security forces. After his arrest he confessed and agreed to give evidence against others, then withdrew it under family pressure. He later spoke out publicly against the IRA, and his car was burned and his house set on fire after the break.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReviewers have valued the Killing Rage book as a rare inside view of how an IRA unit chose its targets, and of the moral cost to the man doing that work. Writing in the Guardian in 1997, Kevin Toolis described it as the record of an assassin. Christopher Owens, on The Pensive Quill in 2019, called it \"one of the best books ever written about the IRA\" but questioned how deep Collins's remorse went. Others disagree on that point, with Anthony McIntyre finding the book self serving and former police officer William Matchett believing the remorse genuine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCollins was murdered near his home outside Newry in January 1999, and no one has been charged. The Pensive Quill places Eamon Collins's Killing Rage among a wave of 1990s memoirs by former IRA members.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Eamon Collins","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55882721788282,"sku":"9781862070479","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9781862070479_aa1cc496-d4df-4186-8dc8-6787e06baf1c.jpg?v=1765918941"},{"product_id":"the-troubles-irelands-ordeal-1966-1995-and-the-search-for-peace-9780099465713","title":"The Troubles : Ireland's Ordeal 1966-1995 and the Search for Peace","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Coogan, Tim Pat\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eNorthern Ireland\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 21 November 1996 by Cornerstone (Arrow Books Ltd) in the United Kingdom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 624 pages\u003cbr\u003e132 x 197 x 47 | 434g\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis history of Ireland, written by one of Ireland's most controversial journalists, studies the period from 1968 to the present day. Tim Coogan is also the author of The IRA and two biographies - Michael Collins and De Valera.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Coogan, Tim Pat","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55882722083194,"sku":"9780099465713","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9780099465713.jpg?v=1757507610"},{"product_id":"the-partition-ireland-divided-1885-1925-9780141985732","title":"The Partition : Ireland Divided, 1885-1925","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Townshend, Charles\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eNorthern Ireland\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 7 April 2022 by Penguin Books Ltd in the United Kingdom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 368 pages\u003cbr\u003e131 x 197 x 24 | 270g\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2021'A model of research and analysis ... Townshend's concise and intelligent book tells a painful story that is probably not yet over' Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph  A compelling history of the turbulent journey to Irish independence, published for the centenary of the Partition In the aftermath of the horrors of the Irish Famine, the grim, distrustful relationship between Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom deteriorated into a generations-long argument about 'Home Rule'. The unprecedented nature of the Irish problem - with most Irish people wanting to break away from the world's largest Empire - made it extraordinarily difficult for either side to come up with a compromise. For many years actual independence seemed inconceivable. And then, as these bitter disputes continued, it became clear that under no circumstances would the Protestants be party to any of it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e The Partition is a remarkable, clear-sighted and thoughtful account of how two unthinkable events - full Irish independence and the creation of the state of Northern Ireland - came to pass. The Irish nationalist claim to leave ran into a loyalist demand to remain, increasingly centred on the north-eastern Protestant community, threatening large-scale violent resistance.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Here Charles Townshend lays out what is ultimately a tragic story, as partition became the only answer to an otherwise insoluble problem. The settlement of the Irish question drew in every major politician, conjured up heroes and villains, led to civil war and finally to Ulster's catastrophic Troubles. The hard border has always been seen as a failure of both British and Irish statecraft, but has endured now for a century. The Partition brilliantly brings to life the contingency and uncertainty that created it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e 'A timely and important book ... so much of its content remains relevant to understanding contemporary preoccupations and controversies' Diarmaid Ferriter, Irish Times\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Townshend, Charles","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55882722312570,"sku":"9780141985732","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9780141985732_0c306827-afd6-4b90-ad71-66e96311f1bc.jpg?v=1758044948"},{"product_id":"voices-from-the-grave-two-mens-war-in-ireland-9780571251698","title":"Voices from the Grave : Two Men's War in Ireland","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Ed Moloney\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eNorthern Ireland\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 6 January 2011 by FABER \u0026amp; FABER in the United Kingdom.\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 544 pages\u003cbr\u003e196 x 128 x 34 | 424g\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEd Moloney's Voices from the Grave follows his highly acclaimed A Secret History of the IRA, the best-informed account yet written of the IRA's evolution from ruthless guerilla army into governmental party. But reconciliation between political figures who until very recently wished each other dead or in jail has not been accompanied by very much truth-telling about the past. Men who have been to the White House and fraternized with Tony Blair deny that they ever fired a shot in anger, or caused a bomb to be planted.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow, in Voices from the Grave, a truly ground-breaking piece of historical evidence is unearthed. Two former paramilitary leaders - one republican, one loyalist - speak with unprecedented frankness about their role in some of the most appalling violence of the Troubles. The openness of Brendan Hughes of the IRA and David Ervine of the UVF results in a book of shocking and irresistible testimony, their voices set in the context of a narrative by Ed Moloney of their lives and of the society they grew up in.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ed Moloney","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55882722640250,"sku":"9780571251698","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9780571251698_c51e3b66-4dde-4f23-82ee-8eb256ac8749.jpg?v=1765919015"},{"product_id":"big-boys-rules-the-sas-and-the-secret-struggle-against-the-ira-9780571168095","title":"Big Boys' Rules : The SAS and the Secret Struggle Against the IRA","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Urban, Mark\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eNorthern Ireland\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 23 September 1996 by FABER \u0026amp; FABER in the United Kingdom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 304 pages\u003cbr\u003e198 x 129 x 26 | 244g\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe SAS describes its attitude to the use of lethal force as 'Big boys' games, big boys' rules'. Anyone caught with a gun or bomb can expect to be shot. In Big Boys' Rules: The SAS and the Secret Struggle Against the IRA Mark Urban meticulously explores the security forces' covert operations in Northern Ireland: from the mid-1970s, when they were stepped up, to the Loughall ambush in 1987, in which eight IRA Provisionals were killed. While charting the successes and failures of special operations during the troubles, Urban reveals the unenviable dilemmas faced by intelligence chiefs engaged in a daily struggle against one of the world's most sophisticated terrorist organisations.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'This is a book that needed to be written and which fulfils the essentials of any Ulster story; it expands understanding beyond fragmented jingoism and newspaper headlines.' John Stalker, Sunday Times\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Urban, Mark","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55882724344186,"sku":"9780571168095","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9780571168095.jpg?v=1757507624"},{"product_id":"thin-places-9781786899644","title":"Thin Places","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: ni Dochartaigh, Kerri\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eNorthern Ireland\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 20 January 2022 by Canongate Books in the United Kingdom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 272 pages\u003cbr\u003e129 x 197 x 19 | 192g\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING  - HIGHLY COMMENDED'Remarkable' Robert Macfarlane'Beautiful' Amy Liptrot'Powerful, unflinching . . . Part hymn to nature, part Troubles memoir' GuardianKerri ní Dochartaigh was born in Derry at the very height of the Troubles. One parent was Catholic, the other Protestant. In the space of a year Kerri's family were forced out of two homes and when she was eleven a homemade petrol bomb was thrown through her bedroom window. For families like hers, terror was in the very fabric of the city.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn Thin Places, Kerri explores how nature kept her sane and helped her heal, and how we are again allowing our borders to become hard and terror to creep back in. Kerri asks us to reclaim and rejoice in our landscape, and to remember that the land we fight over is much more than lines on a map.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ni Dochartaigh, Kerri","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55882726769018,"sku":"9781786899644","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9781786899644_481635e5-e942-456d-b387-2c61829d05de.jpg?v=1758044973"},{"product_id":"making-sense-of-the-troubles-a-history-of-the-northern-ireland-conflict-9780241962657","title":"Making Sense of the Troubles : A History of the Northern Ireland Conflict","description":"\u003cp\u003eDavid McKittrick has reported on Northern Ireland since the early 1970s, and Making Sense of the Troubles is his history of the conflict, written with the historian David McVea. He joined the Irish Times as a Belfast reporter in 1973 and later became Ireland correspondent of The Independent in London. He won the Orwell Prize for journalism in 2000 and is one of the authors of Lost Lives, a reference work that records each death of the Troubles in turn.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMcVea studied politics and modern history at Queen's University Belfast and headed the politics department at a Belfast grammar school, where he taught history and political studies.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe book sets out the whole conflict in one volume. The first edition of 2000 ran to twelve chapters covering 1921 to 2000, starting with partition, and added a chronology, statistical tables, a glossary and bibliographical notes. This Penguin paperback is the revised and updated 2012 edition of Making Sense of the Troubles, taking in later events such as IRA disbandment and the power sharing government at Stormont. A chapter from the first edition, on the end of Stormont in 1972 and 1973, is reproduced on the CAIN archive at Ulster University with the publisher's permission.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReviewing it in The Independent in 2001, Patricia Craig said its strength was the way it could \"pinpoint the causes of trouble while avoiding oversimplification\". In The Blanket, Buffy Maguire praised its reference tools and its clarity on complex events, but said it offers no new analysis and that some conclusions reflect a wish to appear even handed. A review on the Mr Ulster blog called its factual reporting flawless but argued that the overall story was not neutral. Both reviews covered the first edition, and both saw it as suited to general readers rather than those already versed in Irish history.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"David McKittrick","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55882728014202,"sku":"9780241962657","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9780241962657_2d078d63-6a72-44b4-a1b5-0610796111ba.jpg?v=1765918946"},{"product_id":"say-nothing-a-true-story-of-murder-and-memory-in-northern-ireland-9780008159269","title":"Say Nothing : A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Say Nothing book sets out to understand how Jean McConville, a widowed mother of ten, came to be abducted from her Belfast home in front of her children in 1972 and murdered by the IRA. The IRA suspected her of being an informer, a claim her family strongly rejects. In Say Nothing Patrick Radden Keefe sets her family's story beside the lives of IRA members Dolours Price and Brendan Hughes, the British state, the Boston College oral history tapes and the search for the Disappeared. Gerry Adams, who has consistently denied IRA membership, also features. The Irish Times review describes it as suited to readers of narrative journalism and to anyone drawn to the Troubles who can live with open questions instead of neat conclusions.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Say Nothing true story is told by a staff writer for The New Yorker whose earlier books are The Snakehead and Chatter. Keefe grew up in Dorchester, Boston, and has said his interest began when he read the 2013 New York Times obituary of Dolours Price.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Irish Times review argues that in Say Nothing Northern Ireland's conflict appears without tidy sides, in many shades of moral complexity, leaving readers uncertain where they stand. Say Nothing won the 2019 Orwell Prize for Political Writing, and judge Ted Hodgkinson described it as a haunting portrait of the Troubles that felt timely.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA common question is when was Say Nothing published, and the answer is 2018, with this William Collins paperback following on 22 August 2019. In this edition the Say Nothing book pages run to 528. In 2024 it was adapted into a nine part Disney+ television series.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp data-bb-audio=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eListen while you read.\u003c\/strong\u003e The audiobook is on Libro.fm, and part of every sale comes back to our shop. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/bb-listen.thomasjohnjunk.workers.dev\/a\/9780008159269?s=product\"\u003eGet the audiobook\u003c\/a\u003e, and it opens the edition sold in your country.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Patrick Radden Keefe","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55882728571258,"sku":"9780008159269","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9780008159269_ada5dfc7-5bcf-42ae-bc68-6edc98b0566f.jpg?v=1765918989"},{"product_id":"bad-blood-a-walk-along-the-irish-border-9781035054862","title":"Bad Blood : A Walk Along the Irish Border","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Toibin, Colm\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eIreland\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 27 March 2025 by PAN MACMILLAN (Picador) in the United Kingdom as part of 'the Picador Collection' series.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 208 pages\u003cbr\u003e197 x 129 x 12 | 146g\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFollow Colm Tóibín's lone religious pilgrimage along the Irish border during the tumultuous summer of 1987.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the summer after the Anglo-Irish Agreement, when tension was high in Northern Ireland, Colm Tóibín walked along the border from Derry to Newry. Bad Blood is a stark and evocative account of this journey through fear and hatred, and a report on ordinary life and the legacy of history in a bleak and desolate landscape.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTóibín describes the rituals – the marches, the funerals, the demonstrations – observed by both communities along the border, and listens to the stories which haunt both sides. With sympathy and insight Bad Blood captures the intimacy of life along one of the most contested strips of land in Western Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the very best of modern literature.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Toibin, Colm","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55910421234042,"sku":"9781035054862","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9781035054862.jpg?v=1758044939"},{"product_id":"the-bass-player-surviving-the-miami-showband-massacre-9781848408333","title":"The Bass Player : Surviving the Miami Showband Massacre","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis Miami Showband massacre book sets out to ask readers how they would cope with trauma, and its author faced that question first hand. The Bass Player is a memoir by Stephen Travers, who played bass in the Miami Showband and survived the attack on the band in July 1975. On 31 July 1975 the band was driving home from a gig in Banbridge when its minibus was stopped at what looked like an army checkpoint on the A1 near Newry. Fran O'Toole, Tony Geraghty and Brian McCoy were killed, and Travers and Des McAlea survived.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is a new memoir, separate from his 2007 book The Miami Showband Massacre, written with Neil Fetherstonhaugh. It picks up the story from 2007, covering the 2011 Historical Enquiries Team report, the long civil case and the 2019 Netflix documentary. Irish Legal News and Hot Press both note that the report raised serious questions about possible collusion and corruption. In December 2021 survivors and relatives settled High Court actions against the Ministry of Defence and the PSNI, without any admission of liability.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Irish Examiner describes the book as a series of short essays and reflections on his life in music, the showband era, a 2021 assessment of chronic post traumatic stress disorder and his work for other victims. Its reviewer, Colm O'Callaghan, was largely appreciative and picked out the essays on other victims as among the most affecting, while noting a growing weariness in the writing. The book was shortlisted for Biography of the Year at the 2025 Irish Book Awards.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStephen Travers was founding director and first editor of The Irish World newspaper in Britain, and has worked as a composer, arranger and record producer. In 2019 he helped found the Truth and Reconciliation Platform for people affected by the Troubles. 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He served about ten years as a Royal Navy officer, then became a foreign correspondent for the Sunday Times and the Daily Telegraph, with Belfast among his postings. His later book Dead Men Risen, about the Welsh Guards in Afghanistan, won the Orwell Prize for books.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe South Armagh Bandit Country of the title is the border area where the IRA's South Armagh Brigade ran one of its most effective campaigns. Harnden covers the brigade's sniper teams and the capture of its sniper unit, home made mortars, attacks in England, Libyan weapons and attempts to bring down British Army helicopters. He also writes about the Kingsmill massacre, the 1979 Warrenpoint ambush, the SAS presence and alleged Garda collusion. In December 2013 the Smithwick Tribunal reported collusion, with the IRA receiving information from an unidentified person in Dundalk Garda station, but it could not link this to any named officer.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePeter Taylor, reviewing for the Guardian, called it \"Courageous journalism and compulsive reading\". The Irish Times credited it with showing what set South Armagh apart, through interviews with police, soldiers and republicans. Anthony McIntyre, a former IRA prisoner writing in The Blanket, said republican readers found it fair, while An Phoblacht\/Republican News noted its heavy use of police, army and informer sources.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis Bandit Country book is the 2024 Biteback paperback edition, running to 544 pages. It is of interest to readers of the IRA campaign in Bandit Country Ireland's border region, and reviewers credit it with explaining why the security forces found that campaign so hard to defeat.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Toby Harnden","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56338986205562,"sku":"9781785908415","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9781785908415.jpg?v=1765918946"},{"product_id":"trespasses-the-most-beautiful-devastating-love-story-youll-read-this-year-9781526698476","title":"Trespasses : The most beautiful, devastating love story you’ll read this year","description":"\u003cp data-bb-audio=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eListen while you read.\u003c\/strong\u003e The audiobook is on Libro.fm, and part of every sale comes back to our shop. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/bb-listen.thomasjohnjunk.workers.dev\/a\/9781526698476?s=product\"\u003eGet the audiobook\u003c\/a\u003e, and it opens the edition sold in your country.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Louise Kennedy\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eEurope\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 23 October 2025 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC in the United Kingdom.\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 320 pages\u003cbr\u003e197 x 128 x 29 | 226g\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e**NOW A MAJOR TV SERIES – STREAMING ON CHANNEL 4**THE NO. 1 BESTSELLER (The Times), SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2023'Intense, unflinchingly honest, it broke my heart a million times' MARIAN KEYES'A beautiful, devastating novel' NICK HORNBYOne by one, she undid each event, each decision, each choice. If Davy had remembered to put on a coat.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf Seamie McGeown had not found himself alone on a dark street.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf Michael Agnew had not walked through the door of the pub on a quiet night in February in his white shirt.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere is nothing special about the day Cushla meets Michael, a married man from Belfast, in the pub owned by her family. But here, love is never far from violence, and this encounter will change both of their lives forever.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow a major TV series starring Lola Petticrew, Tom Cullen and Gillian Anderson, Trespasses is an unforgettable debut of people trying to live ordinary lives in extraordinary times.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e* WINNER OF THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS BOOK OF THE YEAR: DEBUT FICTION ** WINNER OF THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDS NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2022 ** WINNER OF THE MCKITTERICK PRIZE 2023 ** SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2022 ** AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVELIST OF 2022 ** A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME ** THE CRITICS' MOST-PICKED BOOK OF THE YEAR*\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Louise Kennedy","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56338987843962,"sku":"9781526698476","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9781526698476.jpg?v=1765918956"},{"product_id":"the-dirty-war-9780099845201","title":"The Dirty War","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Martin Dillon\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eBritish \u0026amp; Irish history\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 21 November 1991 by Cornerstone (Arrow Books Ltd) in the United Kingdom.\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 560 pages\u003cbr\u003e178 x 112 x 29 | 296g\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'This excellent book demands the attention of anyone concerned about civil liberties in the United Kingdom' Guardian1969 was a year of rising tension, violence and change for the people of Northern Ireland. Rioting in Derry's Bogside led to the deployment of British troops and a shortlived, uneasy truce.  The British army soon found itself engaged in an undercover war against the Provisional IRA, which was to last for more than twenty years. In this enthralling and controversial book, Martin Dillon, author of the bestselling The Shankill Butchers, examines the roles played by the Provisional IRA, the State forces, the Irish Government and the British Army during this troubled period.  He unravels the mystery of war in which informers, agents and double agents operate, revealing disturbing facts about the way in which the terrorists and the Intelligence Agencies target, undermine and penetrate each other's ranks. The Dirty War is investigative reporting at its very best, containing startling disclosures and throwing new light on previously inexplicable events.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Martin Dillon","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56339004686714,"sku":"9780099845201","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9780099845201.jpg?v=1765919039"},{"product_id":"house-of-splendid-isolation-9780571397556","title":"House of Splendid Isolation","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Edna O'Brien\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eModern \u0026amp; contemporary fiction (post c 1945)\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 20 November 2025 by FABER \u0026amp; FABER in the United Kingdom.\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 272 pages\u003cbr\u003e128 x 198 x 19 | 222g\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHistory is everywhere. It seeps into the soil, the sub-soil. Like rain, or hail, or snow, or blood.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJosie O'Grady is an elderly woman, living alone in her dilapidated big house on the outskirts of a rural Irish village. Then one day her bedroom door swings open to reveal McGreevy, an IRA terrorist on a bloody crusade, who has chosen her isolated house for sanctuary. As days pass, these two outsiders develop a grudging respect for each other, which grows into affection and friendship, but the police net is closing in and, with dawning horror, Josie starts to suspect that McGreevy is not only using her house as a refuge.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBased on interviews with the IRA leader Dominic McGlinchy in Portlaoise Prison and published four years before the Good Friday Agreement, this thrilling, political, poetic novel is a portrait of the state of the Irish nation at the height of the Troubles.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Edna O'Brien","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56402587943290,"sku":"9780571397556","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9780571397556.jpg?v=1767085983"},{"product_id":"in-the-shadow-of-history-sinn-fein-1926-70-9781526152954","title":"In the Shadow of History : Sinn Fein 1926-70","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the Shadow of History sets out to explain what happened to Sinn Fein in the decades after 1926, when a party that had stood at the centre of the revolutionary years of 1919 to 1923 found itself on the edge of Irish politics. It's a history of the party through those years, of interest to readers following the story of Irish republicanism in the period before the Troubles. This paperback of Agnes Maillot's study was published by Manchester University Press in September 2021, following the first hardback edition of July 2015.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe book is arranged in four chapters. The first covers 1923 to 1932 and the pull between pragmatism and principle. The second, on 1932 to 1945, is framed as a time of oblivion for the party. The third looks at the Sinn Fein Funds Case of 1941 to 1948. The fourth examines Sinn Fein's relationship with the IRA from 1948 to 1969, the year the conflict in Northern Ireland broke out. So the account closes just as the Troubles begin.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAcross the four chapters of In the Shadow of History Agnes Maillot draws on newspaper reports, minutes of the party's Standing Committee and interviews she carried out herself. She is Associate Professor in Intercultural Studies at Dublin City University, where her main research area is the conflict in Northern Ireland. Her earlier book on the party, New Sinn Fein, was published by Routledge in 2005. She went on to write Rebels in Government, published by Manchester University Press in 2022. Reviewing that later book in the Revue Francaise de Civilisation Britannique, Philippe Cauvet of the Universite de Poitiers described her as an expert in Irish republicanism.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Agnes Maillot","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57158416367994,"sku":"9781526152954","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9781526152954.jpg?v=1786476049"},{"product_id":"the-guitar-case","title":"The Guitar Case","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOf course we're not scared of Irish Republicans.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWe've had doxxing, threats, #Bhoycotts and even dog poo smeared on the back of our door handle.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWe've had it all.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWe're still here.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFor now, at least.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWe worked out where the dog poo came from the way Sherlock Holmes would, by elimination. My shoes were clean, so was the door glass, the step and the shutter, which left the handle, not the front where anyone walking past would've spotted it, but the back, where you'd only find it if you actually went looking.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWe're a bookshop, so it's fitting that a famous fictional character helped us solve the puzzle.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhoever did it brought their own bag, turned it inside out over their hand like a glove, filled it, then wiped it round the back of the handle and walked off without a spot on them. It was planned, not passing trade.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIt wasn't even the worst thing that's happened to us over the years, but that's for the book.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThat's what it's like running an openly unionist bookshop in North Belfast and online to the world. It's been going on since 2019, and none of it's stopped us yet.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThink about how delighted the usual suspects would be if that stopped being true, then think about every time Mr Books has made you laugh, or waded in for you against someone who'd been having a go at you first. That's worth something to you, and it's worth something to us too, since it's the only reason any of us keep showing up for no wage.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIf you don't care whether that stays true, this isn't for you. No hard feelings, skip the rest.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIf you do, here's what keeping it true actually costs, about £30 a day. None of us has taken a penny out of this place, not for twelve years. Health permitting, that £30 a day keeps this running forever.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBut we can't bank likes, and there's more we want to do here that £30 a day alone won't touch. Doesn't matter where you're reading this from, it counts the same.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis isn't a begging bowl. We're not asking you to feel sorry for us. Think of it more like a busker's case instead. Nobody drops money into one of those out of pity. They do it because they want to hear the next tune. That's what this is. You're not buying anything back and you're not propping up a charity, you're just saying you want the tune to keep going.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePick an amount, £5, £10 or £20 a month, and it repeats, that's it. No book turns up, no membership, just the shop still standing because you picked a number and kept picking it.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOnly sign up to what you can actually afford.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePrefer to give once instead? That helps just as much, and we're grateful for it either way.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWe'll be here either way.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMr Books\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eP.S. Don't want a monthly thing sitting on your card? Fair enough, you can still throw something in the case once and walk on. Drop something in the case here: \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/bbooks.co\/supporter\"\u003ehttps:\/\/bbooks.co\/supporter\u003c\/a\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Belfast Books","offers":[{"title":"£10 a month","offer_id":57271014687098,"sku":null,"price":10.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"£5 a month","offer_id":57271014654330,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"£20 a month","offer_id":57271014719866,"sku":null,"price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"£50 a month","offer_id":57271014752634,"sku":null,"price":50.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"£100 a month","offer_id":57271014785402,"sku":null,"price":100.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"£250 a month","offer_id":57271014818170,"sku":null,"price":250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/bbguitarcase-square.jpg?v=1789488338"},{"product_id":"four-shots-in-the-night-a-true-story-of-stakeknife-murder-and-justice-in-northern-ireland-9781529426779","title":"Four Shots in the Night : A True Story of Stakeknife, Murder and Justice in Northern Ireland","description":"\u003cp data-bb-audio=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eListen while you read.\u003c\/strong\u003e The audiobook is on Libro.fm, and part of every sale comes back to our shop. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/bb-listen.thomasjohnjunk.workers.dev\/a\/9781529426779?s=product\"\u003eGet the audiobook\u003c\/a\u003e, and it opens the edition sold in your country.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn 26th May 1986, the body of an undercover British agent was found by the side of a muddy lane, with a rope tied around its wrists and tape over each eye. Years later, it was reported that this murder might have been carried out by another undercover British agent, known as 'Stakeknife'. In 2016, a detective began to investigate this case, and would soon find himself running the largest murder investigation in British history. In a compulsive blend of investigative journalism and true crime thriller, Henry Hemming exposes the parallel worlds of the IRA and British intelligence through the lives of those inextricably bound up in both. He reveals the bravery of those who were crucial in ending the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the bloodiest and longest-running conflict in recent British history, and the determination of one detective in his dogged search for justice and the truth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWinner of the Historical Writers' Association Non-Fiction Crown 2024. Now updated with a new chapter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'The best book about the Troubles since Patrick Radden Keefe's Say Nothing' - Wall Street Journal\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor: Henry Hemming\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003ePost-war history, Military history, Military intelligence\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003ch5\u003ePublished on 27 Mar 2025 by Quercus Publishing.\u003c\/h5\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Henry Hemming","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57309821993338,"sku":"9781529426779","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9781529426779.jpg?v=1790463938"},{"product_id":"stakeknife-britain-s-secret-agents-in-ireland-9780862788438","title":"Stakeknife : Britain's Secret Agents in Ireland","description":"\u003cp\u003eIreland during the Troubles is the setting for Stakeknife, a book about two agents run by British intelligence. One, known by the codename in the title, worked inside the IRA's internal security unit. The other, Brian Nelson, was a British army agent in the Ulster Defence Association. It is for readers interested in the history of British intelligence during the Troubles.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn Stakeknife Greg Harkin and Martin Ingram write some chapters each and some jointly. Ingram's sections explain how the RUC, 22 SAS, 14 Company, the army's Force Research Unit and MI5 divided intelligence and agent handling. The book traces Nelson's career from the Black Watch to his death and argues his handlers crossed ethical lines in the late 1980s. It also claims 35 deaths occurred during the IRA agent's time in that unit, and alleges he helped draw Danny Morrison into a 1990 kidnap charge, which the Irish Democrat reviewer called its most controversial allegation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGreg Harkin and Martin Ingram come from journalism and army intelligence respectively. Ingram is a pen name for a former Force Research Unit member whose earlier disclosures in the Sunday Times and the People led the Ministry of Defence to seek injunctions. Harkin was Irish editor of The People in May 2003, when newspapers named Freddie Scappaticci as the agent, which Scappaticci denied. Press Gazette reported that Harkin interviewed him at his west Belfast home.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the Irish Democrat in 2004, Paul Donovan read the book as further evidence of state collusion, but judged its suggestion that the agent shaped republican peace process strategy probably overstated. Operation Kenova's interim report in March 2024 concluded the agent probably cost more lives than he saved, though Reuters noted it did not name him.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp data-bb-audio=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eListen while you read.\u003c\/strong\u003e The audiobook is on Libro.fm, and part of every sale comes back to our shop. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/bb-listen.thomasjohnjunk.workers.dev\/a\/9780862788438?s=product\"\u003eGet the audiobook\u003c\/a\u003e, and it opens the edition sold in your country.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Greg Harkin, Martin Ingram","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57309822222714,"sku":"9780862788438","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0373\/4125\/files\/9780862788438.jpg?v=1790463942"},{"product_id":"enemies-within-the-explosive-true-story-of-johnny-mad-dog-adair-northern-ireland-s-most-infamous-paramilitary-godfather-9781785375811","title":"Enemies Within : The Explosive True Story of Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair, Northern Ireland's Most Infamous Paramilitary Godfather","description":"\u003cp data-bb-audio=\"1\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eListen while you read.\u003c\/strong\u003e The audiobook is on Libro.fm, and part of every sale comes back to our shop. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/bb-listen.thomasjohnjunk.workers.dev\/a\/9781785375811?s=product\"\u003eGet the audiobook\u003c\/a\u003e, and it opens the edition sold in your country.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEnemies Within explores Adair's rise from neo-Nazi skinhead to leader of the notorious Ulster Freedom Fighters, a cover-name for the assassination wing of the Ulster Defence Association, a Protestant paramilitary group that killed hundreds of people during the Troubles.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith unprecedented access to Adair and his associates, critically acclaimed author and counter-terrorism expert Aaron Edwards paints a vivid picture of how the loyalist godfather built up an extensive terror network that was at one time responsible for more deaths than the IRA. 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It centres on two men, Brian Nelson, intelligence officer of the loyalist UDA who worked for British Army intelligence, and Freddie Scappaticci, the IRA man widely alleged to be the agent codenamed Stakeknife. The British government has never officially confirmed who Stakeknife was. The Irish Times review calls it a weighty but accessible study for readers interested in the Troubles, state intelligence and the ethics of espionage.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis neither confirm or deny book takes its name from the government's policy of not saying who was an agent, a stance the UK Supreme Court has upheld. Ware argues that governments and intelligence agencies repeatedly put gathering intelligence ahead of prosecuting crime, pointing to a 1981 MI5 decision that gave intelligence priority over criminal justice. He also covers Sir John Stevens's collusion investigations, the 2025 Kenova report, the 1989 killing of Pat Finucane and disputes over disclosure to bereaved families.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJohn Ware began in journalism in 1971 and was based in Belfast from 1974 to 1977. He worked for Granada's World in Action and became a long serving BBC Panorama reporter, covering Northern Ireland for decades. He received the James Cameron Prize for journalism in 2004.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReviewing it in The Irish Times, Harry Higgins called it timely and important, rich in detail and new revelations, though not without flaws. He described the neither confirm nor deny doctrine as \"less about protecting national security than preventing national embarrassment\". 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