In this acclaimed and remarkable book – originally published in 1999 – Toby Harnden, winner of the Orwell Prize, brings to bear his skills as a fearless journalist, inspired investigator and gifted historian, threatened with imprisonment for protecting his sources in Northern Ireland but undeterred. He draws on secret documents and unsparing interviews with key protagonists on both sides to produce perhaps the most compelling and essential account of the IRA and the Troubles. “A“Masterful … A triumph … Should be compulsory reading.” --Irish Times formidable achievement … Essential reading for anyone with a mind capable of changing.” --Sunday Business Post“Courageous … compulsive … goes inside the most impenetrable and deadly of the IRA Brigades.”--Peter Taylor, The Guardian“The definitive history.”--Sunday Express“Compelling and minutely researched.”--Irish Examiner“Fascinating and unrelenting.” --Fortnight magazine “The definitive account of the IRA’s South Armagh Brigade.” --Mail on Sunday Toby Harnden, author of First Casualty: The Untold Story of the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11, is a winner of the Orwell Prize for Books. A former foreign correspondent for the Sunday Times of London and the Daily Telegraph who reported from thirty-three countries, he specializes in terrorism and war. Born in Portsmouth, England, Harnden was imprisoned in Zimbabwe, prosecuted in Britain for protecting confidential sources, and vindicated by a $23 million public inquiry in Ireland. A dual British and US citizen, he spent a decade as a Royal Navy officer before becoming a journalist. He holds a First Class degree in modern history from Oxford and is the author of Bandit Country: The IRA & South Armagh and Dead Men Risen: An Epic Story of War and Heroism in Afghanistan. Previously based in London, Belfast, Jerusalem, Baghdad, and Washington, DC, he lives in Virginia. Orders are despatched from our UK warehouse next working day.