基本説明
New in paperback. Hardcover was published in 1998.
Full Description
What is it like to be in the I.R.A. - or at their mercy? This fascinating study explores the lives and deaths of the enemies and victims of the County Cork I.R.A. between 1916 and 1923 - the most powerful and deadly branch of the I.R.A. during one of the most turbulent periods in twentieth-century Ireland.
These years saw the breakdown of the British legal system and police authority, the rise of republican violence, and the escalation of the conflict into a full-scale guerilla war, leading to a wave of riots, ambushes, lootings, and reprisal killings, with civilians forming the majority of victims in this unacknowledged civil war.
Religion may have provided the starting point for the conflict, but class prejudice, patriotism, and personal grudges all fuelled the development and continuation of widespread violence. Using an unprecedented range of sources - many of them only recently made public - Peter Hart explores the motivation behind such activity. His conclusions not only reveal a hidden episode of Ireland's troubled past but provide valuable insights into the operation of similar terrorist groups today.
Contents
1. Introduction: The Killing of Sergeant O'Donoghue ; PART I: REVOLUTION, 1916-1923 ; 2. The Kilmichael Ambush ; 3. Rebel Cork ; 4. Dying for Ireland ; 5. The Cork Republic ; PART II: REBELS ; 6. The Boys of Kilmichael ; 7. Volunteers ; 8. Youth and Rebellion ; PART III: THE PATH TO REVOLUTION ; 9. The Rise and Fall of a Revolutionary Party ; 10. Volunteering ; 11. Guerrillas ; PART IV: NEIGHBOURS AND ENEMIES ; 12. Taking it out on the Protestants ; 13. Spies and Informers ; Appendix: Sources and Definitions: I.R.A. Membership and Violence ; Bibliography ; Index
