Armed Struggle

Richard English was born in Belfast in 1963. He is Professor of Politics at Queen's University, Belfast, and his previous books include Ernie O'Malley: IRA Intellectual (1998) and Radicals and the Republic: Socialist Republicanism in the Irish Free State 1925-1937 (1994). He lives in Belfast and Donegal.

Combines a readable, comprehensive, and neutral history of the IRA with a muscular and unflinching analysis of its actions and its attempts at self-justification.
An essential book. At a stroke it replaces the many journalistic 'histories' of the IRA, too often flaccid and shoddy.
This vivid, reflective work will likely become the standard introduction to the subject. It also serves as a valuable corrective for anyone who thinks that the difficulties in Northern Ireland are amenable to quick-fix solutions.
A fluent, fascinating account of the origins, actions and ideologies of that caucus of shadows, the Provisional IRA.
Mr. English's well-written book convincingly demonstrates the ghastly futility of the IRA campaign.
With fine detail and a flair for narrative, Richard English chronicles the rise of the IRA from the ashes of the Easter rising to the promise of peace today. Balanced and thoughtful, Armed Struggle offers new insight into Ireland's republican movement. And it reminds us, in the author's words, that 'the voices of the victims still deafen.'
English's balanced and complex account of the IRA, more particularly the Provisional IRA, will help anyone understand the strong feelings and difficult issues behind today's headlines.... The author, a professor of politics at Queen's University in Belfast, makes some controversial assertions, as when he claims that the IRA's post-1969 violence, ostensibly aimed at protecting Catholics, only lead to increased anti-Catholic carnage. Even more controversially, Englishcalls into question the whole point of the long IRA war. What English does brilliantly is to describe the IRA's own justifications for its war against Britain, with special attention to the socialism pervading much of IRA belief. He has written a provocative and essential book for anyone trying tounderstand Northern Ireland's tempestuous recent history.
About Richard English's Armed Struggle: History of the IRA there is a kind of passionate objectivity you'll rarely find on this subject. The author works mightily to present two sides of a story that keeps shifting. You might read the book wondering, perhaps, where his sympathies lie, but even if you sneak a look at the last chapter, where he lays out his credentials, you'll come away impressed with his balance and fairness. I am neither scholar norhistorian, but this is the one book I recommend for anyone trying to understand the craziness and complexity of the Northern Ireland tragedy.
What impressed me most was the way Richard English managed to present such an historical and contradictory mess with such clarity and fairness. The book grabbed and held me like a very good novel.
Here is the book we have been waiting for