J. Bowyer Bell (1931–2003)

An exhaustive piece of research; this book is a very readable and informative narrative of the story of the IRA from the end of the Civil War up until 1996. The IRA's viewpoint is presented when discussing/analysing every significant event together with that of the Irish and British governments and the Unionist community. This edition could have done some more thorough editing, however, as there are several spelling errors of names which should have been addressed in the vetting process.

2532 The Irish Troubles: A Generation of Violence 1967-1992, by J. Bowyer Bell (read 5 Sep 1993) This is a 1993 book on the years from 1967 to 1992--showing how insoluble is the situation in Northern Ireland. I cannot say I enjoyed reading this big book: it recounts all the horrors, all the efforts at solution, all the failures, and always one knew it would end with nothing solved. The author is pretty fair-minded and he has little good to say for the ultras on the Protestant side. Of show more course, no one can say anything good for the murderous terrorists on the IRA side either. There are 22 chapters in this book, and it tells the story chronologically. But it is heavy on explaining feelings and reactions but not by quotes--just on the author's analysis. This book tells a dismal history--less recent Irish history is much more fascinating. show less

Israel 1929-1949