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Born blind in one eye but never accepting a handicap, Peter Richards escaped an unloving home for a life of hard physical labour, as a farm boy after the war, then on construction sites, and finally for many years as a gas mainlayer. Wild Irishmen, callous gangermen, corrupt officials, harsh working conditions, the crack, a certain kind of freedom and adventure - Richards gives authentic, humorous and uncomprimising insights into life behind the red and white barricades. Just as revealing is the interwoven material on Peter's home life: love and marriage; raising a family in poor living conditions; fighting; stress; passions for sea-fishing and allotment gardening.