An Cosantóir

www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE | 45 Authors: Michael Barry Publisher: Andalus Press (October 2018) www.andalus.ie ISBN: 978-0-993355462 Pages: 304 Price: €19.99 The Irish War of Independence erupted in January 1919 as elements of the Irish Republican Army commenced a guerrilla campaign against British Forces in Ireland. The insurgency and counter- insurgency campaign was brutal with many being killed on both sides and the country descending into chaos. Michael Barry's latest book, The Fight For Irish Freedom: An Illustrated History of the War of Independence is a magnificent work that retells that turbulent time in Ireland's history through the medium of photographs. The author has sourced 650 images to tell the story of Irelands struggle for independence between 1919 to 1921. In addition, many of the photographs displayed are unpublished and come from a variety of sources such as archives and private collections. There are many maps of battle site as well as modern photographs of sites that include a number of memorials. There are a number of pages given over to the IRA's largest action, that of the Burning of the Custom House in Dublin in 1921. This particular group of photos has a detailed map of the area of operations, pictures of the building then and now and the prisoners being rounded up in the aftermath of the gun battle. Using these images and many more, the author brings to life the many actions that happened during this time that results in a highly readable and lavishly illustrated work. With Christmas just around the corner, this highly readable and beautifully presented book would make a wonderful gift for the seasoned professional or the novice historian in your life. P O'B THE FIGHT FOR IRISH FREEDOM: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE Authors: Deric Henderson & Ivan Little Publisher: Blackstaff Press (September 2018) www.blackstaffpress.com ISBN: 9781780731797 Pages: 272 Price: €16.50 The prolonged and often bloody conflict witnessed in Northern Ireland between 1969 and 1998 has often been euphemistically referred to as the 'Troubles' witnessed a large-scale campaign of violence which was unequalled in its intensity and ferocity in the history of Western Europe since the Second World War. The Troubles claimed the lives of some 3,700 people, the vast majority of whom were wholly innocent civilians. The Troubles is a key epoch in the study of Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies. Additionally, Northern Ireland as such has gone through the spectrum of violent conflict and conflict resolution to a relatively successful peace conclusion predicated on the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement (1998), albeit with the notable qualification of the ongoing threat from dissident republican terrorist groupings. For any academic or researcher trying to come to an understanding of this visceral period, journalists who covered the course of the conflict are invariably sought out. This is because those from the 'Fourth Estate' who reported on Northern Ireland for the long- haul had a particularly unique insight into the events as they unfolded having written critically acknowledged work on the conflict and how the conflict impacted on the lives of ordinary people from across the community divide. Throughout the Troubles hundreds of young reporters were sent to Northern Ireland from Britain and further afield to hone their skills, in what was undoubtedly one of the best journalistic training grounds in the world. Many were later to become house-hold names, Kate Adie, Miriam O'Callaghan, Martin Bell, Tommie O'Gorman to name just a few. In this compilation the Editors have brought together a multitude of vignettes from journalist both Irish and British who extensively covered the period. There are many heart rendering stories encompassed within the pages of this work because it is at once both terrible and compelling. Terrible in the sense that now, even at this remove, the dreadful human cost that was endured by both communities across the political and religious divide, compelling in that numerous key events are described as they unfolded. It should not be forgotten that in reporting these events, even hardened 'hacks' often suffered immense psychological stress that remains with them to this day. Sometimes the sheer volume of the killings was overwhelming, as the events of March 1988 witnessed following the killing of three IRA Volunteers in Gibraltar, the Milltown Cemetery attack and subsequent killing of the two British corporals captured live on TV; when it really felt that a 'killing rage' was running amok and unchecked. While journalists then were not subjected to the same deliberate targeting witnessed in modern conflicts, intimidation and threats were often not in short supply, This unique work will be of interest not only to scholars and academics but for the ordinary reader, those who are old enough to remember the period and equally for those of a younger generation to remind them of this dark chapter of our shared history. RF REPORTING THE TROUBLES JOURNALISTS TELL THEIR STORIES OF THE NORTHERN IRELAND CONFLICT

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