by Mark Urban
First published 1992
War correspondent Mark Urban takes readers inside Britain's secret campaign against the Irish Republican Army during the bloodiest years of the Troubles. From the mid-1970s through the deadly Loughgall ambush of 1987, Urban reveals how military units, police forces, and intelligence agencies waged a hidden war in Northern Ireland. Through conversations with operatives from special forces, intelligence services, and paramilitary organizations, he uncovers the tactics used by the army, police special branch, MI5, and MI6. The book exposes how security forces allegedly adopted shoot-to-kill policies and deliberately misled journalists and courts about their operations. Urban traces the chain of events that culminated in May 1987 when British forces killed eight IRA members in the village of Loughgall. This account strips away official denials to show how covert operations shaped the conflict in Ulster.
Genres: history, 20th-century, military-fiction, non-fiction
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigative-journalism
Setting: Britain, Northern Ireland
Period: 1970s, 1980s
320 pages · Hardcover · Faber & Faber Ltd.
Content warnings: violence