Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2022-02-11 06:12:09 Associated-names McVea, David Bookplateleaf 0002 Boxid IA40362214 Camera USB PTP Class Camera Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier I grew up with the Troubles on the TV news and as a child never really understood what the Troubles were all about. So when I saw this book I thought I'd buy it and educate myself. I'm glad that I did. He associated with some loyalist paramilitary organisations such as the UDA. Advocating a semi-independent Northern Ireland he staged a series of Oswald Mosley-style ‘monster rallies’, arriving complete with motorcycle outriders to inspect thousands, and sometimes tens of thousands, of men drawn up in military-style formation. What Craig said at the rallies and elsewhere was even more alarming. In a series of what became known as the ‘shoot-to-kill’ speeches he openly threatened the use of force, declaring: ‘We must build up dossiers on those men and women in this country who are a menace to this country because one of these days, if and when the politicians fail us, it may be our job to liquidate the enemy.’ I want this to be utterly clear – the government will never concede political status to the hungerstrikers or to any others convicted of criminal offences.

It offers hope. Do you think Palestine and Israel can ever get along? Do you think there will ever be an end to tribal warfare in Africa? The history of northern Ireland says yes. Even though Catholics and Protestants still regard each other with suspicion, and even though there is still a fierce climate of mistrust and fear, at least they have stopped shooting each other.

The incident had enormous ramifications, taking a place in Irish history as a formative moment which not only claimed fourteen lives but also hardened attitudes, increased paramilitary recruitment, helped generate more violence, and convulsed Anglo-Irish relations. In 1998 Tony Blair, as prime minister, announced the establishment of a full-scale judicial inquiry. The gruesome story of the Troubles never became boring because each side had a flair for original or striking twists. The hunger strikes were really something. For politicians, it was like being trapped in a horror film, only it was real. Here’s how it got to be that way. Imagine this. Compellingly written and completely even-handed, this is by far the clearest account of what happened in the Northern Ireland conflict - and why. By this point Unionism had splintered, with Faulkner prepared to negotiate, Paisley pressing for integration, and Craig apparently bent on confrontation. Prominent Unionist former ministers such as Harry West and John Taylor demanded a return to the old Stormont system, while many other politicians added to the general confusion by changing their minds and their political lines, sometimes several times. Faulkner found it difficult to hold his party together, particularly since he was advancing the problematic policy of negotiating with a British government which had, in the eyes of most Unionists, been guilty of a betrayal in removing the Stormont system. Some liberal Unionists drifted away from politics entirely, depriving Faulkner of potentially useful support.

But is it a good read? Yes, if you don’t want to be bogged down with pre-Troubles history (too simplistically outlined in the book) or don’t need to understand the ideologies of unionism and nationalism per se. In this way, Making Sense feels written for a general English/benign foreign audience.

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This book is a chronological summary of more than 100 years of the troubles of Northern Ireland. In essence, "This is what happened in the 1920s, this is what happened in the 1960s, etc." Making Sense of the Troubles: The Story of the Conflict in Northern Ireland [Premium Leather Bound] This book tells a sorry tale, and it tells it with a powerful clarity.... It took steady nerves to undertake such a book.

This is a great sober account of a little war in a little place. Really nothing much to bother about. Just a little normal sorrow, just some ordinary pity. Only 3,739 dead people. There’s probably more than that in two days in Syria or the Congo. Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuth If you want a frank, accurate and authoritative account you cannot do much better.... There could be no better guide through the intricacies of the Peace Process. This book...is likely to be the definitive account.... An important book.... It should be on every bookshelf. Irish IndependentAlthough the rejectionist Unionists were against Faulkner and against Whitelaw, personality and political differences meant they were clearly not united in leadership, aims, methods or alternatives. Political groupings, and sometimes loyalist paramilitary groups, from time to time formed umbrella groups but these tended to be shifting, unstable and suspicious coalitions which knew what they stood against but disagreed on what they stood for. Buried in the text of most histories you can detect the views of the author. ...[This] is an exception. This exclusive B&N edition contains an exclusive conversation with Anthony Doerr and director Shawn Levy, exclusive endpapers, and a foil-stamped cloth cover.

I'm not convinced it was as even handed as it advertised itself to be, or as some people regard it, but I do believe a genuine effort was made to exam the facts fairly.

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In 1972 a total of 498 people were killed in Northern Ireland, which had a small population of around 1.5 million. It was a very violent place. The total body count of The Troubles is 3,739 between 1966 and 2012 (but the murders have not been in double figures since 2004.) Now – can anyone tell me how many people have died in Iraq’s complex internal wars since 2003? Is anyone counting? And that’s just one example. How long have you got?