British Blarney again
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Once again the British try to redeem themselves of their reign of terror in Ireland. The book has some personal relevant points but only to the deluded clones who supported the British ruling class by fighting for them in the first place.Regardless of how many books that will be written to absolve the British in Ireland's past or to lessen the reign of terror they inflicted on civilians (local business's and ordinary men women children homes) it will not work. To quote Thatcher 'a crime is a crime is a crime,' and L George and Churchill as well as Thatcher (later on) are all as guity as each other for the crimes they have committed against Ireland, regardless of the front line soldier mentality who try to justfy their prescence in a location they should not be in.The British have always caused mayhem and murder to keep their elites rich and when the victims strike back they call them terrorists, and when they are getting beat they always play dirty and strike at very soft targets like bombing burning and plundering the local non combatants. They are better when they are fighting Zulus armed with spears against their heavy field guns that keeps the myth of great empire garbage going.
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Excellent Insights
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This excellent book provides a much needed exploration from the British Army's perspective of the war in Ireland from 1918-1921. Sourced from diaries, lectures and interviews the author builds a useful compendium of first person accounts of the troubles from such luminaries as Percival (of Singapore notoriety), at the time a successful Intelligence Officer with the Essex Regiment, and Montgomery. Most of the accounts are from officers, which is a pity, but the book leads with the diary entries of Pvt J P Swindlehurst of the Lancashire Fusiliers.
There is much in the book for military buffs as well those interested in the history. Where else would you find a discourse on the differing merits of the Peerless and Rolls Royce armoured cars, the use of 'Q' trucks, or an understanding of the early limitations of WT (Wireless Telegraphy - radio) in the post-WWI British Army?
In the popular fiction of the small and big screens the war has been depicted almost wholly from the perspective of the Irish Republican movement, with the Crown Forces subject to crude stereotyping and caricature in overtly partisan films like 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley'. Often these treatments are more about 'Brit-bashing' than any real attempt to get under the skin of the period. Mr Sheehan's book goes no little distance to restoring a long needed balance and is refreshing in its objective and impartial handling of the evidence.
Photographic content is comprehensive but somewhat fuzzy in reproduction. I doubt the photograph on page 95 shows Percival, although often identified as such. He was and is demonised by the Republican movement and this image reinforces those prejudices - but I venture it is not he. The sad photographs of the aftermath of ambushes on pages 211 and 214 are poignant reminders of the nature of conflicts such as these. Percival's two lectures on guerilla warfare in Ireland resonate even today, particularly his views on the dangers of road transport dependency in transferring the operational initiative to the guerilla.
Recommended and long overdue.
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A rare view among books on the Irish War of Independence
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It's not every day one gets to read from the British point of view on a bloody conflict between 1918 and 1922. While a huge majority of works since the 1960's on Irish history covering the period have been from the IRA, the IRB and Nationalists' views (including the Unionists of Ulster/Northern Ireland), very few have bothered to cover the actual view point from the ordinary British servicemen as well as the officers, the military command in Dublin Castle and of course the barracks/garrisions surrounded by a hostile landscape in the country. It does cover letters, diaries and opinions of those sevicemen and officers who certainly felt they were winning a war against the IRA only to be let down by the British Government. Should be essential reading for those who want a balanced view of the conflict.
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