A review by jbstaniforth
Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA by Richard English

4.0

Patiently and exquisitely argued history and analysis of the provisional IRA movement. I personally was hoping for more granular campaign details of the 1970s and 1980s—and the book delivers in its history of the prisoners’ movements and protests—but i was very willing to settle for a detailed history of known movements and actions followed by English’s extensive and thoughtful concluding analysis, which felt like it considered every position fairly and in good faith while also not shying away from damning conclusions (such as that the last 23 years of the troubles were in many ways fought for no military gain to the IRA, yet had they surrendered and opened themselves to compromise post-1974, their opponents most likely would not have, making peace nonetheless impossible. A complex and insightful book I’m glad to have spent the time with.