The IRA has been a much richer, more complexly layered, and more protean organization than is frequently recognized. It is also more open to balanced examination now--at the end of its long war in the north of Ireland--than it was even a few years ago.
Richard English's brilliant book offers a detailed history of the IRA, providing invaluable historical depth to our understanding of the modern-day Provisionals, the more militant wing formed in 1969 dedicated to the removal of the British Government from Northern Ireland and the reunification of Ireland. English examines the dramatic events of the Easter Rising in 1916 and the bitter guerrilla war of 1919-21, the partitioning of Ireland in the 1920s, and the Irish Civil War of 1922-23. Here, too, are the IRA campaigns in Northern Ireland and Britain from the 1930s through the 1960s. He shows how the Provisionals were born out of the turbulence generated by the 1960s civil rights movement, and examines the escalating violence that introduced British troops to the streets of Northern Ireland. He also examines the split in the IRA that produced the Provisionals, the introduction of internment in 1971, and the tragedy of Bloody Sunday in 1972. He then discusses the struggle over political status, culminating in the Hunger Strikes of the early 1980s and describes the Provisionals' emergence as a more committed political force throughout that decade, a politicization that made possible the peace process that has developed over the last decade. English offers a dazzling synthesis of the motives, actions and consequences of the IRA. Neither romanticizing the IRA nor condemning them outright, this is a balanced, definitive treatment of one of the world's leading revolutionary movements.

Historian Tom Mahon, with the aid of cryptologist and code breaker James J. Gillogly, has spent the past few years breaking the IRA's secret communications code, used to pass messages back and forth between Ireland and America from the 1920s until the 1930s - and the results are explosive. From discussions about matters to considerations of deals with the USSR and China, the IRA letters delve into just about every matter conceivable for a paramilitary organization. Some of the ideas are discussions about money and the likelihood of infiltration but others, like the proposal to source nerve gas for use in Ireland, are a dangerous and unnerving insight into how the organization saw itself and conducted its business. With the eye of a historian and the tools of a professional code breaker, Thomas Mahon and James J. Gillogly have together created a wonderful and engrossing read. ""Mahon's books. . . shows the human dimension to the story."" Irish Echo ""General audiences with a love for Irish history may find these relationships fascinating."" Book News ""Contains the useful historic material, confirming many nuggets which had previous existence at the level of reminiscence and lore.""-Irish Literary Supplement

Decoding the IRA: the true story of the Irish Republican Army’s international network of violence and espionageFrom espionage in America, to plotting a poison gas attack on Dublin - this “fascinating” history of the IRA is based on the breaking of the organization’s secret code. Decoding the IRA is an intriguing and unsettling account of IRA secrets, hidden for over 80 years; including its alliance with the Soviet Union and a conspiracy to aid Chiang Kai-shek and his Chinese nationalists. The book uncovers operations ranging from the ingenious to the bizarre. Decoding the IRA provides a unique insight into what was one of the most innovative and important revolutionary organizations of the twentieth century, a group that created an international network (extending from New York to Moscow) decades before al-Qaeda. It reveals for the first time the IRA’s espionage for the Soviet Union - threatening the security of the United States. This book changes our understanding of the IRA and its methods.Codebreaker and co-author, James Gillogly, gives a step-by step account of his technique in breaking the IRA’s code and in revealing the contents of hundreds of secret documents. Meticulous research and lucid writing place the documents in their historical context and paint a comprehensive picture of the IRA. Several of the secret documents are reproduced in the book.Authors: Tom Mahon is a historian and author who has researched the IRA for over a decade. A graduate of University College Dublin, he divides his time between America and Ireland. James J Gillogly is a cryptologist based in Los Angeles, who has solved several of the world’s most famous codes. He has served as a codebreaking consultant to the FBI.Reviews:Jaw-droppingly fascinating - The Sunday Tribune (Dublin)Fascinating - Books IrelandAbsolutely engrossing - The CryptogramA literally unique insight into the thinking and activities of the IRA of the 1920s and 1930s, warts, mustard gas and all - Tim Pat CooganGillogly’s explanations…give great insight into how codebreaking works in the real world - The Mathematical Association of America