'What was it like to be in the I.R.A., to fight them, or to be at their mercy? What sort of people joined the organization, and why? What forces or motives drove these men - and their Irish and British opponents - to such heights of violence, transforming them into heroes, martyrs, and killers? These, to me, are the most important and fascinating questions of the Irish revolution of 1916-23. Answering them requires looking at the whole revolution, from beginning to end, in terms of its victims as well as its protagonists. It also means exploring the families and communities in which the guerrillas and their enemies - real or imagined - lived'.

'This, then, is a study of the rise and fall of the revolutionary movement within a single county: Cork, the most violent of all Irish counties in 'the troubles'. Part I charts the course of the struggle and examines the origins and nature of guerrilla war, as well as its consequences. Part II asks who joined the I.R.A. and Part III asks why�and why some members were willing to do anything and risk everything for their cause. Part IV looks at the people who became targets because they were suspected or accused of opposing the revolution, or because they fell outside the boundaries of the I.R.A.'s 'nation'. The focus throughout is on how the revolution was experienced, presented as often as possible in the words of the participants, observers, and victims themselves.

The book, and each of its Parts, begins with a chapter devoted to reconstructing a single event or group: one night of murder and reprisal, one ambush, one flying column, one family, one massacre. These stories illuminate the central themes of comradeship, self-sacrifice, revenge, and betrayal in intimate and often tragic detail'.

Peter Hart, author.