The IRA: A History

Rating:
Summary: Undoubtedly the most comprehensive work on the subject.
Review:

_The IRA: A History_ is an indispensable resource for those wishing to study modern Irish Republicanism. Author Tim Pat Coogan, a respected Irish journalist who has covered "The Troubles" throughout his career, has accomplished the near-impossible task of unsnarling the tangled web of politics and insurgency in Ireland, North and South. From the Easter Rebellion of 1916 to the Gerry Adams's 1993 attempts to procure a U.S. visa, Coogan clarifies and puts in context the operations of the Irish Republican Army.

The book is more than a simple history, however. It is difficult to read it and remain untouched by the personal stories of the IRA volunteers, their families, and the innocents who have suffered under the British Occupation of the Six Counties. _The IRA: A History_ is must reading for anyone who wants to understand Ireland and the IRA.

Rating:
Summary: Tim Pat Coogan's IRA
Review: Coogan's interesting history is to some extent marred by the way it descends into the depths of anecdote: often you cannot get a picture of the whole in that sea of details. However, anecdotes do also illustrate in an interesting way the thinking and ideology of the IRA men.

A recurring theme is, that there apparently were lots of genuinely idealistic and talented yuong men in Ireland who, in Irish society, only could express their talent by joining the "'Ra". This is rather sad, if it is true.

Regrettably, due to some childhood trauma at school, Coogan seems completely unable to get the Gaelic spelling of words and names right.

Rating:
Summary: Far from perfect but pretty darn good
Review: In typical form, Tim Pat Coogan can be labeled nothing if not thorough. Undoubtedly a 500 page book cannot cover each important event or key figure in the IRA's fascinating, tumultuous history, but I believe Coogan makes a true effort to write a piece worth reading. He divides the text into four basic parts: Beginnings to 1969, 1969-79, 1979-86, and 1986-94. There are also appendices, references, maps, b/w photos, and a useful glossary. In my opinion, Coogan balances his personal feelings about the IRA with a decent sense of journalistic objectivism. Having said that, however, I would affirm what other reviewers have noted regarding Coogan's clear support for (or, at the very least, distant admiration of) the IRA. If you are seeking a selection from a more critical ideological position, look elsewhere. I will also agree that the text itself is in need of serious editing. It seems that there are grammatical errors on every other page and though I hate to nitpick, those errors do detract from the overall credibility of the book. Nevertheless, if you are doing any type of academic research on the IRA, I would strongly suggest this title. Beware: it does presume a fair amount of knowledge from the start so choose it after you have already gained the basics of Irish/Northern Irish history.

Rating:
Summary: A very good book, but the typesetter ought to be kneecapped!
Review: There is more detail in this book than anyone--apart from the author, perhaps--could ever digest. But it is a fascinating account of the world's oldest revolutionary/terrorist movement. Coogan's style is anecdotal and at times sentimental. Though he is not entirely uncritical of the IRA, his admiration for their bravery and determination is obvious. The main problem with this book is cosmetic but extremely annoying: it has so many typos, misspellings and and ungrammatical sentences that it starts to detract from the book's readability. I can't believe that Coogan, who is a professional newspaper writer/editor, would have neglected to have someone proofread his book before submitting it to a publisher, so I can only assume that this was the typesetter's fault. Also, adding some translations or transliterations of Gaelic names and words would have been helpful for all of us non-Gaelic speakers. But apart from these problems, it is a very informative and enjoyable book.

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat Dry, but Informative
Review: This book, in my opinion, is not for the casual reader. I picked it up, curious about the history of the IRA, and how it impacts the current peace process in Northern Ireland. It does that, and the author, Tim Pat Coogan, is very knowledgeable on the subject. However, his writing style is very dry and I often had to re-read passages. I do not mind doing this, but it did not always help much. It was a little over my head. Also, I do not speak Gaelic, so those phrases, names, and expressions were often lost on me. He also adds updates, which is helpful, but they are just haphazardly thrown in at the end of the book. I think that what this work needs is a thorough re-editing job.

Rating:
Summary: the best IRA history book available
Review: This seemed to be the definitive work on the IRA until I read Coogan's account of FBI crimes against me on pages 447 and 448 (hardcover). Coogan failed to report what America needs to know: that British spooks have spread their war on Irish democracy to the U.S.; that toward that end they have bribed and corrupted the FBI; that law-abiding FBI Agent Joe Doyle warned me and my wife about his colleagues' impending crimes and described the MI6 bribes that hooked them (but we wrongly concluded that he had to be exaggerating or mistaken once he informed us that he, a law-enforcement officer, could do nothing to stop the crimes). Coogan also neglected the scandalous evidence in the Winnetka police's Langert murders files which shows how its officers, directed by FBI Agent Buckley, framed me for those murders. (Never in my life had I even heard of anybody involved in it.)Coogan also blanked out how, during the FBI's second series of crimes against us, we proved in court that the FBI had criminally doctored the evidentiary tape against us and that Agent Buckley's testimony was proven to be perjured; exposed as such by the undoctored parts of his own tape. Coogan, by mere phone, could have learned that now-retired Agent Doyle informed us that his colleagues are planning to assassinate me; which info I immediately confirmed back to Doyle by post after faxing it to courageous friends who will come forward if anything happens to us. Coogan is lazy. Rather than learn what we human rights activists were actually doing he just winged it; disparagingly. Until Coogan meets basic standards we all would be well advised to learn about the IRA from its own internal memos; Ten Men Dead; by David Beresford, or An Index of Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland;1969-1993; by Malcolm Sutton (to learn who are the terrorists), or the absolutely explosive The Committee: Political Assassination in Northern Ireland; by Sean McPhilemy (the modus operandi of the RUC Death Squads), which, since its release last May, has ranged between Nos.1 and 4 on amazon.com's list of best-sellers into the U.K.