Rating: 
Summary: Less We Forget
Review: A well written book but let's not forget what these people where in prison for. They where in prison for having murdered or helped to murder other people agree or disagree with what they stood for the rule of law has to be upheld no matter what. These people had a choice and they made the wrong one they where not hero's only fools to themselves and there so called cause.
Rating: 
Summary: emotionally moving
Review: After reading "Ten Men Dead" I understand how Maggie Thacher got the name Margaret "Bloody"Thacher. Beresford does an excellent job of showing how ordinary people reacted in extraordinary times.These were not criminals as the British wanted them labeled.They were everyday men from middle class families who had incrediable courage, and acted on their belief's. A moving story, well told and tenderly presented.
Rating:
Summary: Sands Lost his life, but did win Weightwatcher of the year!
Review: As a briton of Irish descent I do perhaps have a better idea of the IRA than americans of irish descent. The Facts are:1. They belonged to an organisation that has killed over 2000 men, women and children, both catholics and protestants.
2. They were provided with food and chose not to eat it.
3. The IRA seek to establish minority rule over the unionist population ie apartheid. This book is articulate and well written, but is total and utter propaganda.
Rating: 
Summary: Seriously biased
Review: Beresford tries to explain away his lack of sources by referring to this book as a work of journalism, not history. If this is the type of journalism Mr. Beresford practices, it's about high time he be employed by the Fox News channel or by Michael Moore. Very biased, writing almost entirely from the prisoners' point of view. I don't believe there is anything wrong with writing from their point of view, however, I disagree with trying to present it as "journalism." Nevertheless, this is a fascinating peek into the mind of the IRA and why they do things the way they do.
Rating:
Summary: History or historical fiction?
Review: I read this book as a text for a class I took about resistance movements. (I have my own views on the Irish question, but this is not the appropriate place to express them.) This book was certainly interesting, ..., the author dropped the ball in some places, leaving some holes in the narrative. Because of these gaps, this book was not the easiest to read. In addition, it was difficult for me to keep various groups and individuals straight throughout the book. A glossary and a list of characters would have been useful.
The thing that I disliked most about this book is that while it purports to be a history of the Irish hunger strike, the author is not a historian, but a journalist. (This is not to say that journalists can't write history, only that they write history differently than historians.) As Beresford himself notes, "Apart from the comms [IRA communications] as published, no attempt has been made to provide sources for infomation in the book. It is an exercise in journalism, rather than scholarship." (Page 1). Therefore, can this book be considered history? Given the lack of references (no bibliography or footnotes) and the obviously large amount of fictionalization, I would approach this book as historical fiction rather than history. It would be interesting to see what would happen to the story in the hands of a historian.
This is an interesting narrative and it is worth reading. However, if you want to read real history, I would suggest looking elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: 10/10 review totally inaccurate
Review: I've done quite a bit of reading on the 1981 hunger strike and have seen propaganda at its absolute worst. Various accounts available on the web are so ridiculously one-sided (usually in favor of the hunger strikers) it makes even me, an Irish-American Catholic, laugh out loud. This book was actually very striking in its in-depth research, which makes quite an effort to get to the truth of the matter. The author used actual communications from the prisoners (written on cigarette or toliet paper, wrapped in "saran wrap" and smuggled out in the rectum or hidden in the foreskin of the penis) to reveal real issues. Many of the "secrets" revealed are actually not in favor of the IRA at all. For example, the end of the 1980 hunger strike was a huge error, which the IRA tried to cover up by pretending that the British government had offered concessions. Doesn't sound like propaganda to me! Indeed, I doubt if "unenlightened" read the book at all. His crass comment about "weight watcher of the year" would imply that he has no grasp of the true nature of this issue. Excellent book---I highly reccommend it for anyone even vaguely curious about Ireland, the strike, POWs or civil rights.
Rating: 
Summary: The 1981 Hunger Strike
Review: Ten Men Dead is an inside look on how the British govenment's criminalizational policy failed and how it will continue to fail. In 1976 the British Government ended what was known as "Special Category Status" simply an official Prisoner of War status for paramilitary detainees arrested prior to that time and implemented a policy of "Criminalization". This meant new political detainees would no longer be granted the POW status but be treated as common criminals. They would be incarcerated in the infamous "H-Blocks" at LongKesh known as the Maze. An escalating series of protests began: Refusal to wear prison uniforms. TheBlanket Men. The No-wash Protest and finally the Hunger Strike.
Rating: 
Summary: Delivery problems
Review: The sad story of what happened when the canteen in the prison had delivery problems.
Rating:
Summary: A Well Balanced and Thoughtful Account
Review: This book gives a gripping and well detailed account of the 1981 Hunger Strike. Beresford is a journalist who was provided with "comms" (communications) from the hunger strikers and inmates at Long Kesh prison, and much of the book is based on these smuggled notes. Beresford does a fine job of presenting background, and of tempering views by providing background on both sides. Although I find myself in the Republican camp, I did find that he presented the situtation well. When it feels as though you are strongly backing actions and previous criminal acts by inmates and hunger strikers, Beresford depicts family members and biographies of Union/Loyalist supporters to remind us that all are human beings with families and lives who have been lost in this long-standing problem. But Beresford also engages the reader, revealing the hunger strikers as people who were seriously committed to a cause they were willing to give their lives for. The struggle over Northern Ireland is not taken lightly. Although the writing stumbles occasionally, the journalistic approach and research off-sets it by documenting a great deal. This book provides a wonderful historical picture and insight into a tragic part of history.
Rating:
Summary: A Well Balanced and Thoughtful Account
Review: This is an amazing book. Peter Maas summed it up much better than I can when he said that this secret "coms" that were the smuggled writings of the prisoners (and make up much of the book) are "the Irish equivalent to the Diary of Anne Frank." It is a must read.
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