The Ira, 1968-2000: Analysis of a Secret Army (Cass Series on Political Violence, 7)

Rating:
Summary: Compulsory reading to understand contemporary Irish history
Review: .................................... J. Bowyer Bell's latest effort on the issue of Northern Irish politics is a very welcome attempt to write a book about the IRA which might become a milestone in the analysis of political violence, in Ireland as well as elsewhere. Bowyer Bell's work is extremely well documented and has the features of real political sciences, in that he uses a series of events (30 years of Troubles!) as a starting point to reach more general conclusions. This is obviously possible thanks to his 35 years long attention to Irish politics and, most important, to his personal contacts with major and minor participants to those events. But he also tries to detach his analysis from the contingent, the current, the short-term, in order to provide the reader with keys to understand the Republican movement in Northern Ireland. The author succeeds where many others failed, keeping historical and political analysis apart from personal opinions and moral judgements, which is the hardest task when approaching the emotion-packed issue of Irish nationalism and "terrorism". His use of comparative analysis is also of great importance, stressing the general trends of political violence around the world, along with the peculiar features of the Irish case. All considered, Bowyer Bell's conclusions might be debatable (and thus they are scientific, according to Karl Popper!) but he often hits the mark. And always gives the reader food for thought!

Rating:
Summary: Extremely poor analysis
Review: At least Bell's earlier books included some basic facts and events in the narrative. This book wanders from over generalizations to unsupported assertions and back to over-generalizations. It's is embarrassing to call this incoherent rambling an "analysis"