Customer Reviews

INLA: Deadly divisions

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

As a member of the IRSM for the past 18 years, I am well aware of the movement this work claims to be the history of, and it is from this vantage point that I can state it is so filled with false information it is impossible to rely upon as a historical source.

From start to finish the authors depart from any pretense of historical objectivity and instead turn of vicious black propaganda of the worst sort.

Noone active in the Irish Republican Socialist Movement was interviewed for the book, but instead it is based almost entirely on the testimony of Harry Flynn, who left the movement in 1983-84 in a bitter dispute and never returned. Never, that is, other than in a strange alliance with Gerard Steeson who had once ordered his death, the sole purpose of which was to destroy the Irish National Liberation Army.

Even the supposed interview with the INLA's chief of staff published as an appendix is false, having actually been composed by IRSP member Liz LaGrua in response to written questions the author submitted.

The trouble with this easy to read book is the fact that Jack Holland and Henry McDonald used people outside the Republican Socialist Movement, namely former members of IPLO, to tell the history of the INLA. With this obvious bias, of course it will be a hatchet job.

It is akin to having a history of the IRA written with the aid of loyalists or IRA informers, who have reason to paint the organisation as negatively as possible.

The main problem beyond this, then, is that it is referred to as the ultimate history of the INLA, and used to discredit the republican socialist movement. For those with an anti-republican or anti-socialist agenda, their needs are met with this book.

Sadly, people have bought the myth of the INLA that this book presents, much to the detriment of activists and supporters of the movement.

While the authors never even bothered to interview members of the IRSP or INLA for their book, it is still a must-have book if you can locate a copy, which is easier said than done.

Again, it's easy to read, and it does give some basic background info, but the maze of speculation and unfounded allegations passed as fact makes it a bad start for a beginner.

In response to the review by the so-called teacher from Belfast(who couldn't even spell teacher, and several other words) I must point out that this is a review of the book, not a forum for you to air your bigotry and hatred of a certain organisation. This book is obviously badly researched, relying on information from sources who have reason to show the INLA in a bad light.It would have benefitted from the input of a range of objective and informed contributors who want to present a well researched and true reflection of this organisation. And, as I currently live in Northern Ireland, and have lived there all my life, you may not find it so easy to discredit my opinion on this matter.

As a researcher of Irish republican history, I would concur with a previous review. 'Deadly Divisions' is an inaccurate and largely fictionalized account of the INLA. Some of the notes used by the authors are available in Belfast, and after viewing these documents it becomes clear that the authors' primary sources were a few individuals outside of the movement who are/were hostile to the INLA and had political and personal reasons to undermine the organization. Furthermore, the authors apparently took the word of these individuals as 'gospel' when writing their so-called 'history' as in several sections what these sources said was repeated verbatim in the book without any effort to authenticate the information from other sources, including members of the IRSP or INLA. Indeed, 'Deadly Divisions' casts the INLA in such a negative light solely because the bulk of the information the authors had access to was biased against the organization. It does not seem that the authors strove to write a fair or balanced account, and as such it is an interesting read but very, very poor history indeed. Hopefully in the near future new works will be published which will cast a very different and more accurate light on this organization.

The author has produced a comprehensive insight into one of the most violent paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland. He takes the reader through the many splits in the organisation and explains the twisted reasoning behind some of this group's most bloody deeds. A must for anybody interested in the history of the troubles in Ulster.

I see the "reader from texas" didn't like this. Well, anyone who defends terrorism from the quaint seclusion of america, as opposed to my experience of every day life in orthern Ireland is entitled to their view... but they are talking through their rear end!

I'm a history tecaher in Northern Ireland. Let me tell you this is an excellent study of a tawdry little band of thugs and murderers. t exposes to a tee the sort of lowlife scum they were, and details their many divisions and feuds when thankfully they exterminated each other.

Come and live here, "reader from Texas"! Come and see the pain these miserable cowards caused!