6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
REVELATORY, February 17, 2010
This review is from: Stakeknife: Britain's Secret Agents in Ireland (History of Ireland & the Irish Diaspora) (Paperback)
I wish I could give this book 6 or 7 stars, it's simply explosive, even revelatory.
Stakeknife is coauthored by Martin Ingram, the pseudonym of a former case officer from an ultra-secret British military intelligence unit referred to as "FRU," for "Force Research Unit," who describes how Britain in it's decades long dirty war with the IRA gave it's agents literally a license to kill.
Many spy novelists make too much use of the spying as chess analogy, however in the case of FRU's most prized agent Fred "Scap" Scappaticci this notion is most apt. He was the executive officer (XO) of the IRA's counter-intelligence unit or "knutting squad," as it was responsible for "knutting" or putting bullets into the heads of suspected informants. And it was in this position that his case officer's at FRU allowed him to abduct, brutally torture, interrogate, and execute upwards of 50 other informants of lessor importance than himself, to build his credentials and keep him in place. In addition, to using Scap as the head witch hunter in divisive mole hunts that helped demoralize the organization by feeding paranoia to the paranoid, his other duties included vetting all new recruits to the IRA which meant that the IRA ceased to be a secret organization.
Stakeknife is also the story of FRU agent Brian Nelson, who as the head of intelligence for a Protestant terror group at war with the IRA was given intelligence dossier's by his FRU handlers that he used to brief hit teams who then assassinated IRA member's. This "collusion," a type of state sponsored terrorism, previously unheard of in a western democracy demonstrates that the British government was not above using tactics previously thought to be the lone preserve of totalitarian dictatorships and central American death squads.
Although British military intelligence broke the law by giving criminals like Fred Scappaticci and Brian Nelson literally a license to kill, FRU's actions certainly weakened the IRA militarily, and dissuaded it from it's stated goal of a united Ireland through force of arms, and thus brought about the Good Friday agreement and a cessation of hostilities.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A valuable contribution to the subject matter., October 2, 2008
This review is from: Stakeknife: Britain's Secret Agents in Ireland (History of Ireland & the Irish Diaspora) (Paperback)
Other reviewers have been very critical of this work, citing the author's lack of impartiality on the topic. I found the work to be well written and intriguing to say the least. I have long been interested in the "Informant War" waged between the IRA and the British intelligence and this book is an important part of that history. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the work was the detailed look at the IRA's "Nutting Squad" (because they put a bullet through an informer's head or "nut" after interrogating them). To date, this is the most relevant work about the Nutting Squad and its deputy commander, Alfredo Scappaticci or codename "Stakeknife", who the author of this book convincingly exposes as an agent for the British. If you want to learn about the intelligence war that raged hot between the competing factions of The Troubles, and specifically the IRA's efforts to squash informants in it sranks...this is the book. I learned a lot from it.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Spy Thriller, May 18, 2010
This review is from: Stakeknife: Britain's Secret Agents in Ireland (History of Ireland & the Irish Diaspora) (Paperback)
This provides a detailed,fantastic portrayal of intelligence operations conducted by the British Army in Northern Ireland .It shows the brilliance of British Intelligence in recruiting and preserving a mole at the highest ranking level within the IRA.It details the skill and the disturbing moral questions in doing so.It also describes the skill and ruthlessness of the IRA.The one problem with this book ,is that it does not list any evidence to back up its main theme and various allegations,we can only infer that it is credible,so becuase of the way that Scappaticci was exposed oto the British media
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