Behind the Mask

Over the past twenty-five years, more than three thousand people have died as the IRA fought to force the British government out of Ireland. Peter Taylor brings us the extraordinary story of The Troubles that have ravaged Northern Ireland through his unprecedented access to IRA members and documents and Irish and British soldiers, politicians, and eyewitnesses. From the Easter rising in 1916 to the ceasefire in effect today, the history and politics of the conflict are laid out here with deadly clarity. Once jailed as terrorists, IRA leaders now have been feted at the White House, elected to Parliament in London, and even shared in the Nobel Peace Prize. In this brilliant account, Behind the Mask brings us up to date on one of the world's most enduring conflicts, now on the verge of resolution with the historic 1998 Peace Accord.