...
Show More
the inside story of the Anglo-Irish war of 1920-21, from the man who led the most succesful Irish flying column. The book is a quick and engaging read, balancing details of each battle and operation with the big-picture view of the Irish struggle for freedom. But above all the value of this book is its political lessons; the final chapter in particular should be required reading for all revolutionary activists. In demonstrating his own journey to political consciousness and the consolidation of a national determination to see the battle to its finish, Barry shows the dialectical relationship between armed struggle and constitutional politics. When political remedies at the ballot box were denied, support for armed resistance climbed to new heights. When the military effort was in jeopardy, new political ratification for the cause reenforced their strength. In the end the outmanned, outgunned IRA became an unbeatable force because they were on the side of the Irish people, and the Irish people were on their side. Activists looking for a strategy for revolution in the twenty-first century would do very well to study the political insights of this military man.
