HISTORY:
** Spanning 38 years of the 'Troubles', the British Army's deployment in Northern Ireland (codenamed Operation Banner) was one of the most difficult and controversial in its recent history. Over 10,000 troops were on active service during much of the campaign, which saw armoured vehicles, helicopters and special forces deployed onto the streets of Ulster. In this book, Dr Aaron Edwards considers the strategic, operational and tactical aspects of Operation Banner, as the Army's military objectives morphed from high-profile peacekeeping into a covert war against the IRA. Using personal testimony from both sides of the sectarian divide, as well as insights from the soldiers themselves, he presents an authoritative introduction to the Army's role in the Troubles, providing expert analysis of Operation Banner's successes and failures.
Updated and revised for the new edition, with full-colour maps and 50 new images, this is an accessible introduction to the complicated yet fascinating history of modern Britain's longest military campaign.**
** Quoted from the back cover of the book.
THE BOOK:
Osprey Publications has released The Northern Ireland Troubles, 1969 -2007 by author Aaron Edwards as part of their Essential Histories series. It is a 144-page soft cover book, 8 x 6 inches in size. Included with the text are black and white and color photographs, color maps, and informational charts. It has a 2023 copyright, a publication date of September 26, 2023, and the ISBN is 978-1-4728-5714-9.
THE CONTENTS:
Introduction
Background to War
- Politics and violence
Warring Sides
- Brits, Provos and Loyalists
Outbreak
- Politics in the streets
The Fighting
- From counter-insurgency to internal security
The World Around War
- A place apart?
How the War Ended
- Ceasefire to Agreement
Conclusion and Consequences
- The harsh lessons of the Troubles
Chronology
Further Reading
Index
THE TEXT:
Author Aaron Edwards provides a well written text discussing the conflict in Northern Ireland. The text in the book is well written and extremely detailed. The contents portion where I listed the contents of the book is accurate as to what is discussed. The text details the vast history of the Northern Ireland conflicts during the years listed in the title. Information provided includes what the Irish were protesting during their marches, actions taken by both sides during the conflict, casualties, dead and wounded, on both sides of the conflict and who and what caused the casualties, results of the attacks and British responses to the attacks, dates, locations, and other such pertinent information. In addition to his own words, Aaron Edwards has also provided numerous quotes from key individuals involved, books, the British Army Doctrine, British military R.O.E. (Rules of Engagement) as well as from official British Cabinet meeting minutes. I feel that Aaron Edwards has covered the history of the conflict in Northern Ireland between the years of 1969 through 2007 well and has provided the information in an easy-to-read format which the detailed oriented reader will benefit from. As I read through the text, I didn’t notice any spelling or grammatical errors. Grammar and spelling might not be an important factor to everyone; however, it is something that I take notice of and pass on my findings. Anyone wanting to add an excellent reference and history book on the long running conflict in Northern Ireland to their personal library will be pleased with this informative and interesting book.
THE PHOTOGRAPHS:
A total of 26 black and white photographs and 28 color photographs are included in this volume. The photographs range from wide angle photographs to close-up detailed photographs. They contain a combination of in-action photographs, photographs removed from motion pictures to photographs that have been staged for the photographer. The photographs include subjects such as key individuals from both sides of the conflict, members of royalty, military leaders, world leaders, soldiers, IRA members, protestors, military and civilian vehicles, military checkpoints, military uniforms, small arms, riot gear, the results of car bombs, remote controlled bombs gun attacks, barricades, and other such subjects in nice detail. The photographs are nice, clear, centered and focused images and are of a good quality. I haven’t seen many of the featured photographs, and I was pleased with this. I consider that a bonus as it is nice to have a book discussing a period of history that contains several lesser-known photographs as opposed to overused photographs that many books tend to contain. Author Thomas Anderson stuck to the title of the book and chose subject specific photographs and did not include photographs that strayed from the main subject of the book. The photographs will prove to be valuable to the anyone interested in the long running conflict in Northern Ireland due to the details they contain.
INFORMATIONAL CHARTS:
There are 3 informational charts included in this book and they provide information on the following:
Table 1. Prime Ministers if Northern Ireland, 1921-72
Table 2. Presidents of the Executive and Taoisigh of the Republic of Ireland
Table 3. Security Forces Strength, 1969-98
MAPS:
There are 10 maps included in this book and they provide information on the following:
- Cities, Towns and Villages in Northern Ireland
- Religious Demography of Belfast, 1991
- Religious Demography of Derry/Londonderry, 1991
- ‘Bloody Sunday’, The Bogside, 30 January 1972
- ‘Bloody Friday’, Belfast, 1 July 1972
- British Army Brigade Areas in the 1980s
- The Warrenpoint Ambush, 27 August 1979
- The Loughgall Ambush, 8 May 1987
- Security Forces Deaths in the Troubles, 1969-2001
- Civilian Deaths in the Troubles, 1969-2001
THE CAPTIONS:
The captions are well written and are very detailed and explain the accompanying photographs in great detail eliminating any doubt as to what is shown and taking place. The captions go into very specific detail as to the shown military units, specific individuals, dates and locations, and other such pertinent information. As I read through the captions, I didn’t notice any spelling or grammatical errors. As I stated before, grammar and spelling might not be an important factor to everyone, however it is something that I take notice of and pass on my findings. The captions themselves are basically miniature history lessons as they detailed what is happening, or happened, in the photographs and give specific detail as to the who, what, where, why and when. I was impressed by Aaron Edwards’ captions as they are very helpful to the reader due to their detailed content as opposed to other captions, I have seen that are very brief and lack detail.
Osprey Publishing also offers The Northern Ireland Troubles, 1969–2007 as:
eBook (PDF) ISBN: 978-1-4728-5716-3
and
Ebook (Epub & Mobi) ISBN: 978-1-4728-5717-0
Osprey Publishing’s, The Northern Ireland Troubles, 1969–2007 is also available as an electronic Kindle version and as an Audible Audiobook through Amazon.com.
PRICE:
UK £12.99/ US $20.00 / CAN $27.00
This book was provided to me by Osprey Publishing. Please mention that you saw the book reviewed here on the KitMaker Network when you make your purchase. Thank you.
