
A Hard Local War
The British Army and the Guerrilla War in Cork 1919-1921
William Sheehan(Author)
The History Press Ltd
Published on 1. March 2011
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-0-7524-5882-3 (ISBN)
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Description
Following years of discontent over Home Rule and The Easter Rising, the deaths of two Royal Irish Constabulary policemen in Soloheadbeg at the hands of the IRA in 1919 signalled the outbreak of war in Ireland. The Irish War of Independence raged until a truce between the British Army and the IRA in 1921, historical consensus being that the conflict ended in military stalemate.
In "A Hard Local War", William Sheeham sets out to prove that no such stalemate existed, and that both sides were continually innovative and adaptive. Using new research and previously unpublished archive material, he traces the experience of the British rank and file, their opinion of their opponents, the special forces created to fight in the Irish countryside, RAF involvement and the evolution of IRA reliance on IEDs and terrorism.
Using new research and previously unpublished archive material, including the letters of British soldiers and IRA men, official reports and period publications, he also reveals that the British Army was in fact winning the fight in Cork, partly owing to superior resources, but also because of the cooperation of the local people. This book successfully challenges the received wisdom of the events and outcome of the War of Independence, and sheds new light on a tumultuous period of Irish history.
In "A Hard Local War", William Sheeham sets out to prove that no such stalemate existed, and that both sides were continually innovative and adaptive. Using new research and previously unpublished archive material, he traces the experience of the British rank and file, their opinion of their opponents, the special forces created to fight in the Irish countryside, RAF involvement and the evolution of IRA reliance on IEDs and terrorism.
Using new research and previously unpublished archive material, including the letters of British soldiers and IRA men, official reports and period publications, he also reveals that the British Army was in fact winning the fight in Cork, partly owing to superior resources, but also because of the cooperation of the local people. This book successfully challenges the received wisdom of the events and outcome of the War of Independence, and sheds new light on a tumultuous period of Irish history.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Stroud
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 160 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
600 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7524-5882-3 (9780752458823)
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Book
07/2017
The History Press Ltd
€36.50
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Person
William Sheehan is a lecturer on military history. He serves in the Irish Reverse Defense Forces, and has been awarded a Limerick Literary Tradition Award and an Award for Outstanding Achievement from Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick. He is the author of more than 20 books and articles, including Trenchard: The Architect of British Airpower, The Front: Irish Soldier and World, and Warlike George, An Irish King in India.