- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Metro Books,London; New edition edition (14 Oct 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1900512750
- ISBN-13: 978-1900512756
- Product Dimensions: 19 x 13 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 392,244 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Of all the deaths in Northern Ireland's troubled history, few have aroused more controversy than that of British Army Captain Robert Nairac. In 1977, he was abducted outside a South Armagh pub, driven over the border to the Irish Republic, then interrogated and executed by the IRA. But what was he doing alone in a notorious Republican stronghold? Was he linked with an SAS shoot-to-kill policy? Was he betrayed? Crucially, where's his body?
Parker, a veteran Fleet Street journalist, has a string of investigative works to his bow including the bestselling Inside Story of the Special Boat Service, and seems well qualified to examine the mystery of Nairac's undercover operations. Drawing on new first-hand evidence from senior Army and SAS sources, he pieces together Nairac's final days in a fresh, compelling narrative, dispelling many of the conspiracy theories that have fermented over the past 20 years.
Parker's account, however, cannot be considered conclusive for much of the evidence he puts forward is contradictory. But what does come over very well and surprisingly is the man himself--a Catholic golden boy, Oxford educated, recruited by military intelligence--"A romantic and a bit of a Loner" who loved the country he spied on, who passionately believed he could help heal the sectarian divide and bring peace. Included are eight pages of photos, many of them grainy, but this only adds resonance to the story--family and school snapshots of a remarkable man who lived and died in a remarkable way. --Jim Rickards --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Captain Robert Nairac was a brilliantly successful undercover operative in the British Army, with a string of intelligence coups in the war against the IRA. But, until this book, the nature of his operations and the story of his betrayal and murder have remained shrouded in mystery. John Parker - author of a bestselling official history of the Special Boat Section - has obtained unprecedented co-operation from very senior Army sources, and from Nairac's friends and family, to reveal the truth behind the secret war in Northern Ireland - and the ferocious rivalry between MI5 and MI6 that contributed to Nairac's death. This book is a tribute to the heroism of Nairac and all those in Northern Ireland who gave their lives in the battle against terrorism.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"I've Nothing Against Heroes...",
By
This review is from: Death of a Hero: Captain Robert Nairac, GC and the Undercover War in Northern Ireland (Paperback)
Jack Hawkin's crusty colonel in that fine old British film The League of Gentlemen says "I've nothing against heroes...except that they tend to crook it for other people"...a point of view shared by many. This book details the background, military service and squalid brave end of Captain Nairac, murdered in 1977.
Nairac was from a "posh" English Catholic background and attended Ampleforth (the so-called "Catholic Eton") and Oxford University (he also attended university at Dublin before before joining the Grenadier Guards). That background (and I once had the misfortune to be acquainted with a former Head Boy of Nairac's old school, the father of a girlfriend...) does tend to result in a certain arrogance and indeed hauteur, in Nairac's case accentuated by his prowess as a boxer (he refounded the Oxford Uni. Boxing Club). Nairac was, despite the superficially very Establishment background, somewhat of an outsider in his life: his father, an eye surgeon, was of French background but born in Mauritius, as was Nairac himself. Nairac was a Roman Catholic in a mainly non-Roman Catholic country, university and regiment. He was, it seems, not entirely within the usual mould of Grenadier Guards officers and after one tour of northern Ireland volunteered for intelligence duties, attached to one of the "detachment" entities which started to grow up in the early-mid-1970's in N. Ireland. Nairac was therefore also a literally and bureaucratically "detached" Guards officer, a kind of intelligence officer who trained for a while at the then Joint Services training centre at Ashford in Kent but was never a member of the Intelligence Corps as such; likewise, he liaised to a limited extent (not clear to what extent) with MI5/Security Service and MI6/SIS without belonging, it seems, to either; yet, he also worked with the SAS and on occasion he wore their famous beret and cap badge despite having never been an officer of that regiment; neither did he pass SAS Selection (though he seems to have undergone some anti-interrogation courses somewhere. As the book makes clear, Nairac fell between the cracks of Army organization and was at times a law unto himself, a situation which, together with a natural self-confidence, led him to his death because, when he was captured (it seems, by bad luck as much as anything, rather than by a targeted IRA operation) he had no back-up which would probably have saved him. There is some suggestion both that Nairac (who had a deep knowledge of Ireland and its people) was working to some agenda of his own and that the IRA was loosely watching him and may well have been aware that he was a bit of a loose cannon in the British set-up. He may even have had a Sidney Reilly-like meeting or two with the IRA, trying to forge links which were also in existence at higher levels (between Adams/McGuinness and the British Government via SIS). The same sort of thing did happen in WW2 between some British officers and agents and their German opponents in Occupied France. To my mind, Nairac was a hero, but he was a hero of his own generation, very much his own man, like Gordon of Khartoum or Lawrence of Arabia. In other circumstances, Nairac may well have become a lot more famous than he now is. As it is, even his killers commended, at their trials, his courage: Nairac remains a national hero.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good insight,
By
This review is from: Death of a Hero: Captain Robert Nairac, GC and the Undercover War in Northern Ireland (Paperback)
No other source has painted the picture of what Northern Ireland in the 1970s was like. Nairac was a fascinating if bizarre character and the only frustrating thing about the book is that we don't know what happened to him or why. But it is a great story that would make a excellent film and adds to one's understanding of the troubles better than any straightforward history book.I would like the author to update it, if he can gind out more information - but in the meantime this is definitely worth a read.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
undercover military operations in Northern Ireland,
By A Customer
This review is from: Death of a Hero: Captain Robert Nairac, GC and the Undercover War in Northern Ireland (Paperback)
An interesting read if you want to know more about the intelligence side of the military in Northen Ireland. It seems as if Capaint Nairac went well beyond the call of duty - apparently patrolling in uniform then changing into civvy's and roaming the same area. However, it seems as if he was passionate about Ireland and this may have led to him taking too many risks.I think he would be pleased to see the latest developments and the efforts to bring 30 years of misery to an end. Another interesting book by the authour on a military theme!
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