Tony Geraghty brings two areas of expertise to bear on the Irish War. One, he is an ex-Para, albeit (and probably better for the "balance" of the book) not one who served in Northern Ireland. This gives him insights into the military side of things that an ordinary historian might not have. It would also appear to be the reason why he has a network of British military connections which give an incredible range and depth to his portrayal of British military and intelligence operations. Two, Mr. Geraghty was a Sunday Times journalist on the ground in Northern Ireland in the late 60s and early 70s. The resulting book is a long way from a dour military history - rather it provides some fascinating insights into the war in question. Mr. Geraghty doesn't display much love for the IRA, and his empathy is generally with the British, but he earnestly seeks to explore the war and his partialities can thus be indulged.
The book is divided into four sections. The first is the history of the conflict from the 1960s to the 1990s complete with frontline reports and makes fascinating and informative reading. The second part alone makes the book worth buying. It provides fascinating insights into the development of forensic science and its role in guerrilla warfare. But its ensuing description of the war at an intelligence level is frankly superb. Stories of republicans sent on holiday after "winning" CornFlakes-type competitions, allowing their residences to be bugged in their absence, might seem the stuff of trashy spy novels, but it's not! Part three, an account of the development of weapons during the period, is apt to be too technical at times for the non-specialist and could thus be seen as a weak point. Part four is an overview of Irish history from 1690 to the twentieth century. The author's bias is clearly in evidence here but his debunking of many republican myths and martyrs does have its refreshing and challenging dimension. In sum, I think Tony Geraghty has made an important contribution to Irish history in this book, and has done so in a most entertaining way.