This book investigates the internal dynamics, operational methods, and social impact of the Cork I.R.A. during the Irish War of Independence. Peter Hart, a historian specializing in the Irish revolutionary period, utilizes a vast array of primary sources, including previously untapped witness interviews and military records, to reconstruct the reality of guerrilla warfare. He argues that the conflict was not merely a national struggle against British rule but a complex web of local ethnic and community violence that fundamentally altered the social fabric of County Cork.

Experts frequently cite this work as a foundational text for understanding the granular reality of the Irish revolutionary period. Readers often note the academic density of the prose and the author's rigorous, objective approach to sensitive historical subject matter.