Author Description

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a civil war emerged in Northern Ireland. This book examines the civil war -- also known as the Troubles -- in the cities of Belfast and Derry. Its original archival research traces how multiple and overlapping conflicts unfolded in the streets of these two cities. The Troubles grew out of a political process that mobilized opponents and defenders of the Stormont regime, and which also dragged London and Dublin into the crisis. Drawing upon government papers, police reports, army files, intelligence summaries, evidence to inquiries, and parish chronicles, this book sheds fresh light and a unique perspective on key events, such as: the October 5, 1968 march; the Battle of the Bogside; the Belfast riots of August 1969; the Battle of St. Matthew's; and the Falls Road curfew. This cutting-edge book offers two richly-detailed engaging narratives that intertwine and present a new history of the start of the Troubles in Belfast and Derry. It also establishes a foundation for comparison with similar developments elsewhere in the world. - Publisher.