David Beresford
Paperback | Pages: 432 pages Rating: 4.29 | 708 Users | 49 Reviews
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| Original Title: | Ten Men Dead: The Story of the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike |
| ISBN: | 0586065334 (ISBN13: 9780586065334) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Bobby Sands |
| Setting: | Ireland Belfast, Northern Ireland(United Kingdom) |
Representaion Concering Books Ten Men Dead
"An excellent history of the 1981 hunger strike in Ireland that details the broad cast of characters with insight and care". -- from the New York Times Book Review's "best Books of 1989"In 1981 ten men starved themselves to death inside the walls of Long Kesh prison in Belfast. While a stunned world watched and distraught family members kept bedside vigils, one "soldier" after another slowly went to his death in an attempt to make Margaret Thatcher's government recognize them as political prisoners rather than common criminals.Drawing extensively on secret IRA documents and letters from the prisoners smuggled out at the time, Ten Men Dead tells the gripping story of these strikers and their devotion to the cause. An intensely human story, Ten Men Dead offers a searing portrait of strife-torn Ireland, the IRA, and the passions -- on both sides -- that Republicanism arouses.
"Beresford puts in human terms the conduct of an often frightful and inhumane struggle. He makes the incomprehensible comprehensible". -- Commonweal
Specify Containing Books Ten Men Dead
| Title | : | Ten Men Dead |
| Author | : | David Beresford |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 432 pages |
| Published | : | May 14th 1987 by HarperCollins Publishers |
| Categories | : | History. Cultural. Ireland. Nonfiction. European Literature. Irish Literature. Politics |
Rating Containing Books Ten Men Dead
Ratings: 4.29 From 708 Users | 49 ReviewsWrite-Up Containing Books Ten Men Dead
...a prisoner being admitted to Her Majesty's Prison..the ghosts of an ancient cause were looking over the shoulder of a convicted man.I chose to read this book because during one of my last trips to Gaza, I met one of the men who was supposed to join the 1981 Irish hunger strike. He didn't, because it was finally called off after 10 men died in their struggle to force the British government to treat them as political prisoners rather than "common" criminals. Although I found the book tedious to read at times because it was difficult to keep track of all of the players, as well as to figure out some of the code words and Irish
Superb telling of the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike. Beresford personalizes the struggle very well, the reader gets to know each of the ten who died as well as others especially Brendan "Bik" McFarland.If one is not sickened by Margaret Thatcher, the English government and their lackeys in Northern Ireland , read the section regarding the assassination attempt on Bernadette Devlin McAliskey.Beresford does a great job providing background on hunger strikes as a tactic.Purchased in the Sinn Fein
An important book in terms of contributing an objective point of view to the literature around the hunger strikes and the wider field of colonisation and resistance in general. Well-written, gripping but heartbreaking at the same time, it is a book I am sure I will be returning to in the future.
This is a journalistic account of the 1981 IRA Hunger Strikes, detailing with a keen eye the struggles of the prisoners and their families, the impact this had on the politics of Northern Ireland, and drawing parallels with earlier Irish struggles. The book makes great use of the communiques smuggled in and out of the Maze Prison, and catches the dark humour of the men behind the wire - one prisoner who managed to smuggle in a pen, tobacco, a radio and a wad of messages became known as "The
Not the easiest to read. But it was well worth muscling through.
As someone who makes his living as a journalist writing about pretty much the worst heartache, this book was even for me horribly depressing. It is an account of the ten Irish Republicans who starved themselves to death in prison in protest during the Thatcher-era. It tells each man's personal story, from the reasons for their arrests to their final moments.This book was written for a United Kingdom audience and assumes readers have more knowledge of the Irish conflict than I did. I can't really
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