The Red Hand: Protestant Paramilitaries in Northern Ireland

Bruce, Steve

ISBN 10: 0192852566 / ISBN 13: 9780192852564

Published by Oxford University Press, 1992

About this Item

Size: 12mo 6 3/4 - 7 3/4". xiv + 311pp. Binding firm, spine slightly creased. Edges browned. Occasional creasing to page corners. Ex-library, with minimal stamps and markings (Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre). Laminated covers, slightly marked. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 500 grams. Category: Military & Warfare; Ireland & Britain/UK; Modern; History. ISBN: 0192852566. ISBN/EAN: 9780192852564. Pictures of this item not already displayed here available upon request. Inventory No: 51178. Seller Inventory # 51178

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Red Hand: Protestant Paramilitaries in ...

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Publication Date: 1992

Binding: Softcover

Condition: Very Good

Edition: First Edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

Since the start of the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland", working class Protestants have used violence and terror to "defend Ulster from traitorous republicans". Despite being responsible for about half the civilian casualties of the present conflict and despite having subverted major political initiatives, the loyalist paramilitary organizations - The Ulster Defence Association, the Ulster Volunteer Force, the Red Hand Commando and others - have been relatively neglected by scholars. This study, based on extensive interviewing of loyalist terrorists, is a comprehensive survey of a group that is central to the Ulster conflict. "The Red Hand" recounts the history of loyalist terorism, analyzes the motives that inform it, examines the political innovations of the terrorists, critically explores claims of security force collusion with loyalist terror, and concludes by arguing that what appear to be unconnected aspects of loyalist paramilitarism can be understood as having common origins in the problems of trying to use terror to defend, rather than to destroy, the state. The primary importance of the book is in filling a large gap in our understanding of the Northern Ireland conflict; its secondary purpose is to extend our understanding of the relationship between terrorism and the modern state.