Osprey 9781849085250 The Northern Ireland Troubles

Osprey: The Northern Ireland Troubles

Operation Banner 1969–2007
The British campaign in Northern Ireland remains one of the most controversial actions in recent history. This new book by Aaron Edwards considers the strategic, operational and tactical aspects of what become the longest ever campaign embarked upon by British troops.

The 38-year campaign, codenamed Operation Banner, went through a number of phases. It began as a peacekeeping operation, morphed into a counter-insurgency operation and ending as a policing and counter-terrorism force. Banner was massive in scale.

No less than 10,000 troops were on active service throughout the campaign and at one point as many as 30,000 men and women were deployed on Ulster’s streets.

Drawing on extensive new research, this book presents an authoritative introduction to the ‘Troubles’, providing a strategic analysis of the successes and failures of the campaign.

Contents

Introduction
Chronology
Background to war: History, Myth and Memory in the ‘Troubles’
Warring Sides: Brits, Provos and Loyalists – The Parties to the Conflict
Outbreak: Politics in the Streets
The fighting: From Counter-Insurgency to Internal Security
Portrait of a soldier: General Sir Mike Jackson
The world around war: The International Dimension
Portrait of a Civilian: A Reporter’s Eye View – Malachi O’Doherty
How the War Ended: Ceasefire and Peace Process to Endgame
Conclusions and consequences: Lessons Learned from the Northern Irish Conflict
Further Reading
Index

Paperback; August 2011; 96 pages; ISBN: 9781849085250