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Rating: 
Summary: The IRA are a legimate army fighting for their freedom.
Review: Although mostly employing guerilla tactics, it seems that the IRA are no different to many of the "legimate" armies of the world. Perhaps their aim is even more pure in that their purpose is to rid their country of foreign occupation. They use an interesting array of new and old battle techniques. They are not the evil terrorists that the British establishment would have us believe. At the least they are no worse than the British or U.S. militaries who in their use of modern bombing techniques, seek to terrorise the population of foreign cuntries for dubious reasons. All war is wrong and innocent people are always victims, but this book shows that the IRA are just soldiers in another bloody war with no easy solution.
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Summary: An historical document of its time
Review: Discussion on the merits or otherwise of this pamphlet seems to have generated more heat than light amongst its Amazon reviewers to date. It is what it is - an historical document from the 1950s - not a contemporary training manual or a justification for the recent conflict in Ireland and other areas which were also affected by that conflict. Readers anticipating modern guerrilla warfare theories or an insight into contemporary Irish Republican analysis and strategies will, therefore, find nothing of value in this work. Similarly, those who rail against its authenticity on the grounds that its contents bear no resemblance to materials which a number of recent works have reproduced from 'The Green Book' (and such accusations are clear evidence that the reviewers' knowledge of same is not gleaned from first hand acquaintance with that particular book), are being ahistorical - 'The Green Book' is of comparatively recent vintage, was not in print at the time of the pamphlet under review and belongs to another time and another form of conflict. Technological and military advances since the publication of the pamphlet render most of its content redundant. It should be appraised merely as a product of its time, providing an insight into the type of conflict its authors believed it necessary to prepare for and conduct. The handbook's utility should be judged historically not for its military acumen or lack of it but for its actual relevance to the real political and military circumstances pertaining at the time of its publication. It is the product of a particular militarist/political mindset at a specific period of Irish history, and that is all it is. As an aid to understanding how a section of Irish Republicans once viewed its options it is of interest, as an aid to understanding the ideology that section promoted amongst some of its followers it is of interest, but the pamphlet holds nothing of real value for those interested in either military strategy or contemporary Irish Republicanism. It is an interesting reprint of an obsolete document and as such is of limited value to a readership seeking up to date information on Irish affairs. As an aid to research for those studying militant Irish Republicanism it is, of course, a primary source for the period in which it was produced and distributed and it is strictly as an historical document that the pamphlet is best understood.
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Summary: Historical document
Review: Now that the IRA have been defeated by the mid-Ulster UVF and C Company of the UFF, this is an interesting historical document best placed in a museum.
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Summary: a pamphlet with some useful info
Review: The IRA must be the only "army" in history that has killed more of the people it purported to defend than the enemy. I put "army" in inverted commas because the IRA'c claim to the be the "Irish army" is an insult to the army of the Irish Republic, an entity established by the Constitution of the Republic of Ireland, and supported by the rule of law. The Irish people have rejected the IRA time after time , in election after election, yet it continues demanding to ride on our backs year after year. Read this, if you like, to lift a small corner of the veil on a criminal gang where thugs give each other high-sounding titles like 'Brigadier' and "Quartermaster-General" while sending naive young men out to cause needless slaughter. Then read Eamon Collins' "Killing Rage" to find out what the IRA is really about - the naked use of illicit power.
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Summary: FAKE!
Review: THE VOLUME OF 'HANDBOOK FOR VOLUNTEERS OF THE IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY:NOTES OF GUERILLA WARFARE'IS MORE THAN JUST A TRAINING HANDBOOK FOR GUERILLA WARFARE, IT IS A VERY UNIQUE AND TIMELY STATEMENT OF THE ARMED RESISTANCE OF THE IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY'S DETERMINATION TO END THIS OLD-AGE CONFLICT, ONCE AND FOR ALL. THIS WORK FROM THE FIELD IS EASY TO FOLLOW, AND IT IS OBVIOUS THAT BOTH THE TACTICS AND BACKGROUND OF IT HAVE BEEN USED TIME AND TIME AGAIN IN GUERILLA OPERATIONS IN THE NORTH. ONE OF IT'S APPEALS, IS THE COMMOM SENSE APPROACH IT OFFERS THE READER INTO THE BASIC ART AND PROFESSION OF GUERILLA WARFARE. ONE CAN SIMPLY SEE,THAT IF BE AN OPERATION IN THE CITY OR THE COUNTRYSIDE, THAT THE BUSINESS AND PROFESSION OF IRISH GUERILLA WARFARE IS A DEMANDING JOB AND NOT FOR THE WEAK OF HEART.IT AS WELL,OFFERS AN INSIDER'S LOOK OF THE REALITY OF THE IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY AND THE REASONING OF WHY THEY ADVOCATE WHAT THEY DO IN THE FIELD. THIS SMALL VOLUME WILL PUT THE READER INTO THE MINDSET OF WHAT IT REALLY TAKES TO RUN SUCCESSFUL GUERILLA OPERATIONS. THIS CLASSIC AND TIMELESS PIECE, IS WELL-ORGANISED, EASY TO FOLLOW AND IS A MUST READ VOLUME TO TRULY UNDERSTAND THE TRUE, BRUTAL REALITY OF POLITICS IN THE NORTH. THIS BOOK WILL MAKE A FINE ADDITION TO YOUR HOME LIBRARY AND YOU WILL FIND YOURSELF RE-READING IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN.(IT'S JUST THAT GOOD) READ FOR YOURSELF, THE WORDS OF VETERANS OF NUMEROUS CAMPAIGNS ON THE FRONTLINES,THAT COURAGE, BELIEF AND PROFESSIONALISM IS WHAT IT TAKES TO RUN GUERILLA OPS. THIS BOOK WILL DEFINITELY INTRODUCE THE READER, TO A WORLD THEY HAVE NEVER KNOWN BEFORE!
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Summary: Intresting Paladin imitation
Review: This little booklet seems to be a Paladin Press imitation of an IRA manual issued during the Border Campaign. As a result it is written anonymously, yet the topics and issues discussed by the author(s) shows (to me atleast) that whoever wrote it was legit and that this is not a fabrication. Thus it offers some interesting insights into what was being taught to Republican Volunteers from the post Civil War period to the re-emergence of the IRA in the late 60's. For that reason alone it is worth reading, but it should be mentioned that it is slim, and that the amount of practical information is not great. This booklet seems to have been a primer for IRA guerrillas who of course had a whole curriculum of other manuals including the famous "Green Book". Hopefully more and better books will appear once the issue in northeastern Ireland is finally settled once and for all. Maybe then those of us who pursue studies in Irish military history will be able to get better information about what was being taught to what must be the most long-lived guerrilla army in world history.
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