Making Sense of the Troubles: A History of the Northern Ireland Conflict

I grew up during the troubles, living in a mainly loyalist public housing estate which bordered a the large nationalist West Belfast area. I was around 8 or 9 years of age when the recent Troubles began, and never had any sense of Catholics, Protestants, Nationalists or Loyalists. Like many, I lived through the events described in so much factual detail in this book, sometimes experiencing them first hand, and other times on the news. I was really impressed with how well this book is put together. The chronology is right on, as are the political and other details. I feel that it is a very neutral account of events - none of them stood out for me as being inaccurate, overblown, biased, and the detail level is just right. This book will certainly help others outside of Northern Ireland understand the difficulties experienced by all sides in the conflict, including victims, perpetrators, families, security forces, and political leaders. It's even a great read for folks in Northern Ireland, to remind them how much things have improved there. In my opinion this is the best account of the recent troubles on the market today - a must read for anyone wanting to understand what went on during those very dark days in Northern Irish history.

I became interested in this conflict after watching the 2002 movie Bloody Sunday with James Nesbitt. I found myself embarrassed that I had so little knowledge related to what had been occurring in Northern Ireland for most of my life. To think that there is a conflict that has simultaneously been characterized as 1) A war for independence, 2) a civil war, 3) a war on terrorism, 4) a war for Civil Rights, and 5) a war supporting a colonial possession and state ally; occurring in a 20th century industrialized nation was fascinating to me.I was a little worried that this book might be a little skewed one way or the other; but was extremely pleased to find it to be a very even handed and balanced reference.This book does go through over 30+ years of the conflict's history; so don't expect a deep dive into any particular event or person. That being said, I was very impressed with the breadth and width of the information the authors were able to put into a book that took me a 4 day weekend to get through. From the background history leading up to Operation Banner, through the military activities of the different parties, to the politics, to the personalities involved, it was easy to follow, and an easy read.I would highly recommend this book for those, like me, who are coming into the Northern Ireland Troubles cold, and want a comprehensive overview of the conflict. This book is probably not the one for anyone wanting to get deep into any specific event or personality.

Venía un poco desgastado de la pasta, pero en general el libro estaba en excelentes condiciones, fuera de ese detalle todo muy bien.

Overall, the book is well written and covers the history well. It could have gone into a bit more depth about collusion between British Intelligence and the Loyalist paramilitaries as that gets fudged over at times. I recommend it, and I hope Amazon will start treating its employees better.

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