Bandit Country: The IRA and South Armagh

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At 15 years old I was finally deemed old enough and mature enough to be able to read the book with its context and not just the "up the 'RA" kind of attitude that I had been exposed to in school, and since I came into possession of this book I must have read it maybe 10-12 times.

That said though this book is not just a litany of actions and killings, it is also a discussion of the social and historical roots of the conflict in South Armagh, why South Armagh was a "land apart" from the north of Ireland and why it became one of the pivotal battlefields of the `Troubles'. This was where many of the British troops in Northern Ireland were killed and it became one of the most dangerous places to serve in in the British Army. However, do not let this put you off if you have an interest in understanding the course of the `Troubles' in South Armagh and how it influenced the broader struggle in the north of Ireland. Famously described as 'Bandit Country' by Merlyn Rees when he was Northern Ireland Secretary, for nearly three decades South Armagh was the most dangerous posting in the world for a British soldier.Drawing on secret documents and interviews on South Armagh’s recent history, Harnden told the inside story of how the IRA came close to bringing the British state to its knees.

I have to confess that as an American I knew very little of the conflict outside of Tom Clancy's Patriot Games. The author cites successive examples of the area being an extremely dangerous place for the Royal Irish Constabulary, the pre-partition British police force, and of course, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), post-partition. The majority of pages are undamaged with some creasing or tearing, and pencil underlining of text, but this is minimal. Many commentators and authors, (although in fairness, probably not Harnden) fail to really comprehend why the 'Queen's Writ' is not warmly received, in much of Ireland, for very real historical reasons.If IRA disarmament provokes a split, the hard-line dissenters almost certainly will hail from South Armagh. Based on the quality of First Casualty, I knew this would be a solid story with in depth interviews of as many people on both sides. Harnden is a brave man to have written this book so clearly identifying IRA kingpins in South Armagh to anyone who would care to take a second look.

I would rate his hypothesis as understandable, but fairly typical of the British colonial mentality when dealing with Irish Republican areas. I have not spared the reader the horrors of what has happened and there are pictures of bodies and the aftermath of incidents that some people might find distressing. If you want to understand the knife-edge stumble along the precipice to peace, you must read this book (Toby Harnden. In this acclaimed work of reportage, originally published in 2000, Toby Harnden stripped away the myth and propaganda associated with the region to produce one of the most compelling and important books on the Troubles.

Many readers may even think that Harnden is sympathetic, but in my opinion, any praise of the local Republican insurgents is based on a grudging type of respect.