The Anglo-Irish War: The Troubles of 1913-1922 ... (ISBN 1846030234)

The author is a British Army officer with outrageous bias:
The author treats with utter disdain the Irish men and women who directly or indirectly supported the Easter rising and subsequent years up to 1922. It would be an exaggeration to say that poor writing and bias drips off every page - more like every other paragraph. His childish scarcasms are a bit much, too. After reading this light volume, I found myself wondering what criteria Osprey Publishing uses in its selection of specific materials and authors! Be cautious with other volumes in this series. If there was half a star, I would have rated this trash as such. The photographs are of good quality and interesting. If the book was around $1.50 I would suggest to "consider" purchasing for the photographs.

The troubles:
Nice concise treatis on the Anglo-Irish wars. Typical of te Osprey publishing. Great inexpensive informative works on a multitude of subjects w/ great pics and I love the colour plates.

A Civil War, By Any Other Name:
Peter Cottrell provides excellent insight into this partially forgotten conflict. For anyone who is unfamiliar with the Essential Histories series, these books provide a short and succinct description of a particular war. As expected, the book is ninety pages long and contains a wide selection of black and white photos. The Anglo-Irish war was different than most conventional wars. Large armies did not meet on the field of battle. The Troubles, as this war was called, is much closer to a civil war or an insurgency. Without too much imagination, the reader can see where this period bears some similarities to the current conflict in Iraq. Even though this was not a conventional war, the book still provides useful tactical descriptions on certain actions, such as the Listowel Mutiny and the Ambush at Kilmichael. Numerous organizations were created, fought, and later disbanded during this conflict. This can be confusing to the average reader. Cottrell, however, does a nice job of describing the evolution and activities of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), Irish Republican Army (IRA), the Black and Tans, and the Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) to name a few. The book also contains color maps of Ireland and its various counties along with tables of the number of wounded and killed during the applicable years. Cottrell points out an annoying little fact that the Troubles were more of a civil war than a fight for freedom against the British invaders. Many of the Unionists were Irish. In other words, they were of the same ethnic heritage as their Republican enemies. A glaring illustration of this fact can be seen in the ranks of the RIC and DMP. These Irish organizations were clearly loyal to the Crown. Many historians also gloss over the fact that thousands of Irish took a break during this period to fight for England in World War I. This book also provides an interesting example of information warfare, long before that term became common. Several Irish rebels were executed after the Easter Uprising. Britain exercised its normal right to execute people who fought against it during wartime (i.e.: World War I). Nevertheless, the British actions were painted in a negative light. On the other hand, atrocities committed by the IRA were often glossed over. Some parts of the book are confusing, as the time line goes back and forth. A decent understanding of this period would be helpful to the reader. That said, it is still a nice summary of people and events that the average reader has vaguely heard of, such as Michael Collins and the Easter Uprising. The "Portrait of a Soldier" chapter talks about David Neligan, someone who fought on both sides. Despite a slightly confusing time line, this is a pretty good addition to the historical writing on this period.