On the Blanket: The Inside Story of the IRA Prisoners' "Dirty" Protest

by Tim Pat Coogan

Overview

The H Block protest is one of the strangest and most controversial issues in the tragic history of Northern Ireland. Republican prisoners, convicted of grave crimes through special courts and ruthless interrogation procedures, campaigned for political status by refusing to wear prison clothes and daubing their cell with excrement.Were they properly convicted criminals, or martyrs to political injustice? In a masterpiece of investigative journalism, Coogan provides us with the only first-hand account of the protest. His investigation led deep into the social, cultural, and economic maze of Northern Ireland's history to give readers an unmatched analysis of a troubled place and its sorrowful history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312295134
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/17/2002
Edition description:	First Palgrave Macmillan Edition
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

Tim Pat Coogan is one of the best known journalists and historians in Ireland. Former editor of the Irish Press, his books include The Troubles, The IRA, and Wherever Green is Worn.

Editorial Reviews

From the very first sentence, it grips as it horrifies. One would have to be extremely insensitive or extremely prejudiced to fail to be moved by it.” —The Irish Times

“A must for anyone interested in the contemporary history of Anglo-Irish relations.” —Sean MacBride, Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize

From the Publisher

Irish journalist Coogan's 1980 volume follows the story of the "H Block" protest waged by IRA prisoners trying to bring attention to the brutality of the British and the ongoing clash between the Protestants and the Catholics in Northern Ireland. Dubbed the "dirty" protest, the action involved prisoners slathering the walls of their tiny cells with their own excrement and hunger strikes that resulted in several deaths. This book chronicles it all in unrelenting detail; a real eye-opener. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal