Explores the relationship between the Irish Republican Army and the political movement that developed alongside it to challenge British rule. From Wilson and Heath to Thatcher and Blair, a generation of British politicians had to face an unprecedented subversive threat whose reach extended from West Belfast to Westminster.Finn shows how Republicans fought a war on several fronts, making use of every weapon available to achieve their goal of a united Ireland, from car bombs to election campaigns, street marches to hunger strikes. Though driven by an uncompromising revolutionary politics that blended militant nationalism with left-wing ideology, their movement was never monolithic, its history punctuated by splits and internal conflicts. The IRAs war ultimately ended in stalemate, with the peace process of the 1990s and the Good Friday Agreement that has maintained an uneasy balance ever since. --From publisher description.

The long war -- Fish through a desert -- Points of no return -- Law and disorder -- The year of civil resistance -- Roads not taken -- The broad front -- War by other means -- Down a few rungs -- Endgame -- Epilogue: towards the Republic?.