{"title":"Books by Derek Molyneux","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781781177556","title":"Someone Has to Die for This","description":"\u003cp\u003eHot on the heels of \u003cem\u003eKilling at its Very Extreme, Dublin: October 1917 – November 1920\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eSomeone Has to Die for This, Dublin: November 1920 – July 1921\u003c\/em\u003e wrenches the reader into the final frenetic months of Dublin’s War of Independence, in uncompromising, unflinching, and unprecedented detail. The reader will follow in the footsteps of IRA assassination units on Bloody Sunday, witness the hellish conditions in Croke Park, taste the gripping tension that stalked the city as intelligence services battled it out over the winter, while equally clandestine peace feelers were set in play.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe pressure ratchets up in 1921 as surging IRA Active Service Units take the fight to the Auxiliaries, police and military in Dublin. Swathes of the country erupt into violent attacks and barbarous reprisals. Killings escalate in daily ambushes. Prison escapes are vividly detailed, as are the Mountjoy hangings. Shuttle diplomacy intensifies as a settlement is desperately sought, but fault lines develop among the Republican leadership.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStreet-battles paralyse the city with civilians bearing a brutal burden; the IRA relentlessly presses on. The devastating Custom House attack precedes the war’s ferocious final weeks, culminating in a near bloodbath that almost scuppered the truce. Experience these breathtaking events through the eyes of their participants. This is an unforgettable story, its style providing long-overdue justice.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56303395668341,"sku":"9781781177556","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781781177556_17613cc6-e433-49e4-b5a7-33e2300515a9.jpg?v=1786034311"},{"product_id":"9781781178638","title":"Tomorrow with Bayonets","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe raw intensity of the Irish Civil War is brought to life in this gripping, fast-paced journey from July 1921 to July 1922 – a year of change and conflict. Dublin’s descent into violent unrest surpasses the turbulence of the Easter Rising. Treaty debates spark dissension, and as tensions mount, Dublin becomes a tinderbox of espionage, betrayal, and guerrilla warfare. Former allies who fought shoulder to shoulder in the IRA now find themselves divided and entrenched in an ideological struggle that threatens to tear Dublin and Ireland apart. More than a historical recount, 'Tomorrow With Bayonets' offers a visceral portrayal of a nation grappling with its identity and sovereignty, seen through the eyes of combatants, leaders, and civilians caught in the crossfire.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Provisional Government’s National Army and the IRA engage in sporadic but fierce clashes as unrelenting violence and chaos engulf the country. In Northern Ireland, there is growing disillusionment among IRA units due to the diminishing credibility of assurances from Michael Collins. Ongoing assaults on their communities, the nationalist population experiences a rising number of casualties due to rampant brutality from unionist militias. A suppression of inquiries into killings leads to a widespread feeling of abandonment by the Provisional Government.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn June 4 1922, the Provisional Government implemented 'a policy of peaceful obstruction' towards the Belfast Government, explicitly forbidding any troops from the twenty-six counties from entering the six-county area. In an apocalyptic climax, Dublin is engulfed in explosions, assassinations and relentless urban warfare. This powerful account, not for the faint-hearted, leaves a lasting impact, resonating with the reader long after the final page.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56303397798261,"sku":"9781781178638","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781781178638_16e53bda-67c9-4780-855c-b524fa1e8454.jpg?v=1786026016"},{"product_id":"9781848893252","title":"Those of Us Who Must Die","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe 1916 Rising is one of the most documented and analysed episodes in Ireland’s turbulent history. Often overlooked, however, is its immediate aftermath. This significant window in the narrative of Irish revolutionary history, which saw the rebirth of the Volunteers and laid the foundations for the War of Independence, is usually covered as a footnote, or from the biographical standpoints of the leaders.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePicking up where the authors’ acclaimed account of the Rising, \u003cem\u003eWhen the Clock Struck in 1916\u003c\/em\u003e, left off, we join the men and women of the Rising in the dark abyss of defeat. The leaders’ poignant final hours and violent ends are laid bare, but the perspective of those with the unpalatable task of carrying out the executions is also revealed, rectifying a historic disservice to those who reluctantly formed the firing squads. While the prisoners in Dublin awaited their grisly fates, others were deported in stinking cattle boats to camps in England and Wales.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen they returned, it was to a jubilant welcome in a radically changed country. The gruesome death of Thomas Ashe in September 1917, after being force-fed in Mountjoy Prison, became a marshalling point for the republican movement, as his funeral saw Volunteers once again assembled in uniform on Dublin’s streets. The next phase of the struggle was born, under new leaders who had ‘graduated’ from the internment camps known as ‘Republican Universities’, ready and eager to fill the void left by the executed visionaries.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe authors sifted through thousands of first-hand accounts of the suffering endured when ordinary people set out to change history. Their stirring account will transport readers into life as it looked, sounded and even smelt to those taking part in this crucial juncture of our history.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56308010942837,"sku":"9781848893252","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781848893252_0239e828-8100-4473-a3d8-af06749075cd.jpg?v=1786034100"},{"product_id":"9781848892132","title":"When the Clock Struck in 1916","description":"`Well, I’ve helped to wind up the clock – I might as well hear it strike.’ Michael Joseph O’Rahilly. The Easter Rising of 1916 was a seminal moment in Ireland’s turbulent history. For the combatants it was a no-holds-barred clash: the professional army of an empire against a highly motivated, well-drilled force of volunteers. What did the men and women who fought on the streets of Dublin endure during those brutal days after the clock struck on 24 April 1916? For them, the conflict was a mix of bloody fighting and energy-sapping waiting, with meagre supplies of food and water, little chance to rest and the terror of imminent attacks. The experiences recounted here include those of: 20-year-old Sean McLoughlin who went from Volunteer to Captain to Commandant-General in five days: his cool head under fire saved many of his comrades; Volunteer Robert Holland, a sharpshooter who continued to fire despite punishing rifle recoil; Volunteer Thomas Young’s mother, who acted as a scout, leading a section through enemy-infested streets; the 2\/7th Sherwood Foresters NCO who died when the grenade he threw at Clanwilliam House bounced off the wall and exploded next to his head; 2nd Lieutenant Guy Vickery Pinfield of the 8th Royal Hussars, who led the charge on the main gate of Dublin Castle and became the first British officer to die in the Rising. This account of the major engagements of Easter Week 1916 takes us onto the shelled and bullet-ridden streets of Dublin with the foot soldiers on both sides of the conflict, into the collapsing buildings and through the gunsmoke.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56308372930933,"sku":"9781848892132","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781848892132_7e4df4c6-911d-4ac8-852c-975b42e3ec12.jpg?v=1786034097"},{"product_id":"many-of-our-best-lie-there","title":"Many of our Best Lie There","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe explosive conclusion to Ireland's revolutionary saga — where former comrades turn guns on each other in Dublin's blood-soaked streets and a nation's dream of freedom becomes a nightmare of civil war.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMany of Our Best Lie There\u003c\/em\u003e explores unforgettable characters and stories, such as the almost supernatural warnings ignored before \u003cstrong\u003eMichael Collins\u003c\/strong\u003e, Ireland's most charismatic leader, met his tragic fate. Follow legendary figures like \u003cstrong\u003eHarry Boland, Ernie O'Malley\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eJoe O'Connor\u003c\/strong\u003e as they navigate betrayal, capture and the psychological scars of revolution.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGripping military action unfolds from seaborne National Army landings to mass IRA prison escapes, as urban guerrilla warfare brings Dublin to its knees and former allies turn their guns on each other.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDark historical truths reveal 'The Terror' — the state-sanctioned brutality that averaged more than one frequently botched execution per day in January 1923, showing how revolutionary ideals corrupted under the pressure of civil war.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo other series puts you this close to the action, in the trenches and safe houses with the actual participants. This isn't just military history — it's friendship betrayed, ideals corrupted and a nation's birth trauma that still echoes today. Think \u003cem\u003eGame of Thrones\u003c\/em\u003e, but it really happened — in Ireland's bloodiest year.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how modern Ireland was truly born — not just in the glory of 1916–1921, but in the ashes of civil war.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57487828615541,"sku":"9781806900008","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}]}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-derek-molyneux.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}