May 2005

'This inside account of the 1981 hunger strikes by one of the IRA prisoners' leaders is without doubt the most significant; it will force a complete reassessment of this pivotal episode in modern Irish history.' Ed Moloney author of A Secret History of the IRA

'I was told in 1991, when I privately criticised the role of the IRA Army Council in the hunger strike, that I could be shot if I opened my mouth. The threat had the desired effect.' Richard O'Rawe was a senior IRA prisoner in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh prison. One of the 'Blanketmen', he took part in the dirty protests that led to the hunger strikes of the early 1980s. Now Richard O'Rawe gives his personal and outspoken account of the turbulent times that saw British and Irish governments entering unprecedented negotiations with the IRA army council and the prisoners themselves. Passionate, disturbing and controversial, Blanketmen is a landmark text in the cruel history of Northern Ireland.

'A compelling and subversive book; essential reading for anybody interested in the IRA' Richard English author of Armed Struggle: A History of the IRA