Blanketmen: An Untold Story of the H-block Hunger Strike

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A major obstacle to this criminalisation policy was the fact that almost 2,000 prisoners, recognised by the British government as political prisoners, were still held in British prisons, which directly contradicted the British government’s propaganda claims. After a 53-day hunger strike with McKenna lapsing in and out of a coma and on the brink of death, the government appeared to concede the essence of the prisoners' five demands with a 30-page document detailing a proposed settlement. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.

The existence of thousands of prisoners, interned and sentenced under a regime which recognised them as political prisoners, coupled with the popular support for the armed struggle, forced the British government, after some earlier political and military miscalculations, to instigate a number of classical counterinsurgency measures. Read more about the condition New: A new, unread, unused book in perfect condition with no missing or damaged pages. Gerry had been framed by the police for the Guildford pub bombings in 1974 and had spent 15 years in prison for something he did not do. In the 1923 Irish hunger strikes thousands of Irish prisoners went on hunger strikes resulting in several deaths. As a result of their refusal, they would receive three days "on the boards" where all furniture was removed from their cell, and they were served the "number one diet" consisting of tea without milk, watery soup and dry bread.Having met Richard and interviewed him he is absolutely genuine about life on the inside and how iRA leadership could have prevented some of the hunger strikers deaths. I was a member of the RUC during the hunger strikes, I performed duty at six of the funerals throughout Northern Ireland. O'Rawes book shines with a masculine humanity and camaradarie, without a trace of self pity, that cannot be beaten even in the most desperate of circumstances. After ten years, and the release of historical state and personal papers, Richard O’Rawe’s assertions in Blanketmen have been vindicated.

The second is O'Rawe placing you in his mind both in real time and with the benefit of hindsight as a defining era in the history of the troubles played out.

The narration is often confusing because of unannounced time leaps and inconsistent usage of people's names and nicknames. The Bobby Sands Trust was established to publish, promote and keep in print the extraordinary writings of Bobby Sands, who from prison isolation became an international figure in 1981, and who to this day continues to inspire Irish republicans in their pursuit of freedom from British rule. Most purchases from business sellers are protected by the Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 which give you the right to cancel the purchase within 14 days after the day you receive the item. They refused to accept the new regime, refused to cooperate with the prison guards or to accept prison discipline.