Inside dust jacket: Although they were only a small proportion of British forces in Ireland, they were the toughest, the wildest, and the most feared. They knew nothing and they cared nothing about Ireland. They were sent there in March of 1920 by Lloyd George's Coalition Cabinet to make it "a hell for rebels to live it". They could arrest and imprison anyone at any time. They murdered civilians, They wore a strange mixture of dark green tunics, khaki trousers, black belts, and odd headgear, including civilian felt hats. The Irish names them after a famous pack of wild dogs in Co. Limerick - The Black and Tans.

The Black and Tans murdered innocent people, burned and looted all over the south and west of Ireland. By July of 1921, they had accomplished their mission so spectacularly well that they united not only Irish but British public opinion against the government; undermined Lloyd George's Coalition; and dealth the Liberal Party a blow from which it was never to recover. Richard Bennett's book is an accurate acount of an ugly and harrowing period in Anglo-Irish history -- a period that the English have struggled to forget and the Irish cannot help but remember.
RABCKing to a BCer in (appropriately) Ireland. Wish I could go with it!!

Got this book today as a RABCK. That was quick, I didn't expect it for another couple of weeks! Have a couple of books to read before this one, so should get to it in mid December.

This is a well-researched book, and an interesting read.

Reserved for SirRoy

Caught at Dublin BookCrossers and Assorted Invitees Meetup.

Many thank Silja. This is an area of special interest for me.

January 2007 stocktaking of Mount TBR.

Let me know if you would like me to move this along.