November 2001

Martin McGuinness, former Chief of Staff of the IRA and first Minister for Education in the Northern Ireland Assembly, is the lynchpin of the current ceasefire. McGuinness has been described as 'excellent officer material', 'the second most powerful man in Britain after Rupert Murdooch', 'the personification of the armed struggle,' and 'IRA godfather of godfathers.' Yet he is also a devout Catholic, a husband and father of four and a keen poet and fisherman. In his native Derry, he is equally revered and reviled. In this book, the authors uncover the truth about the enigmatic and intensely private individual who holds the Northern Ireland peace process in his hands. Following interviews with friends and family, IRA volunteers, police officers, IRA victims, civil servants and politicians, the book tells the remarkable story of how McGuinness steered the IRA through war to peace.