September 2002

For decades, the IRA has been one of the world's most feared, ruthless and impenetrable terrorist organizations. But during this time, the author of this book, former Irish journalist of the year, has been gaining unprecedented access to its most closely guarded secrets.

This book is the sensational inside story of the IRA and it has never been told before: its inner workings and top-secret meetings; its most dangerous informers, bombers and gunmen; the deadly rivalries and betrayals that tore it apart; and, most astonishing of all, the years of behind-the-scenes negotiations with the British and Irish governments that until now have never been revealed.

And at the heart of the story lies one man: Gerry Adams. The author discloses shocking new material on the career of Gerry Adams as an early IRA leader in Belfast and his unrelenting rise to power, asking the question: how could a man who condoned terrible atrocities also be the guiding force behind the ceasefire and the peace process?

This revelatory book will change for ever the way the reader sees the IRA and its bloody thirty-year conflict with Britain.