The Lost Revolution

The story of contemporary Ireland is inseparable from the story of the official republican movement - from the clash between Catholic nationalist and socialist republicanism in the 1960s and '70s through the Workers' Party's eventual rejection of irredentism. A roll-call of influential personalities in the fields of politics, trade unionism and media - many still operating at the highest levels of Irish public life - passed though the ranks of this secretive movement, which never achieved its objectives but had a lasting influence on the landscape of Irish politics. The story of this protean movement is told here for the first time, in a work of ground-breaking scholarship and gripping narrative.

'A vibrant, balance narrative' Diarmaid Ferriter, Irish Times Books of the Year

'The book, in its carefully researched and scholarly way, uncovers an eclectic mix of committed terrorists, political ideologues, visionaries, civil-righters, socialists of various shades and social democrats, petty criminals and opportunists ...... An indispensable handbook' Maurice Hayes, Irish Independent

'Hugely impressive ...... For five years, the authors tracked down anyone who would talk to them about the singular trajectory of the movement that began with the split of the IRA' Irish Mail on Sunday

'The level of detail, research and remembrance is astonishing and the book brings reminders about the history of the modern left leadership's origins, and even Eoghan Harris' Suzy Byrne, Irish Times Books of the Year

'A riveting tale' Tribune

'Financed by bank robberies, money laundering and North Korean dollars, a tiny number of would-be revolutionaries set out to turn Ireland into a Celtic version of the Soviet Union. They failed, of course, but Brian Hanley and Scott Millar's excellent study shows how they made an impact on the political stage' Sunday Business Post