Policing Ireland’S Twisted History

Book excerpt: Ireland has long been a country of conflict. More than 400 years ago, the occupying English planted pre-Celtic Scots in the northern province of Ulster and divested the native Irish Celts of the land their ancestors owned for 2,000 years. This created a deep-seated enmity between the English and Irish, Protestant and Catholicand it finally exploded in the Troubles. Author Alan M. Wilson was on the front lines for the bloodbath that tore Northern Ireland apart from the late 1960s through the first years of the twenty-first century. Policing Irelands Twisted History reveals Wilsons remarkable, true story of growing up in Belfast and serving in the Royal Ulster Constabulary as an inspector and as a member of an elite anti-terrorism unit. Wilsons only goal was to help protect the innocent on both sides. Unfortunately, he became a target himself. Brutally honest and unflinching, Wilson traces his experiences serving Irelands divided society for nearly ten years. From watching friends die to the tit-for-tat murders occurring on the streets to staring death in the eye more than once, Wilson reveals the deep, gut-wrenching search for the meaning of it all in the midst of the worlds longest-running terrorist situation. A firsthand look at the Northern Ireland conflict, Policing Irelands Twisted History offers an eye-opening, intimate examination of this devastating struggle.