Bloody Sunday: How Michael Collins' Agents, Assassinated Britain's Secret Service in Dublin on November 21, 1920

By James Joseph Gleeson

Book Overview

This is the story of one of the most terrifying operations ever carried out by one secret army against another. Sunday, November 21, 1920, was a decisive day in the Irish nation's long, bloody... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1592282822
• ISBN13: 9781592282821
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: Lyons Pr
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.8" x 5.0"

Customer Reviews

A must read for any student of the subject.

This is one of the first works about the subject back in print. This is a must read for anyone interested in the subjects of Michael Collins or the Irish war of independence. This work sheds a great deal of light on one of the most important days in the Irish struggle for independence from the British Empire. This book elucidates one of the most secret operations of Michael Collins' war of attrition against the British Secret Service.

Great rollicking history book

Not only does this book do a great job of contextualizing the original Bloody Sunday assassinations of the British secret service but there's an immediacy involved where you feel what it's like to be paranoid in Britain. The author tries to be fair in discussing the roles of the British Black & Tans and the IRA but he's definitely on the side of the IRA. When the British Black and Tans are murdered one by one, there's a lot of confusion but he makes sure to play up the atrocities that the British perpetrated. Most of the information in the book goes from the Easter Uprising to the Bloody Sunday. He writes about how Michael Collins built up the IRA. HOw he worked in many groups and how he managed to hide in plain sight. The book is structurally limited to this time period. Not much information about how Ireland became mostly independent from Britain and what happened to the rebels afterwards. But it's limitations serve to strengthen the book throughout. Great story. Great piece of history. Definitely recommended.

Making the Irish struggle for independence come alive

The Irish struggle for independence from Great Britain still stirs great passion and controversy. Michael Collins's successful strategy to achieve Irish independence from Great Britain has served as a model for similar insurrections for others across the world, particularly the Jewish struggle for independence in Palestine. James Gleeson's Bloody Sunday puts the struggle for Irish independence in a broad historic context and provides personal accounts that make the historical perspective come alive. By adding lesser-known anecdotes to the larger narrative, Gleeson captures the emotions and mentality of the time to explain the actions and motives of all the key forces: the I.R.A., the Royal Irish Constabulary, and the Black and Tan as well as insights into the motives and mentality of the key players. With this more personal perspective, Bloody Sunday nicely complements more academic histories, such as Michael Collins's Intelligence War by Michael Foy, that examine the same events.

The ''Cairo Gang'' Explained

Prior to being sent to Eireann, the "Cairo Gang" had been stationed for a while in Cairo, Egypt (This was at a time when the British thought they owned most of the planet). During the Great War (W.W.I), Egypt, and especially Cairo, was teeming with smugglers, assassins, revolutionaries, telemarketers and other "undesirables" who weren't very respectful to British interests. Egypt was critical to British control of the region and thus the situation called for experienced and capable agents. The "Cairo Gang" as they became known was the cream of the British intelligence agencies. They had been handpicked for their skill and it was in Cairo that they established a reputation that rivaled the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for 'getting their man'. It seems that Michael Collins and his flying columns were producing feelings of consternation in Dublin Castle (the seat of British power in Eireann) which the local agents had been unable to remedy. The local agents had also developed a tendency of being found dead thus more stringest measures were obviously needed. Enter the "Cairo Gang". The Cairo Gang was suspicious of everyone in Eireann and kept to themselves but Collins had cultivated a spy network of incredible reach. Michael Collins was a master at what he did and it was only a matter of time before he got the lowdown on the Gang. On 21NOV1920 the Cairo Gang went bye-bye. I intend to buy this book for the history of Eireann, circa 1916-1923, is simply incredible.

The Twelve Apostles

Michael Collins' hit squad was nicknamed the "Twelve Apostles" and Mr. Gleeson unfolds the events that would lead to Bloody Sunday at Croake Park later that day.Unfortunately, Mr. Gleason does not delve into the formation and members of the "Cairo Gang" the English terrorists who were eliminated by the Twelve Apostles. Were they recruited from British intelligence in Cairo, Egypt? An unanswered question worth scholarlly research.