It will be indispensable reading for those who wish to understand the bloody birth of independent Ireland. Michael Laffan, Irish Historical Studies Michael Hopkinson has finally broken the taboo on research into this crucial event in Irish political history and has given us the first full-length, archive-based history of the Irish Civil War. Tom Garvin, Irish Literary Supplement Dr Hopkinson’s outstanding achievement is that he is always concise and yet has produced much the most comprehensive and valuable account of the civil war ever published. Ronan Fanning, New Nation A model of objectivity and detailed knowledge. James Healy, Studies. Thoroughly researched and well-written it is a dispassionate account of the most passionate of times. T Ryle Dwyer, Irish Times.