The story of contemporary Ireland is inseparable from the story of the official republican movement, a story told here for the first time - 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.

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

'An indispensable handbook' Maurice Hayes, Irish Times

'Hugely impressive' Irish Mail on Sunday

'Excellent' Sunday Business Post