Killing Rage

Its about time a book came along,that does not hide the fact,that war,on any scale is a word that should not belong.No way should this book,be a tool to make anyone feel sorry for Mr Collins,or his actions,as he went into what he did,knowing full well what damage would be caused.Its one of the few books,that,dos'nt try to make out,that it was hard to get hold of guns and rifles,and believe me,they were in no short supply.
When I had finished reading this,I was not left thinking he was a hero,in any shape of the word.But if its facts your after,well,this is the book to get your teeth into.Worth the five stars,just to show you what went on,in our own back yard -so to speak-.But for anyone interested in Northern Ireland,it won't give you the cause of it.There are books out there that will,but having read them,you have to understand,there are two sides to a coin,and where politics are concerned,its the ones high up,that,puts people into a place,lower down.
Back to the book.If you have to make a choice,out of ten,make it this one.

Great bigraphy,not sure about the political analysis. (0/0 people found this helpful)

Collins was killed in 1999,probably by republicans disgusted by his break with the IRA and his subsequent public denunciations of republicanism,especially the paramilitary variety.
This is a narrative of his coming of age,his involvement with the IRA,up to and including murder,his subsequeny arrest,confession and retraction,his break with republicanism and a short account of life in exile in the Irish Republic and scotland,with musings about life after armed republicanism.
He freely admits to becoming something close to non-human,someone purely obsessed with eliminating his enemies,and he has the grace to say sorry to all of his victims.
Problem is that his account of republican politics seems projected backwards from after his break with the IRA.He claims his disillusionment set in long before the break,but he had no problems continuing in an organisation he says he detested,and he also states he could have left the IRA with few or no problems.
Still,a good insight into the banality of evil,Northern Ireland-style.

The best advertisement against pointless sectarianism (1/3 people found this helpful)

Thank goodness this type of behaviour has stopped in Northern Ireland. But with the mentalities of those that have perpetrated pointless sectarian violence for decades in Ireland one wonders how long the peace will last. In my country, Catholics and Protestants live together without acrimony. Muslims and Jews too. But this book reveals a different world of animalistic, senseless and barbaric attitudes and constant attempts to justify the unjustifiable. Maybe the ageing of the recent generations of terrorists has mellowed their attitudes and led to the current peace but one wonders with ingrained attitudes and divisive sectarianism passed down to subsequent generations how long it is before future generations bring further horror such as described in this awful account of human degradation. The unconscienable in pursuit of the pointless.

Simply astounding (5/12 people found this helpful)

At first, Collins shops his Customs and Excise colleagues to the IRA. People die.But he thinks this is okay, as he's an IRA man, although an intellectual one. (With great insights like the following "We live in a state of uncertainty(...) by virtue of being human"). He takes part in the kiling of an RUC officer. A lot later he realizes that this man will have had a wife and family. He feels bad. Never mind. Then, when hefinally gets arrested, he decides to shop every single person he's ever worked with in the IRA - he turns supergrass. When it transpires that his sentence might not be as short as originally promised, he retracts his confession - and puts all the blame on his cousin Mickey, calling him a psychopath in court. Later, when meeting the cousin, he's surprised that Mickey doesn't want to talk to him. He writes this peculiar book about his life, and takes part in a television programme - all awhile believing that he's an honest, down-to-earth guy who tells it like it is and acts accordingly.
One really has to step back from this grotesque self-delusion and say "No hang on a second, you are not like that at all, you are responsible for the deaths of people, for former mates serving life, you abused your cousin, your wife and your friends, and you want to tell the world the gospel according to Collins?" Just because somebody gets murdered, as he did in the end, doesn't make one an honest person, let alone a hero, which he obviously thought he was. The whole sorry story is appalling.

insight into daily life in the ira by an ex member (4/4 people found this helpful)

Collins was born in 1954 and joined the IRA in late 70s. Not a dry history but a very exciting book from the inside. It contains a number of nicknames of leading IRA men scap,hardbap,mooch,hawk etc in the area who have since been named in other books and publications. Collins became part of an intelligence unit as well as an internal security unit in his native newry area. He was arrested in 1985 and became an informer however he quickly changed his mind but stayed on remand in prison for 2 years. The IRA exiled him as he didn't testify against them. He lived in Southern Ireland for 3 years,returning to Belfast for 2 years to work quietley in a college,then to Edinburgh,Scotland as a community worker.Finally in 1994 he returned to his home area thinking he was safe. He made a tv programme in 95 talking about his life which was critical of the IRA then in 97 this book was published,a devastating critique of the provos. After regularly receiving death threats he was brutally beaten to death.
One of the ironies of the case is a number of the IRA men who were his former colleagues and were critical of him,were themselves later revealed to be informers including stakeknife/scap. It has to be said ALL autobiographies are prone to be one sided and to minimize wrong doing but this is a great book revealing operations ,methodology and IRA /Sinn Fein tensions at that time.

Eamon Collins, Mick McGovern

Reader Reviews:

Truth At Last (0/0 people found this helpful)

Great bigraphy,not sure about the political analysis. (0/0 people found this helpful)

The best advertisement against pointless sectarianism (1/3 people found this helpful)

Simply astounding (5/12 people found this helpful)

insight into daily life in the ira by an ex member (4/4 people found this helpful)

Similar Products

Categories