Killing Thatcher : The IRA, the Manhunt and the Long War on the Crown by Rory Carroll

Backstory pick

I have a thing for books about the Troubles, probably because Patrick Radden Keefes Say Nothing remains one of my favourite ever non-Fiction pick books. Like me, you might have heard the story of the Brighton Bomb relayed many times before, but Carroll masterfully puts it in the broader context of the IRAs campaign on the British mainland. Theres intrigue, theres politics, theres military tactics a great read. Tom

In this fascinating and compelling book, veteran journalist Rory Carroll retraces the road to the infamous Brighton bombing in 1984 an incident that shaped the political landscape in the UK for decades to come. He begins with the infamous execution of Lord Mountbatten in 1979 for which the IRA took full responsibility before tracing the rise of Margaret Thatcher, her response to the Troubles in Ireland and the chain of events that culminated in the hunger strikes of 1981 and the death of 10 republican prisoners, including Bobby Sands.

From that moment on Thatcher became an enemy of the IRA and the organisation swore revenge. Opening with a brilliantly-paced prologue that introduces bomber Patrick Magee in the build up to the incident, Carroll sets out to deftly explore the intrigue before and after the assassination attempt with the story spanning three continents, from pubs and palaces, safe houses and interrogation rooms, hotels and barracks. On one side, an elite IRA team aided by a renegade priest, US-raised funds and Libyas Qaddafi and on the other, intelligence officers, police detectives, informers and bomb disposal officers.