The Long Road to Cullaville

The Long Road to Cullaville
Author: Boris Kester
Publisher: Elmar Publishers
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2021-12-15
Genre:
ISBN: 9789038928395

On his mission to travel to every country in the world, Boris Kester experiences one adventure after another. Eventually, at Cullaville, he crosses the border into his final country. Within its sixteen stories, The Long Road to Cullaville takes you to Yemen, Congo, Nauru and Afghanistan, amongst other places. Thanks to his rich descriptions, the author shows you what it's like to travel in unusual countries. His stories are compelling and entertaining, breathtaking and moving. Meanwhile, he makes you think about the risks of travel and the pre-eminent influence of fate. The Long Road To Cullaville is primarily intended for those who love to travel and who may well be planning to visit all the countries in the world themselves. It's also recommended for those who are curious about unusual destinations and rather read about them. One thing is certain: this book will definitely make you look at the world differently. About Boris Kester: Boris Kester is a senior purser, programmer, political scientist, avid sportsman and adventurer. He shares his travel photos and stories on www.traveladventures.org. He is one of about 200 people worldwide to have travelled every country in the world. According to the authoritative travel site nomadmania.com, Boris is the highest-ranked traveller in The Netherlands.

A Long Long War

A Long Long War
Author: Ken Wharton
Publisher: Grub Street Publishers
Total Pages: 524
Release: 2008-05-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 1907677607

The author of Bloody Belfast delivers “a vivid and unforgettable record” of the Northern Irish conflict that captures the “true horrors of war” (Best of British). There are stories from some of the most seminal moments during the troubles in Northern Ireland—the Crossmaglen firefights, the 1988 corporals killings, the Ballygawley bus bombing, and more—told from the perspective of the British soldiers who served there between 1969 and 1998. This was a war against terrorists who knew no mercy or compassion; a war involving sectarian hatred and violent death. Over 1,000 British lives were lost in a place just thirty minutes flying time away from the mainland. The British Army was sent into Northern Ireland on August 14, 1969, by the Wilson government as law and order had broken down and the population (mainly Catholics) and property were at grave risk. Between then and 1998, some 300,000 British troops served in Northern Ireland. This is their story—in their own words—from first to last. Receiving a remarkable amount of cooperation from Northern Ireland veterans eager to tell their story, the author has compiled a vivid and unforgettable record. Their experiences—sad and poignant, fearful and violent, courageous in the face of adversity, even downright hilarious—make for compelling reading. Their voices need to be heard. “One of the first and only books to offer the perspective of regular British soldiers serving in the Northern Irish conflict . . . a valuable addition to the extensive literature about the Irish Troubles.” —Choice

Bad Blood

Bad Blood
Author: Colm Tóibín
Publisher: Picador
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2023-11-28
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1761560867

In the summer after the Anglo-Irish Agreement, when tension was high in Northern Ireland, Colm Tóibín walked along the border from Derry to Newry. Bad Blood is a stark and evocative account of this journey through fear and hatred, and a report on ordinary life and the legacy of history in a bleak and desolate landscape. Tóibín describes the rituals – the marches, the funerals, the demonstrations – observed by both communities along the border, and listens to the stories which haunt both sides. With sympathy and insight Bad Blood captures the intimacy of life along one of the most contested strips of land in Western Europe.

Chasing 193

Chasing 193
Author: Ryan Trapp
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2015-05-19
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 9781508769064

There are 193 official countries on Earth. Fewer than 100 people have seen them all. The 34 people interviewed for this book have made it their life mission to visit every last one of them. Jam-packed with nearly 500 pages, these revealing Q&A interviews examine the lives of ordinary people who have undertaken extraordinary travels in their quest to visit every country in the world. Learn about their adventures and explore the highs and lows of what it means to be an extreme traveler, from near-death experiences to moments that have left even the most jaded traveler speechless. How did they do this? What have they sacrificed? What compelled these people to go beyond the realm of the ordinary tourist to see the entire world? The answers to these questions and more are contained in this rare look inside the minds of some of the world's most-traveled people. Their stories, ranging from being questioned by U.S. Special Forces while doing a solo tour of war torn Iraq, to showing a Costco ID card in order to tour a restricted launching place for space satellites in French Guiana, to entering Libya during Arab Spring and getting caught in the cross fire of cigarette smugglers, and many more, are guaranteed to fascinate and entertain every travel fan.

Bandit Country

Bandit Country
Author: Toby Harnden
Publisher: Biteback Publishing
Total Pages: 377
Release: 2024-04-18
Genre: History
ISBN: 1785908499

A NEW EDITION OF ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED BOOKS ON THE TROUBLES Branded as 'Bandit Country' by the British government, South Armagh was the heartland of the Provisional IRA. It was the rebel Irish stronghold where Thomas 'Slab' Murphy reigned supreme, bomb attacks on England were planned and the SAS tracked the IRA snipers who hunted British soldiers. In this acclaimed and remarkable book – originally published in 1999 – Toby Harnden, winner of the Orwell Prize, brings to bear his skills as a fearless journalist, inspired investigator and gifted historian, threatened with imprisonment for protecting his sources in Northern Ireland but undeterred. He draws on secret documents and unsparing interviews with key protagonists on both sides to produce perhaps the most compelling and essential account of the IRA and the Troubles.

Unapproved Routes

Unapproved Routes
Author: Peter Leary
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 267
Release: 2016
Genre: History
ISBN: 0198778570

The delineation and emergence of the Irish border radically reshaped political and social realities across the entire island of Ireland. For those who lived in close quarters with the border, partition was also an intimate and personal occurrence, profoundly implicated in everyday lives. Otherwise mundane activities such as shopping, visiting family, or travelling to church were often complicated by customs restrictions, security policies, and even questions of nationhood and identity. The border became an interface, not just of two jurisdictions, but also between the public, political space of state territory, and the private, familiar spaces of daily life. The effects of political disunity were combined and intertwined with a degree of unity of everyday social life that persisted and in some ways even flourished across, if not always within, the boundaries of both states. On the border, the state was visible to an uncommon degree - as uniformed agents, road blocks, and built environment - at precisely the same point as its limitations were uniquely exposed. For those whose worlds continued to transcend the border, the power and hegemony of either of those states, and the social structures they conditioned, could only ever be incomplete. As a consequence, border residents lived in circumstances that were burdened by inconvenience and imposition, but also endowed with certain choices. Influenced by microhistorical approaches, Unapproved Routes uses a series of discrete 'histories' - of the Irish Boundary Commission, the Foyle Fisheries dispute, cockfighting tournaments regularly held on the border, smuggling, and local conflicts over cross-border roads - to explore how the border was experienced and incorporated into people's lives; emerging, at times, as a powerfully revealing site of popular agency and action.

Wasted Years, Wasted Lives Volume 1

Wasted Years, Wasted Lives Volume 1
Author: Ken Wharton
Publisher: Helion and Company
Total Pages: 619
Release: 2013-07-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 1910294217

The first volume in this two-part oral history brings to life the experiences of British Army soldiers during the Troubles in the mid 1970s. British Army veteran Ken Wharton has written extensively on the bitter conflict in Northern Ireland, shedding light on the experiences and sacrifices of British military and police. Though often overlooked by historians, many of these committed soldiers and peacekeepers lost their lives in the fighting. Combining his own personal experience with meticulous research and firsthand testimonies from fellow soldiers, Wharton takes reders into the dangerous streets of the Ardoyne and New Lodge, of Andersonstown, Turf Lodge and Ballymurphy, and of the Creggan in Londonderry and the Derrybeg in Newry. He is equally candid and critical of the Loyalist paramilitaries and the Republicans, as well as the Irish-Americans and their political stooges in the US Government. This book is for anyone who wishes to look back and try to understand the madness inflicted upon several generations of innocent Irish and British people.

Wasted Years, Wasted Lives Volume 2

Wasted Years, Wasted Lives Volume 2
Author: Ken Wharton
Publisher: Helion and Company
Total Pages: 377
Release: 2014-08-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 1909982172

Volume 2 does what it says on the can - it continues from where the first volume left off. It looks at the bloody years of 1978 and 1979. It covers eyewitness accounts from soldiers on the ground and there is the occasional comment from civilians who were living in the troubled province at the time. There are accounts from the IRA atrocity at the la Mon Restaurant when the terrorists used a napalm-like device to incinerate 12 innocent civilians; it includes the murder of Lord Mountbatten, hero of Burma, and some of his family and staff on his yacht in Co Sligo. It also covers the worst tragedy for the Army in Ulster, the murder of 18 soldiers at Warrenpoint. Every single troubles-related death and every major incident is covered and includes those soldiers who died in 'non-battle' incidents, the ones who are not included in the 'official' figures. The book pulls no punches and the author is outspoken in his criticism of the Irish-American community and their incredibly na•ve support of the Republican terrorists who almost destroyed an entire country. The author condemns in equal measure the paramilitaries of both sides and considers the evil activities of Lenny Murphy and the 'Shankill Butchers' as bad as anything which the Provisional IRA or INLA did. The book looks at individual incidents and tries to examine the terrorist mindset and their motives for the atrocities which they carried out in the name of their communities. It supports the security forces unequivocally but renders criticism where appropriate. The book examines the role of the young soldiers from Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, indeed from every part of the UK from which these young men came. It looks at foot patrols, riot control and the daily fear and threat under which they operated for their four month or two year tours. Read carefully the words of an Irish-American who clearly is contemptuous of the way her fellow Americans almost sleepwalked into supporting the IRA from afar with the dollars which they placed so willingly into the NORAID collection jars. The level of detail and research the author goes into is phenomenal and demonstrates his commitment to continue telling the story of one of Britain's forgotten wars.

Chris Ryan Extreme: Silent Kill

Chris Ryan Extreme: Silent Kill
Author: Chris Ryan
Publisher: Coronet
Total Pages: 468
Release: 2015-10-08
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1444776959

The fourth book in Chris Ryan's Extreme series. The Chris Ryan Extreme books take you even further into the heart of the mission with more extreme action, more extreme language and more extreme pace. Like Call of Duty or Medal of Honour you'll feel part of the team. Chris Ryan Extreme: Silent Kill has previously been published as four separate shorter missions. Now in one book to keep you at the heart of the action. Northern Ireland, 1993. For high-flying MI5 officer Avery Chance the real war has only just begun. When Chance is abducted by the IRA's notorious Nutting Squad, her hopes lie in the hands of a young SAS recruit who must risk everything to bring her home. Twenty years after his act of self-sacrifice in Belfast ex-SAS legend John Bald is a scarred shadow of his former self. But when a face from the past appears and rescues him from deep trouble, Bald is offered one last shot at redemption. His target is Kurt Pretorius, a ruthless mercenary operating deep in the wilds of war-ravaged Somali. In a world where rogue mercenaries operate beyond the reach of the law, Kurt Pretorius has transformed himself into a god. It is up to Bald to stop Pretorius before he turns Somalia into a terrorist haven. But Bald quickly finds himself sucked into a twisted game of survival, where the stakes could not be higher - and the price of failure is his life... With time running out, Bald must kill Pretorius before he brings down everyone around him. It's a mission Bald was born to do. Because sometimes, the only way to beat your deadliest enemy...is to be like your deadliest enemy.