Big Boys' Rules

In this book, defence specialist and war correspondent Mark Urban explores covert operations against the IRA from the mid-1970s to the Loughgall shooting in 1987. Drawing on interviews with people who have served at the heart of intelligence and special operations in Ulster, as well as with members of paramilitary groups, this book examines the roles of the army, the police and special branch, as well as both MI5 and MI6. The book also looks at the shoot to kill allegations, and records members of the security forces describing the deliberate deception of the press and courts in Ulster. The author also reveals many details including the events which lead up to the killing of eight IRA members in May 1987 in the village of Loughgall.

Author Biography

Mark Urban is the Diplomatic Editor of the BBC’s ‘Newsnight’ and was formerly defence correspondent for the Independent. He has covered many wars and is remembered for live broadcasts under a Scud attack in Saudi Arabia in 1991 or while being fired upon in Kosovo. His books include Big Boys’ Rules: The SAS and the Secret Struggle against the IRA, described by John Stalker as ‘a book which needed to be written’, and UK Eyes Alpha: Inside British Intelligence, which the Sunday Times found ‘accurate, revelatory and fascinating’.