Michael Collins was a pivotal figure in the Irish struggle for independence and his legacy has resonated ever since. Whilst Collins’ role as a guerrilla leader and intelligence operative is well documented, his actions as the clandestine Irish government Minister of Finance have been less studied. The book analyses how funds were raised and transferred in order that the IRA could initiate and sustain the military struggle, and lay the financial foundations of an Irish state.Nichola...

Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, until in recent decades eclipsed by the Somme, stood as the representative image of First World War frightfulness and fruitless endeavor. Post-war memory of its myriad horrors arose from the dissemination of traumatic personal experience; the tradition of futility largely from the 1930s condemnation by military historian Basil Liddell Hart and, rather ironically, the Prime Minister who authorized it, David Lloyd George. The former wro...

Godfrey’s Ghost By Nicholas Ridley. Godfrey’s Ghost is, at its heart, the story of a father written by his son. As a young man, Arnold Ridley was chiefly known as the author of the long running comedy thriller, The Ghost Train. Today he is remembered for his television performances as Private Godfrey, the oldest member of the Dad’s Army platoon. But Dad’s Army came towards the close of a long life, and although Arnold Ridley was Private Godfrey, Private Godfrey was not Arnold Ridley. From ...