The second part of the landmark trilogy documenting modern-day Northern Ireland, by the author Provos and Brits

Based on a three-part BBC TV series, this is an inside account of the thinking, strategies and ruthless violence of the paramilitaries in Northern Ireland. The author draws on a series of interviews both with the paramilitary leaders who mapped out the loyalist strategy and the gunmen who carried out the bombing and killing. There are also revealing interviews with loyalist and unionist politicians who operated centre stage while the paramilitaries remained in the shadows. The loyalists believe it was their clinically targeted offensive against senior members of the IRA and Sinn Fein that brought the Republican movement to the negotiating table and made the Good Friday agreement possible.

PRAISE FOR PETER TAYLOR

''Only a journalist of Peter Taylor's standing could have persuaded people from all sides in the conflict to cooperate in such a manner. The result was a first-rate piece of journalism. It was also first-rate history'' Guardian