Ten Men Dead: The Story of the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike

Media:	Paperback
Author:	David Beresford
Publisher:	Atlantic Monthly Press
Release date:	01 January, 1997
List price:	~~$13.50~~
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Ten Men Dead: The Story of the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike

Average rating: Stars

Seriously biased

Beresford tries to explain away his lack of sources by referring to this book as a work of journalism, not history. If this is the type of journalism Mr. Beresford practices, it's about high time he be employed by the Fox News channel or by Michael Moore. Very biased, writing almost entirely from the prisoners' point of view. I don't believe there is anything wrong with writing from their point of view, however, I disagree with trying to present it as "journalism." Nevertheless, this is a fascinating peek into the mind of the IRA and why they do things the way they do.

Ten Men Dead: The Story of the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike - David Beresford

Delivery problems

The sad story of what happened when the canteen in the prison had delivery problems.

David Beresford - Ten Men Dead: The Story of the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike

History or historical fiction?

I read this book as a text for a class I took about resistance movements. (I have my own views on the Irish question, but this is not the appropriate place to express them.) This book was certainly interesting, ..., the author dropped the ball in some places, leaving some holes in the narrative. Because of these gaps, this book was not the easiest to read. In addition, it was difficult for me to keep various groups and individuals straight throughout the book. A glossary and a list of characters would have been useful.
The thing that I disliked most about this book is that while it purports to be a history of the Irish hunger strike, the author is not a historian, but a journalist. (This is not to say that journalists can't write history, only that they write history differently than historians.) As Beresford himself notes, "Apart from the comms [IRA communications] as published, no attempt has been made to provide sources for infomation in the book. It is an exercise in journalism, rather than scholarship." (Page 1). Therefore, can this book be considered history? Given the lack of references (no bibliography or footnotes) and the obviously large amount of fictionalization, I would approach this book as historical fiction rather than history. It would be interesting to see what would happen to the story in the hands of a historian.
This is an interesting narrative and it is worth reading. However, if you want to read real history, I would suggest looking elsewhere.

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