Colm Gillis's Blog

Today my book is being given away for FREE on Kindle. No strings attached but I'd be grateful if you could leave an honest review if you do download it!

On March 1st 2016 my new book The Terrible Beauty of Dictatorship was released. This tells the history of emergency powers and also analyses 'what it means' for extraordinary powers to be applied in such countries. The book can be viewed here. A video trailer can be viewed here and a documentary based on the book can be viewed here (N.B. You will need to change your video settings if watching the video from a mobile. Details are given on the video).
I will give details of offers on the book that will take place over the coming weeks.

1. End of History
We have been raised on the belief that mankind has progressed to a higher form of existence via a struggle for human rights. From greater tolerance, greater respect, greater all round ‘love,’ members of mankind can now live lifestyles of independence and self-expression. This ‘end of history’ sentiment is very much that of closure on a past that we would rather not reflect upon, given that the present is so joyous.

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Click on this link to view a video trailer for my new book "The Terrible Beauty of Dictatorship" which is due to be released on March 1st 2016.

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Click here for a timeline of dictatorship and emergency powers from the Roman era up to the modern age.

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Machiavelli isn’t known for his moral qualms but he did have a good head on his shoulders nevertheless. The Florentine historian and statesman made an outstanding and perhaps under-appreciated contribution to the theory of emergency powers in a republic. [continue reading ...]

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The Terrible Beauty of Dictatorship is my new non-fiction book scheduled for release, March 1st, 2016. It is both a history and analysis of emergency powers, dictatorships, and states of exception. [continue reading ...]

In the 1970s Britain came perilously close to a coup d’état. Preparations were made for the eventuality that left-wing groups, mostly associated with the union (but not British Labour party) movement, would cripple the country. [continue reading ...]

FA von Hayek was one of the great classical Liberals. He wrote about emergency powers in The Constitution of Liberty and approved of the practice.

For Hayek, laws in a free society are nothing more than rule of thumb. In an emergency they must be suspended for the sake of long-term order. Even freedom of speech can be suppressed under the ‘correct’ circumstances. [continue reading ...]

Ireland, like any other republic, has provision for crises. Fundamental rights can be violated on public safety grounds. On paper, the death penalty is the only red line in an Irish dictatorial regime. If the emergency was serious enough, however, it is unlikely that this ‘red line’ would remain because of the absence of a normal justice system. [continue reading ...]