Death of a Hero: Captain Robert Nairac, GC and the Undercover War in Northern Ireland

by John Parker

Captain Robert Nairac was a brilliantly successful undercover operative in the British Army, with a string of intelligence coups in the war against the IRA. But until this book, the nature of his operations and the story of his betrayal and murder have remained shrouded in mystery. John Parker has obtained unprecedented cooperation from very senior Army sources, and from Nairac's friends and family, to reveal the truth behind the secret war in Northern Ireland—and the ferocious rivalry between MI5 and MI6 that contributed to Nairac's death. This book is a tribute to the heroism of Nairac and all those in Northern Ireland who gave their lives in the battle against terrorism.

Genres: Ireland

272 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1999

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

John Parker is a former Fleet Street editor who has written many investigative books.

Reviews

[Corto · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about the 1977 murder of Captain Robert Nairac, which now seems to stand out as one of the most sensational events of The Troubles. What gives Nairac’s murder a lurid character was the murky nature of his role as a Military Intelligence officer, the extreme brutality of his murder, and the “eccentric” aspects of his personality. I first read about Nairac in Peter Taylor's excellent, "Brits" (or it could have been "Bandit Country" by Toby Harnden). Though I don’t have wither book at hand for a quick referral, I seem to remember that Taylor (or Harnden) had painted Nairac in nearly mythical tones- a genius on the verge of a breakthrough in unraveling the mysteries of Counterinsurgency. Naturally, my curiosity was piqued, and this seemed to be the only biography about him.

To be sure Nariac is a fascinating character. Roughly paraphrasing Parker's book, in another era he would probably have been a "Thruster", a young gentleman officer, skin dyed “native” brown, prowling the North-West Frontier Province in British India for vital intelligence about tribal foeman. In actuality he was an enthusiastic young officer (Grenadier Guards) roughly in that cast. However, he was also possessed of a deep, dark drive pushing him to take unnecessary and unprofessional risks (ostensibly) in an effort to cultivate human intelligence in an area that was generally impenetrable to the British. In the act of emulating his hero T.E. Lawrence, he paid for glory with his life.

This book took me two tries to finish. The first time I picked it up I made it halfway through. The first half contains a brief chapter on his youth, a lengthy description of the intricate and divisive landscape of the intelligence battlefield in South Armagh, and a couple of chapters on atrocities that he was allegedly connected to. That would’ve been ok, but even the author admitted what he was writing was mostly speculation, and that he derived his assessment from a review of other works of popular journalism on the “Dirty War”. Given that amount of guesswork, I didn’t feel compelled to keep reading.

I was motivated to make a second foray when I started Eoin McNamee’s “factional” novel about Nairac, “The Ultras”. I realized I didn’t understand the context of the “Dirty War” well enough to really click with McNamee’s book, so I put it down and went back to “Death of a Hero”. After the halfway point, the reader is finally rewarded with personal observations on Nairac’s character by people who actually knew him. Those bits are fascinating, and I wish there’d been more of it.

The problem with this book, like many books of this nature, is that the real story will probably never be told. I’m guessing that a full disclosure of who Nairac was (if that’s even possible- he seems to have been a very private person) and what he was doing in South Armagh would be embarrassing and have repercussions for his family and the British government. Not to mention it would open old wounds in the Province. Depending on how you look at the situation in Northern Ireland, it’s still a conflict on “simmer”.

I was left with more questions than answers at the end of this book, but if you’re interested in Nairac or the “Dirty War”, it’s worth a read just to get a basic framework of the situation. Keep your expectations low and take it with a grain of salt.

[Brian · Rating 1 out of 5]

i dont recommend it really. kind of informative, not so much unbiased.

[Martin Sharp · Rating 4 out of 5]

The intriguing story of Captain Robert Nairac, abducted and murdered by the IRA during the troubles.
This seemed a well balanced book, leaning more to the view that Nairac was a hero than a soldier who collaborated in some terrorist atrocities.
There is a lot of speculation from some of those interviewed....some seem very bitter and this does detract from the book a little.

[FellowBibliophile KvK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very poorly edited. But it shows why Guards ossifers in the salons of some Lord's daughter and leave intelligence to the pros.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Intresting in parts, but at other times it tended to get boring and drag a bit.

He was a intresting character, Robert Nairac, but I think in the end, his over confidence in his abilitys may have done him in.

A good read if you are intrested in history of the northern Ireland issue