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Stakeknife's Dirty War: The Inside Story of Scappaticci, the IRA's Nutting Squad and the British Spooks Who Ran the War
In this sensational exposé of British Intelligence’s top informer in the upper ranks of the IRA, Richard O’Rawe delivers the most definitive account yet of the Troubles’ most enigmatic, notorious and sinister figure, Freddie Scappaticci.
Codenamed Stakeknife, from the late 1970s through to his eventual exposure in 2003 he was the ‘jewel in the crown’ of a British infiltration system designed to cause mayhem and chaos in the IRA’s military operations. O’Rawe gained unprecedented access to Scappaticci’s former comrades, who reveal extraordinary details of the inner workings of the IRA’s Internal Security Unit. Headed by Scappaticci, this secretive group was known locally as the ‘Nutting Squad’ owing to its fearsome reputation for the abduction, interrogation, torture and execution of volunteers suspected of working for the British or the RUC. The political scandal at the heart of this story is that Scappaticci’s intelligence handlers were aware of almost every abduction and execution he carried out prior to it taking place; a scandal that became the subject of the British government sponsored inquiry, Operation Kenova.
In this compelling and extraordinary story of state-sanctioned murder and extreme moral ambiguity in the overriding quest for the protection of ‘national security’, the truth is truly stranger than fiction.
Codenamed Stakeknife, from the late 1970s through to his eventual exposure in 2003 he was the ‘jewel in the crown’ of a British infiltration system designed to cause mayhem and chaos in the IRA’s military operations. O’Rawe gained unprecedented access to Scappaticci’s former comrades, who reveal extraordinary details of the inner workings of the IRA’s Internal Security Unit. Headed by Scappaticci, this secretive group was known locally as the ‘Nutting Squad’ owing to its fearsome reputation for the abduction, interrogation, torture and execution of volunteers suspected of working for the British or the RUC. The political scandal at the heart of this story is that Scappaticci’s intelligence handlers were aware of almost every abduction and execution he carried out prior to it taking place; a scandal that became the subject of the British government sponsored inquiry, Operation Kenova.
In this compelling and extraordinary story of state-sanctioned murder and extreme moral ambiguity in the overriding quest for the protection of ‘national security’, the truth is truly stranger than fiction.
274 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 14, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
February 21, 2024
fascinating
Brilliant read. O Rawe is uncompromisingly honest and painstakingly thorough in his research. Mc Guinness a tout himself? That is staggering. IRA commanders refusing to ‘out’ Scap because to do so would bring them the dishonour they deserved?
Brendan Hughes - the sole hero - yet looked down on by all of them in that rotten movement? No wonder he asked that the IRA, Sinn Fein or Gerry Adams, should have nothing to do with his funeral? Yet they still hijacked it?
They are now just another middle class party as Brendan predicted and the working class is just as badly off
Beyond contempt
Brilliant read. O Rawe is uncompromisingly honest and painstakingly thorough in his research. Mc Guinness a tout himself? That is staggering. IRA commanders refusing to ‘out’ Scap because to do so would bring them the dishonour they deserved?
Brendan Hughes - the sole hero - yet looked down on by all of them in that rotten movement? No wonder he asked that the IRA, Sinn Fein or Gerry Adams, should have nothing to do with his funeral? Yet they still hijacked it?
They are now just another middle class party as Brendan predicted and the working class is just as badly off
Beyond contempt
January 4, 2024
An enjoyable read which doesn’t veer off into unrelated topics. Far better than The Kidnapping which I read recently.
January 22, 2024
As someone who isn't deeply invested in the Northern Irish struggle, this whole account reads as if the author's telling the whole story out of a sense of professionalism, but who doesn't understand it himself. The true pearl of wisdom is hidden about 2/3's into the book, a former volunteer speaks of an operation that didn't go through because Stakeknife betrayed it. The former operative isn't unhappy about this outcome anymore, they didn't kill those British soldiers, they didn't get killed themselves, everyone still lives and now the war is over. Why can't Richard O'Rawe share this view?
What makes this book interesting from an outside perspective is the lack of othering. The IRA used terrorism, at times they acted like Middle Eastern insurgencies and non-state actors have. That we can publicly talk about the former IRA volunteers hints at the possibility that we could use the same tone to talk about people all over the world, even those who act on Islamic convictions. And how much more sense the public conversation would make if we look at our fellow man, even those who attack us and those we love, with the same eyes we cast on the IRA volunteer in this book.
That said Richard O'Rawe is so close to the conflict he writes about that doesn't seem to care to view the Irish struggle from a little distance. He never engages with the fact that war is a harmful thing, not even when he's while he's on the cusp of saying it himself. He knows there is no honest spy master, and just like that there's no general in war who doesn't have blood on their hands, or a wartime political leader who hasn't sacrificed the lives and well being of people in their flock to further a political end. There isn't a "right way of war" that would have made it harmless, war is to harm on another. Because of what war is, it does not only reward honesty and virtue. It must also reward people who do bad things, killing, torturing, betraying, stealing, and playing on other's vices, it's all acceptable in service to the cause. It's just wrongs all the way down.
When a wedding in Afghanistan was bombed by accident, that was a horrible thing for the Americans to have done. How do we weigh that against the British okaying one of their intelligence assets killing other assets? How about ISIS sending Russia a message by blowing up a Russian passenger jet? Each and everyone of these events deserves a book as detailed as this one, and maybe also an author who is as passionate and uncompromising in pointing out the moral outrage.
What makes this book interesting from an outside perspective is the lack of othering. The IRA used terrorism, at times they acted like Middle Eastern insurgencies and non-state actors have. That we can publicly talk about the former IRA volunteers hints at the possibility that we could use the same tone to talk about people all over the world, even those who act on Islamic convictions. And how much more sense the public conversation would make if we look at our fellow man, even those who attack us and those we love, with the same eyes we cast on the IRA volunteer in this book.
That said Richard O'Rawe is so close to the conflict he writes about that doesn't seem to care to view the Irish struggle from a little distance. He never engages with the fact that war is a harmful thing, not even when he's while he's on the cusp of saying it himself. He knows there is no honest spy master, and just like that there's no general in war who doesn't have blood on their hands, or a wartime political leader who hasn't sacrificed the lives and well being of people in their flock to further a political end. There isn't a "right way of war" that would have made it harmless, war is to harm on another. Because of what war is, it does not only reward honesty and virtue. It must also reward people who do bad things, killing, torturing, betraying, stealing, and playing on other's vices, it's all acceptable in service to the cause. It's just wrongs all the way down.
When a wedding in Afghanistan was bombed by accident, that was a horrible thing for the Americans to have done. How do we weigh that against the British okaying one of their intelligence assets killing other assets? How about ISIS sending Russia a message by blowing up a Russian passenger jet? Each and everyone of these events deserves a book as detailed as this one, and maybe also an author who is as passionate and uncompromising in pointing out the moral outrage.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 12, 2025
soooooo much content!! based on the content alone it would be a 5/5 however o'rouke lost me in parts due to the insane amount of acronyms which is understandably necessary but at times was confusing
this book is for sure a brilliant piece of writing that really encapsulates this period of time, a good extension to books like 'say nothing'
scappaticci = an unhinged man with a deeply sad life
not a fan of him using his mental health as a reason for being into beastiality...kinda strange
oh and don't forget the child porn!!
this book is for sure a brilliant piece of writing that really encapsulates this period of time, a good extension to books like 'say nothing'
scappaticci = an unhinged man with a deeply sad life
not a fan of him using his mental health as a reason for being into beastiality...kinda strange
oh and don't forget the child porn!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 17, 2024
As an American this was a lot to read and understand. Read it with a friend who’s Irish, they had to explain a lot but damn this was interesting and brutal.
May 5, 2024
Stakeknife's Dirty War: The Inside Story of Scappaticci, the IRA's Nutting Squad and the British Spooks Who Ran the War by Richard O'Rawe, is a gripping and detailed account of one of the most controversial figures in the history of the Irish Troubles, Freddie Scappaticci, also known as Stakeknife.
The book covers the period of ‘The Torubles’and the murky world of espionage during the Northern Ireland conflict, focusing on Scappaticci's role as a top informer for British Intelligence within the IRA.
O'Rawe's extensive research and interviews with Scappaticci's former comrades shed light on the operations of the IRA's Internal Security Unit, infamously known as the 'Nutting Squad', responsible for the abduction, interrogation, and execution of suspected informers.
It comes as no surprise, the tactics used by British Intelligence, to maintain Stakeknife’s cover, irrespective of the collateral damage that was to ensue.
O'Rawe's writing succinct and to the point with short consumable chapters, it’s testament to the author that he has captured the complexity of the situation, including the moral ambiguities and the harsh realities of intelligence work.
A must-read for anyone interested in the history of Ireland, espionage, and the complex interplay between national security and individual morality.
The book covers the period of ‘The Torubles’and the murky world of espionage during the Northern Ireland conflict, focusing on Scappaticci's role as a top informer for British Intelligence within the IRA.
O'Rawe's extensive research and interviews with Scappaticci's former comrades shed light on the operations of the IRA's Internal Security Unit, infamously known as the 'Nutting Squad', responsible for the abduction, interrogation, and execution of suspected informers.
It comes as no surprise, the tactics used by British Intelligence, to maintain Stakeknife’s cover, irrespective of the collateral damage that was to ensue.
O'Rawe's writing succinct and to the point with short consumable chapters, it’s testament to the author that he has captured the complexity of the situation, including the moral ambiguities and the harsh realities of intelligence work.
A must-read for anyone interested in the history of Ireland, espionage, and the complex interplay between national security and individual morality.
November 17, 2023
O'Rawe's book on "Stakeknife" flows well and is easily readable. It is, however, in my view, hindered by the level of anomality given to his sources. Certainly he displays, not unsurprising high degree of inside knowledge given his past. This may have influenced his writing to be somewhat less than objective, such as with his fixation with McGuinness, which seemed to this reader to be fuelled by Stakeknife's claims particularly in connection with the murder of Frank Hegarty; why did the author not consider Stakeknife as being merely "Machiavellian", doing that which he had built a career on....deflecting.
Despite the above I would highly commend this book as a valuable contribution to a better understanding of "perfidious Albion" at its most devious.
Despite the above I would highly commend this book as a valuable contribution to a better understanding of "perfidious Albion" at its most devious.
October 28, 2023
A cruel man
April 18, 2025
freddie rot in piss :)
November 28, 2023
Everybody who has been following the news from Ireland already knows who the notorious Freddie Scappaticci was and what he did, so what we're looking for here is a deepening of our knowledge. In that sense Richard O'Rawe is very informative about Scap's family background and its roots in southern Italy: the grandfather arriving as an immigrant and opening an ice cream business, and so on; Freddy Scappaticci's long-suffering wife and children; what it was like for him growing up in the Markets area of Belfast, and his activity in the building trade where he devised a scam that made him a very rich man.
His character emerges as resentful against the world in general; the book implies that like many men who are short of stature (something that was in his DNA because many Italians, especially from the South, are short of stature), Scap's outlook on the world, and his behaviour inside the IRA as its top interrogator of informants and, often, their executioner, seems to have come from an unexamined personality disorder (the Napoleon complex) that manifested itself as an impulse to be violent all the time, for no reason, with everybody.
The book provides a wealth of detail about many particular episodes in the War (a/k/a the Troubles): essentially it's a series of descriptions of how various attacks were planned and put into effect but that went wrong because (thanks to informer Scap) the British security forces knew in advance that they were going to happen.
Richard O'Rawe is not a particularly good writer and at many points the reader has to go back and reconstruct a paragraph or a sentence to get its meaning; but the big defect (it seems to me) of the book is that because he was very much on the inside of the Provisional IRA, he is too close to his subject matter and hasn't got the necessary detachment to write a more balanced and comprehensively researched account. Fortunately by now there is a wealth of other books about how the British infiltrated and undermined the IRA, so this one can stand for what it is: a strongly partisan description written from a very specific point of view.
He's very knowledgeable about particular personalities (and is deeply critical throughout of the Gerry Adams/Martin McGuinness peace initiatives) and the details of specific attacks or how Scap conducted this or that particular interrogation - squalid affairs of extreme cruelty sometimes carried out in the upstairs bedrooms of innocuous-seeming family homes while the family watched TV downstairs, pretending to hear nothing.
What's missing is any coherent idea of the Big Picture: why this was all happening, what the objective was. In the period the book covers, Scappaticci was at the top of his career in the Belfast IRA, Adams and McGuinness were already in secret negotiations with the British, the security services had already compromised and fragmented the Provisionals, and the north of Ireland had sunk into a hell of violence and torture for its own sake. The only Big Picture (as we know with hindsight but which nobody knew about at the time) was that Perfidious Albion had already infiltrated the IRA, had informers everywhere, and had essentially won the war right from the start.
In fact O'Rawe's book is the story of a supposedly "army of liberation" that was little more than a disaggregated and reciprocally disloyal conspiratorial group of people who by then, in the mid-1970s, had lost their way not only militarily but more importantly, politically. There was no ideal that inspired these "hard men" (and hard women) other than forcing the Brits out by violent means. To what end, in pursuit of what kind of new Ireland, nobody knew and nobody was even asking any more. The real thinking heads of the Irish Republican movement - people who actually had a strategic political vision or a planned idea for a coherent military campaign - had all been identified by the Brits at a very early stage and had been taken out of the game, leaving only the thugs.
Thus in the absence of any coherently described political underpinning, the book lurches from episode to episode: a blind rampage of just killing people for reasons of power or mistrust. The really interesting part is the role played by the unscrupulous British, who applied their very perverse and at times perverted military brains to burrow deep into the IRA and buy people off. One of them was Freddie Scappaticci but whilst the methods the British used to recruit him as their top informer are described, there is a lack of focus and it is far from clear exactly what went on and how this happened. The reason for this, I think, is that O'Rawe is more interested in the power struggles and clashes of personalities within the IRA because he knew these people so well and saw them every day; he was not a habitué of the British Army top brass, did not attend their strategy meetings, and is not fundamentally interested in what they were planning and thinking, or how Scappaticci fitted into their wider plans.
Hence, the book strongly reflects the perspective of a (formerly) active member who, instead of being an insider looking out, adopts an inside-looking-in stance. This inward focus, subtly discernible throughout O'Rawe's narrative, appears to be a contributing factor to the IRA's downfall. The organization, portrayed as a disorganized and disjointed force lacking a coherent plan, relied on one-off attacks as its sole "strategy" without an overarching plan.
At the heart of this chaos stood Fred Scappaticci, unconsciously grappling with his Napoleon complex. His role involved violently confronting informers, either directly or by issuing orders, all while accepting funds from the very enemy the IRA sought to combat. This internal turmoil, vividly captured within the pages of O'Rawe's book, epitomizes the unraveling of the IRA—a faction devoid of strategic direction and mired in the self-destructive tendencies of its members..
In essence, the story is not one of nobility or glory, but of misguided individuals killing, torturing, and betraying each other aimlessly. There's no grand aspiration for a liberated Ireland, only fragmented groups at odds with one another, unaware that the British had already secured the upper hand.
His character emerges as resentful against the world in general; the book implies that like many men who are short of stature (something that was in his DNA because many Italians, especially from the South, are short of stature), Scap's outlook on the world, and his behaviour inside the IRA as its top interrogator of informants and, often, their executioner, seems to have come from an unexamined personality disorder (the Napoleon complex) that manifested itself as an impulse to be violent all the time, for no reason, with everybody.
The book provides a wealth of detail about many particular episodes in the War (a/k/a the Troubles): essentially it's a series of descriptions of how various attacks were planned and put into effect but that went wrong because (thanks to informer Scap) the British security forces knew in advance that they were going to happen.
Richard O'Rawe is not a particularly good writer and at many points the reader has to go back and reconstruct a paragraph or a sentence to get its meaning; but the big defect (it seems to me) of the book is that because he was very much on the inside of the Provisional IRA, he is too close to his subject matter and hasn't got the necessary detachment to write a more balanced and comprehensively researched account. Fortunately by now there is a wealth of other books about how the British infiltrated and undermined the IRA, so this one can stand for what it is: a strongly partisan description written from a very specific point of view.
He's very knowledgeable about particular personalities (and is deeply critical throughout of the Gerry Adams/Martin McGuinness peace initiatives) and the details of specific attacks or how Scap conducted this or that particular interrogation - squalid affairs of extreme cruelty sometimes carried out in the upstairs bedrooms of innocuous-seeming family homes while the family watched TV downstairs, pretending to hear nothing.
What's missing is any coherent idea of the Big Picture: why this was all happening, what the objective was. In the period the book covers, Scappaticci was at the top of his career in the Belfast IRA, Adams and McGuinness were already in secret negotiations with the British, the security services had already compromised and fragmented the Provisionals, and the north of Ireland had sunk into a hell of violence and torture for its own sake. The only Big Picture (as we know with hindsight but which nobody knew about at the time) was that Perfidious Albion had already infiltrated the IRA, had informers everywhere, and had essentially won the war right from the start.
In fact O'Rawe's book is the story of a supposedly "army of liberation" that was little more than a disaggregated and reciprocally disloyal conspiratorial group of people who by then, in the mid-1970s, had lost their way not only militarily but more importantly, politically. There was no ideal that inspired these "hard men" (and hard women) other than forcing the Brits out by violent means. To what end, in pursuit of what kind of new Ireland, nobody knew and nobody was even asking any more. The real thinking heads of the Irish Republican movement - people who actually had a strategic political vision or a planned idea for a coherent military campaign - had all been identified by the Brits at a very early stage and had been taken out of the game, leaving only the thugs.
Thus in the absence of any coherently described political underpinning, the book lurches from episode to episode: a blind rampage of just killing people for reasons of power or mistrust. The really interesting part is the role played by the unscrupulous British, who applied their very perverse and at times perverted military brains to burrow deep into the IRA and buy people off. One of them was Freddie Scappaticci but whilst the methods the British used to recruit him as their top informer are described, there is a lack of focus and it is far from clear exactly what went on and how this happened. The reason for this, I think, is that O'Rawe is more interested in the power struggles and clashes of personalities within the IRA because he knew these people so well and saw them every day; he was not a habitué of the British Army top brass, did not attend their strategy meetings, and is not fundamentally interested in what they were planning and thinking, or how Scappaticci fitted into their wider plans.
Hence, the book strongly reflects the perspective of a (formerly) active member who, instead of being an insider looking out, adopts an inside-looking-in stance. This inward focus, subtly discernible throughout O'Rawe's narrative, appears to be a contributing factor to the IRA's downfall. The organization, portrayed as a disorganized and disjointed force lacking a coherent plan, relied on one-off attacks as its sole "strategy" without an overarching plan.
At the heart of this chaos stood Fred Scappaticci, unconsciously grappling with his Napoleon complex. His role involved violently confronting informers, either directly or by issuing orders, all while accepting funds from the very enemy the IRA sought to combat. This internal turmoil, vividly captured within the pages of O'Rawe's book, epitomizes the unraveling of the IRA—a faction devoid of strategic direction and mired in the self-destructive tendencies of its members..
In essence, the story is not one of nobility or glory, but of misguided individuals killing, torturing, and betraying each other aimlessly. There's no grand aspiration for a liberated Ireland, only fragmented groups at odds with one another, unaware that the British had already secured the upper hand.
December 15, 2024
Amazing book which really shows how terrible The Troubles really were. The subject of the book, Freddie Scappaticci, was the head of the IRAs Internal Security Unit or as it was known as "The Nutting Squad". While head of the ISU Scappaticci killed numerous informers, whether or not all the murdered were informers is questionable. It is truly disturbing that the British Government sponsored this man as part of the FRU. The British Government could have stopped many of the killings on both sides as they were working with both loyalist and republican terrorist groups.
Overall this book is a fascinating read. It explores The Troubles, the overall feelings on both sides at the time, the brutality on both sides, and the mind of a completely unhinged individual. I strongly recommend this book as it's incredibly interesting and serves as a reminder that the Government rarely, if ever, prioritises its people's safety and well-being. This book pairs very well with Willie Carlin's Book: "Thatcher's Spy"
Overall this book is a fascinating read. It explores The Troubles, the overall feelings on both sides at the time, the brutality on both sides, and the mind of a completely unhinged individual. I strongly recommend this book as it's incredibly interesting and serves as a reminder that the Government rarely, if ever, prioritises its people's safety and well-being. This book pairs very well with Willie Carlin's Book: "Thatcher's Spy"
July 21, 2025
3.5/3.75-ish. Hard to compete with our boy Patrick (Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland) so the review is a bit biased. It was super interesting but could tell that a) the author was not a writer by trade and b) that there was some personal bias as he was also involved with the IRA. It does get a bit convoluted in the middle parts with lots of names and interviews and it could be a bit tighter. However, while most books I've read have focused on the IRA heroes, it was nice to get a deeper look into the touts on both sides and how exactly they got led there.
November 27, 2024
Much of the material is in the public domain. I read the first Stakeknife, an expose by Martin Ingram and Greg Martin, which highlighted the moral ambiguity of British Government in their use of Scappaticci as an agent. Many who were directly involved have since given account in public through TV documentaries. This readable book is by a ‘blanket man’ who provides a different nuance. There is no doubt awful crimes were committed by awful people during troubling times and of them all Freddie Scappaticci a head of the Nutting Squad was the worst. What I learned was that Margaret Thatcher agreed to Bobby Sands and his fellow hunger striker’s demands that they should be treated as Political prisoners and this was turned down by the IRA as the publicity was so helpful.
January 28, 2025
interesting
Interesting story on the inner workings of the Provisional IRA and in particular the agent Stakeknife. Whilst the depth of the investigation is compelling the accusations that the British were running the IRA I feel is a little excessive.
The outcome of the ceasefire and the Good Friday agreement suggest that the conflict may not have been worth the loss of life, a quick view of the starting point and the final outcome shows considerable improvement for the Catholic population. Has Northern Ireland been rejoined to the Republic, well not yet so that part of the Troubles was not achieved.
The betrayal by an insider is deplorable but unfortunately that has been the outcome is most of Ireland’s rebellions.
Interesting story on the inner workings of the Provisional IRA and in particular the agent Stakeknife. Whilst the depth of the investigation is compelling the accusations that the British were running the IRA I feel is a little excessive.
The outcome of the ceasefire and the Good Friday agreement suggest that the conflict may not have been worth the loss of life, a quick view of the starting point and the final outcome shows considerable improvement for the Catholic population. Has Northern Ireland been rejoined to the Republic, well not yet so that part of the Troubles was not achieved.
The betrayal by an insider is deplorable but unfortunately that has been the outcome is most of Ireland’s rebellions.
January 8, 2024
I wanted to read this book because I was never quite sure of what the truth of the Stakeknife affair was, and I thought this book might help me to understand 'what really happened'. Evidently there's still a fair bit of guesswork involved as to who did what to whom, and when, but the book - for me at least - is fairly credible in the conclusions it draws. Bad times, terrible events, brutality on all sides. I think it's a good read to get a 'close to the ground' sense of what was undoubtedly a shocking period, and the book just about sustains it's momentum as the story unfolds.
February 1, 2025
Another brilliant book that follows on and compliments my previous book Four Shots in the Night. At first i was reluctant to read this because i got a whiff at the start of this authors Nationalist sympathies, but i was wrong the book is balanced, intelligent and readable. In fact even if it does lean towards that side 1) who am i to judge this and 2) it puts the words of the other side into the public domain that might be otherwise unreachable.
Its a fine work, if this is a subject that interests you ie crime, war, tactics, Spies etc you will learn something and enjoy it.
Its a fine work, if this is a subject that interests you ie crime, war, tactics, Spies etc you will learn something and enjoy it.
August 24, 2025
A fascinating and shocking story which casts none of the major players in a good light….certainly not the republican terrorists and their political masters but neither does it glamorise or laud the security services and their methods. Alongside the gritty and appalling acts of violence this book does provide an insight into the broader Troubles and eventual peace process. I listened as an audiobook and found this a fast-paced and gripping account.
March 29, 2025
I don’t normally read political books and I have never read a book based on the Troubles but this was actually a very interesting read. Being Irish I am aware of some of the stories within this book from watching previous documentaries. I am delighted I read this book as my first Irish political book as I am keen to check out more.
April 8, 2024
This books release so close to the Kenova report makes it all the more relevant. O'Rawe definitely writes from a certain perspective having been a Blanket man himself. This is one subject i fear we will never have full clarity on given the murky nature of how agents were handled.
February 2, 2024
Enjoy hell you rat pedo bastard
March 23, 2024
Interesting but hard read.
March 30, 2024
An interesting and informative account even if it is written with a distinct Republican slant.
April 4, 2024
A very interesting read about a supergrass. The book was well written and very engaging.
October 9, 2024
Well researched book on a super spy embedded in the IRA's internal security unit for nearly twenty years.
January 19, 2025
Read via audiobook. Very disturbing.
February 2, 2025
No relation (to my knowledge)
March 13, 2025
Mind blowing … as a child who grew up with the big bad IRA much like the other Celtic countries the Westminster government especially the Tory’s have so much to answer for. Good read well researched
April 7, 2025
Very informative
December 17, 2025
Freddie Scappaticci is a British b**tard Tout
December 22, 2025
An interesting insight into the operations in Northern Ireland. Well written and paced.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews