Overview

Smashing H-Block is a political history of the Irish republican struggle against criminalization from 1976 to 1982. This struggle, which culminated in the historic hunger strikes of 1980 and 1981, is widely regarded as a turning point in Ireland’s ‘Troubles’, marking the 'last great wave of activism and mobilization within the nationalist population'. Unlike previous accounts of this period, this fascinating book focuses on the popular movement outside the prisons, challenging republican orthodoxy and stressing the importance of broad-based, grassroots movements in effecting political and social change. Ultimately, it was what happened outside the prisons during these years of protest that reshaped and revitalized modern Irish republicanism.

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Reviews

Superbly written, this is the definitive, authoritative work on the protests beyond Maze/Long Kesh prison which accompanied the republican hunger strikes. One of the most absorbing academic works I have read for years. A riveting read. -- Professor Jon Tonge A most interesting book based on solid and detailed historical research, yet immensely readable, written in a fluid, jargon-free and no-nonsense style. -- Dr Cillian McGrattan 2011 A new book by a Derry-based academic argues that the public campaign in support of the hunger strikers was larger than the civil rights movement. F. Scott Ross makes the claim in his newly published book, 'Smashing H-Block,' which was released this week. The author grew up in Syracuse, New York, and first visited Derry twenty years ago and has lived in the city for the last ten years. He completed his masters and PhD at Queens University, Belfast. He was 12 years-old during the 1981 hunger strike and said he became interested in the period during the 20th anniversary commemorations. Mr Ross said he decided to write the book to tell the story of the popular movements that sprang up outside Long Kesh in support of the prisoners. It is a very detailed political history. It looks at the period before 1976 and the different groups that came together. A lot of what has been written about the hunger strikes has focused on the ten men and what happened inside the prison. So much of what has come out of commemoration events has focused on the prisoners and has been political. Politicians do not make good historians and you don't expect them to be. I wanted to look at the other elements. If you want to learn from the past you have to learn from the things have been glossed over, he said. One of the main groups which led the protests in support of the hunger strikers was the Relatives Action Committee, largely made up of the families of prisoners. 'Smashing H Block' looks at the formation of this group and the myriad of different organisation which came together under its umbrella. While Sinn Fein and the republican movement played a key role in the protests, the book also sheds light on the role of other groups such as the IRSP and People's Democracy. It also discusses the involvement of Derry-based group the Irish Front, which was active in the late 1970s and brought together a range of different nationalist and republican groups in one umbrella organisation and highlighted H-Block issues. Mr Ross said many of the marches during 1981 were larger than the civil rights marches of the late 1960s. What they did accomplish was to bring together a movement bigger than the civil rights movement. It was not as diverse but it was larger. A lot of marches were larger than those in 1968 and 1969. It mirrored the split within nationalism at the time. It was never a completely cohesive group however. All the various groups and organisations could agree about the issue of supporting the prisoners but the electoral issue caused problems, he said. The writer also said he feels it is important to record the history of the period. Sometimes outsiders can take a different look at things differently. There is an appetite for a different type of information. First and second year students I have taught at Queens were not born when the hunger strike was on and while there is a great deal of interest, this is history that they do not have a real connection to. Some of what has been written and said about this period has been political but I wanted to write an academic version. However, while it may be academic it is written in a way that it is accessible. It is not just a history, it also makes people think and raises questions, he said. 'Smashing H-Block' by F Stuart Ross is published by Liverpool University Press and is now on sale in local bookshops. Derry Journal 20110923 Dozens of books have been written about the political fall-out from the 1981 H-Block hunger-strike and Margaret Thatcher's criminalization policy that preceded it. Several have been written from the perspective of the prisoners and hunger-strikers themselves. A recently published book looks at the struggle on the outside in support of the prisoners and is reviewed here by veteran republican and ex-POW, Gerry O'Hare - Until now, there's been nothing to record the determination, the struggles, the agonizing decisions, the comradeship and the sheer hard work of the campaigners outside the jails. That has now been put right in honorable fashion by F. Stuart Ross in a book for which republicans, future historians and other academics should be eternally grateful. The so-far untold story of the men and women who fought the good fight, first against an uncaring world, and then in the glare of the world's media, is both important for the future and fascinating in its own right. Far, far outside the Blocks, people were gradually mobilised by various groups and the work led to thousands of street protests, not just in the 32-Counties, but in other countries all around the world. Who were these groups? How did they come together in massive shows of support which seemed, on the face of it, to show it was possible to unite people in a way not seen before in Ireland? How did people from the left, centre and even the right - socialists, communists, the trade unions and even the business classes - find common cause that temporarily allowed them to forget their differences and ideals in order to support a single issue? 'Smashing the H-Blocks' by F. Stuart Ross endeavors to trace the campaign from its start to its unhappy end. Ross is a Derry-based activist and academic with a PhD from Queens University and has also studied at Syracuse University in the US and at the London School of Economics. It would be impossible in this review to detail every group or individual who assisted the campaign and to be fair the author takes no sides between them, instead fairly giving an account of who they were and what they did. At the end of every chapter he has diligent footnotes to back every assertion - which is essential of course but which must have taken many hours of hard work. One quibble, here: it would have made it easier if the notes had been at the bottom of every page to avoid having to flick back and forth. The notes are really essential to an understanding of who was saying what. Ross's book limits itself to a political history of the prisoners' struggle against the British prison system from 1976 to 1982. The author does mention earlier hunger strikes led by Billy McKee in 1972 for political status and the first hunger strike in the blocks by Brendan 'Darkie' Hughes and six comrades. It is the Bobby Sands-led hunger strike on which Ross centres this attempt to bring clarity, firstly on how the street campaigns were organised and then on the bringing of thousands of feet marching through hill and dale over Ireland. He tells us that unlike other accounts of this period he wants to focus on the popular movement outside the prisons, challenging republican orthodoxy and stressing the importance of broad-based, grassroots movements in effecting political and social change. He believes that what happened outside the prisons during the three years of protest led to the reshaping and revitalising of modern day republicanism. Recently, there has been much controversy over whether or not a settlement was offered after Sands and three other hunger-strikers died. These arguments have been unedifying, to say the least, and do not do justice to the men's heroism. The author leaves that issue to others. But what did take place on the outside with demonstrations around the world has never been properly told or told in such detail. Trying to pinpoint the moment when someone decided that a broad front should be mobilised is not easy, bearing in mind the number of groups involved, for example, Peoples' Democracy, Sinn Fein etc. However, Ross tells us that a Bodenstown oration in 1977, given by Jimmy Drumm, a well-known and highly-respected republican leader from the 1940s onwards, might give us a clue. Drumm said: A successful war of liberation cannot be fought exclusively on the backs of the oppressed in the six counties, nor around the physical presence of the British Army . He went on to say, Hatred and resentment of this army cannot sustain the war, and the isolation of socialist republicans around the armed struggle is dangerous and has produced the reformist notion that 'Ulster' is the issue, which can be somehow resolved without the mobilisation of the working-class in the 26 counties . This statement by Drumm was seized upon by many left-wing groups, as well as republicans - who were then bedding down for a long war. But above all, he was now saying openly that it had to be acknowledged that the armed struggle could not succeed on its own - there was a crying need for politics. Prior to Drumm's words, the Republican Movement was reluctant to work with other groups in any protests - but now, even before the hunger strike protests, it saw the need for a broad front. This broad front came to fruition during the hunger strikes a few years later. There is no doubt that, among the various committees, Sinn Fein always had the largest representation and it had no love, particularly for the SDLP. Fr Piaras O Duill was the first elected chairman of the National H-Block/Armagh Committee and, from that moment on, the author takes us on a journey through the various permutations and forms the campaign took. All these groupings coincided with massive changes within the Republican Movement along the lines given earlier by Jimmy Drumm. From here on, the author details how the committees were formed locally and their structures, the dominant role of Sinn Fein and how others reacted to their position. He informs us of the myriad of regional committees formed and the absolute need to have support from the South. In his account of the contentious decision about ending the first hunger strike, the decision-maker being Darkie Hughes, he only states that he came under huge pressure because of the feared, imminent death of Sean McKenna. We already know why Bobby Sands activated the second hunger strike, its ghastly death toll and the demonstrations that took place worldwide. As stated earlier, this book is a must. It's a great read about a sad and tragic period. Stuart Ross is to be applauded for this worthy contribution to republican prison history. Book available through Amazon, here. Bobby Sands Trust 20111104 ...this book is a must. It's a great read about a sad and tragic period. Stuart Ross is to be applauded for this worthy contribution to republican prison history. Bobby Sands Trust 20111104 The path from being on the political fringe of the political scene in Northern Ireland to its present position as the dominant voice of northern nationalism could not have been achieved without the events from 1976-1981. Ross has shed valuable new light on how this was achieved. For those attempting to understand Northern Ireland's past and present, Smashing H-Block will prove to be a important contribution. -- Brendan Lynn Irish Literary Supplement 2013 This is an important book for the light it throws on the politics of the period and, in particular, in restoring the plain people to their proper place in the narrative...What the account makes clear is that the movement against the H-Blocks wasn't whistled up by republican leaders but was-like many other significant developments, including the peace process-a bottom-up affair...F. Stuart Ross's book is essential for an understanding of what really happened in the hunger strike. -- Eamonn McCann Belfast Telegraph 20120113 Historians, paramilitaries and journalists have this in common: they are all acutely vulnerable to demophobia. It is not that they are fearful of crowds in the sense of being nervous of large numbers, but in their reluctance to acknowledge the role of the masses in shaping significant events. Take the 1981 hunger strike. The local figures now involved in bitter controversy over the way the strike ended were prominent in the events at the time. But the dispute in which they are involved, although passionately felt and of vital importance to themselves and their allies, refers to battles fought on narrow ground. The broad terrain on which vast numbers mobilised and shifted the axis of Northern politics figures only as background. The hunger strike was the focus for the biggest campaign of the Troubles. In terms of numbers taking to the streets, it was more formidable than either the civil rights movement of the late-1960s or the 1974 loyalist onslaught against the Sunningdale Council of Ireland and power sharing Agreement. It was through the experience of the campaign, rather than in the interplay between prisoners and paramilitary and political leaders that lasting change came about. The rank and file of the campaign were far more than mere extras. This is the central theme of F Stuart Ross's Smashing H-Block, published by Liverpool University Press. This is an important book for the light it throws on the politics of the period and, in particular, in restoring the plain people to their proper place in the narrative. -- Eamonn McCann Belfast Telegraph 20120112 Smashing H-Block by F. Stuart Ross is the first book to be published about the H Block campaign. True, there's a shelf-load of books on the saga within the prison and the intricate interplay between British and Irish politicians, church representatives, prisoners' leaders and so on. And there's fierce controversy still raging in letters columns and the internet about the putative deal which might have ended the strike sooner and saved the lives of six of the 10 men. What all of these publications ignore is the campaign outside the prison without which the hunger strike might have taken a very different course. Probably the two most important people in the campaign in Derry were Mary Nelis and Paddy Logue. Across Ireland, the most significant figure was Bernadette McAliskey. But you could while away hours meandering through H Block analyses without chancing upon their names. There's nothing unusual about this. The mass of the people are commonly relegated to roles as extras in the narrative of history. But Ross makes the people the main player. He quotes the 1981 annual report of RUC chief constable John Hermon estimating that there had been 1,205 demonstrations attended by some 353,000 people in support of the prisoners. The campaign brought bigger numbers onto the street than the civil rights movement of the late '60s or the Loyalist upsurge in 1974. By way of comparison, a Human Rights Watch report in October 2001 noted that 33 prisoners had died in hunger strikes against prison conditions in Turkey. A further 14 perished the following year. In all, 64 were to die. But, as Ross mordantly comments: Few people know this . The hunger strikers in Turkish jails matched the men in Long Kesh for fixity of purpose and readiness to die. But the scale of oppression in their country was of a different order to oppression here. No way would demonstrators have been allowed to gather on 1,200 occasions. Or 12 occasions for that matter. The prisoners' organisations were faction-ridden to a degree which made their Irish equivalents seem models of placidity. But even if that had not been the case, the absence of a mass campaign meant that Turkish politics were not sent into turmoil. The world shrugged and looked away. The main reason that didn't happen here is the main theme of F. Stuart Ross's book. Smashing H Block is a necessary and long-overdue new look at a vital phase in our recent history. Derry Journal 20120126 A necessary and long-overdue new look at a vital phase in our recent history. Derry Journal 20120126 Ross shows the complexity of alliances that composed the anti-H-Block campaign. Far from being a hunger strike inside the prison supported by Sinn Fein outside the prison, a conglomerate of forces made up the movement. judecollins.com By choosing to focus on the fight led by 1976 a 1982 by Irish Republicans against the policy of criminalisation by the British Government in Northern Ireland, Smashing H-Block highlights a moment hinge, and yet relatively ignored the history of Northern Ireland new. This last great popular mobilization of the nationalist community, marked by the hunger strikes carried out by prisoners Republicans in 1981, and the election, a few days before his death of Bobby Sands in the Westminster Parliament, did indeed up to now not been the subject of a comprehensive study, while themselves hunger strikes have been ample analysis by the scientific community. Student in what is happening outside the prisons, f. Stuart Ross stressed the difficulties encountered by the Republican movement has articulated the struggle carried out in prisons with the traditional Republican goals, in particular opposition to the British presence in Ireland. It shows also how this big popular mobilization in the North and South of the Ireland, but also among the diaspora in the United States has slowly desenclave the Republican Sinn Fein, were his campaign themes, and dragging the icon to make alliance with new actors, including civil society. Pushing Sinn Fein a abandon its policy of abstention electoral, this mobilization has also brought by a turn to empower more conventional (by the dual strategy bundle/bullet), and finally establish a little political respectability of this party which is now the main representative of the nationalist community in Northern Ireland. This mobilization also allowed Sinn Fein to attract new members, more open to voting, more mefiants tactics of fight army, and most active civil society. Thus, this campaign has generated unprecedented cooperation between the Republican movement, left other political organizations and many local associations. The study by f. Stuart Ross, very detailed and well documented, has however some limits, including to the chronological plan adopted, which reduced the sociological analysis of the movement has its strict minimum; Apart from a few details on the individuals the more media and the qualification of the mobilization of as working class f-stop, the author does us little information system on people who supported the movement, in terms of age, gender, religious or socio-professional category, for example. Such an analysis would have allowed to deepen the study of the underlying dynamics has the growing popularity of Sinn Fein. Vingtieme Siecle vol 115 2012 A number of tomes have chronicled the freedom fight in Northern Ireland, but a new book by F. Stuart Ross presents a gripping, concise study of the conflict from 1976 to 1982. The political prisoners' hunger strkes of 1980 and 1981 are regarded as a turning point in Northern Ireland's Troubles, and Ross descends into the trenches to examine the personalities, politics, persuasions, propensities, plans nd plights of the period's players. Time of course, lends perspecive with benefit of hindsight. Straightforward prose presents riveting studies of the republican movemen's interest groups, deals, and the deals behind the deals. Ross highlights the importance of the popular movement outside the prisons, challenging republican orthodoxy by stressing the impact of grassroots movements in generating political change: Ultimately, it was what happened outside the prisons during these years of protest that reshaped and revitalized modern Irish republicanism . A sturdy review of events and organizations during those years centers on political interness at Belfast's Crumlin Road jail and County Antrim's Long Kesh prison (particularly the prison's H-Block section). The internees' hunger strikes drove political activism; the political party Sinn Fein rganized a hunger-strike solidarity committee, engineered demonstrations and pushed publicity. The political situation altered in 1976 and 1977 as Britain began criminalization of the political struggle, but Irish prisoners of war soldiered on in the fight for political status. Civilian action committees increased publicity as the law of the jungle gained ground in and out of the prisons. An IRA bomb in Dublin killed a British ambassador and a civil servant. Loyalist paramilitaries shot a Sinn Fein leader, and more IRA members where killed. Numerous groups worked to stop the murderous score-settling spress, and international outread sought support abroad. Ross covers a lot of behind-the-scenes IRA and Sinn Fein maneuvering, offering some little-known, back-story enlightenment. IRA leader Gerry Adams, detained after a cruel hotel bombing in County Down, witnessess the political prisoners' barbarous conditions firsthand. Amnesty International called for an inquiry, and the Archbishop Tomas O Fiaich visited Long Kesh but was not allowed into the H-Block section where Irish prisoners where held. The conditions he did observe proved shocking. The years dragged on, and political progress slowed to a glacial pace. A Smashing H-Block conference in 1979 brought republican groups together and a National H-Block Committee was elected to focus on publicity as murders on both sides continued apace Ross is adept at portraying the back-and-forth political jockeying as well as the tedium that plagued long-drawn-out negotiations. Sinn Fein called for massive protests and pressure on politicians when the October 1980 prison hunger strike began. It ended after 53 days upon receipt of a British offer, but matters stalled. Bernadette Devlin McAliskey (one of the H-Block campaign's most active representatives) and her husband where seriously wounded during a Unionist UDA (Ulster Defence Association) attack on their home. In 1981, during a second hunger strike in the H-Block, IRA Volunteer Bobby Sands was elected the anti-Unionist Member of Parliament for Fermanagh/South Tyrone. He died on May 5, 1981 after 66 days without food, and nearly 100,000 people attended his funeral. Prisomer demands went largely unmet, and Ross exposes the escalation in street killings. The IRS and its affiliates focused on killing British soldiers in Britain. Ross calls into question the cost/benefit value of hunger strikes that seemed defeatist to many people: Self-sacrifice and martyrdom are privileged over the building of a mass movement. This-like so much in orthodox Irish republicanism-is a mistake based on a misreading of history. It is also based on a misunderstanding of how one effects real political and social change . Nevertheless, Ross admits that A mass movement with a public leadership has been created underscoring the critical importance of political organization and mass mobilization. Few can argue with the fact that the hunger strikes helped hone the republican movement's priceless assets: people, pageantry, and publicity. Celtic Connection

Superbly written, this is the definitive, authoritative work on the protests beyond Maze/Long Kesh prison which accompanied the republican hunger strikes. One of the most absorbing academic works I have read for years. A riveting read. -- Professor Jon Tonge A most interesting book based on solid and detailed historical research, yet immensely readable, written in a fluid, jargon-free and no-nonsense style. -- Dr Cillian McGrattan 2011 A new book by a Derry-based academic argues that the public campaign in support of the hunger strikers was larger than the civil rights movement. F. Scott Ross makes the claim in his newly published book, 'Smashing H-Block,' which was released this week. The author grew up in Syracuse, New York, and first visited Derry twenty years ago and has lived in the city for the last ten years. He completed his masters and PhD at Queens University, Belfast. He was 12 years-old during the 1981 hunger strike and said he became interested in the period during the 20th anniversary commemorations. Mr Ross said he decided to write the book to tell the story of the popular movements that sprang up outside Long Kesh in support of the prisoners. It is a very detailed political history. It looks at the period before 1976 and the different groups that came together. A lot of what has been written about the hunger strikes has focused on the ten men and what happened inside the prison. So much of what has come out of commemoration events has focused on the prisoners and has been political. Politicians do not make good historians and you don't expect them to be. I wanted to look at the other elements. If you want to learn from the past you have to learn from the things have been glossed over, he said. One of the main groups which led the protests in support of the hunger strikers was the Relatives Action Committee, largely made up of the families of prisoners. 'Smashing H Block' looks at the formation of this group and the myriad of different organisation which came together under its umbrella. While Sinn Fein and the republican movement played a key role in the protests, the book also sheds light on the role of other groups such as the IRSP and People's Democracy. It also discusses the involvement of Derry-based group the Irish Front, which was active in the late 1970s and brought together a range of different nationalist and republican groups in one umbrella organisation and highlighted H-Block issues. Mr Ross said many of the marches during 1981 were larger than the civil rights marches of the late 1960s. What they did accomplish was to bring together a movement bigger than the civil rights movement. It was not as diverse but it was larger. A lot of marches were larger than those in 1968 and 1969. It mirrored the split within nationalism at the time. It was never a completely cohesive group however. All the various groups and organisations could agree about the issue of supporting the prisoners but the electoral issue caused problems, he said. The writer also said he feels it is important to record the history of the period. Sometimes outsiders can take a different look at things differently. There is an appetite for a different type of information. First and second year students I have taught at Queens were not born when the hunger strike was on and while there is a great deal of interest, this is history that they do not have a real connection to. Some of what has been written and said about this period has been political but I wanted to write an academic version. However, while it may be academic it is written in a way that it is accessible. It is not just a history, it also makes people think and raises questions, he said. 'Smashing H-Block' by F Stuart Ross is published by Liverpool University Press and is now on sale in local bookshops. Derry Journal 20110923 Dozens of books have been written about the political fall-out from the 1981 H-Block hunger-strike and Margaret Thatcher's criminalization policy that preceded it. Several have been written from the perspective of the prisoners and hunger-strikers themselves. A recently published book looks at the struggle on the outside in support of the prisoners and is reviewed here by veteran republican and ex-POW, Gerry O'Hare - Until now, there's been nothing to record the determination, the struggles, the agonizing decisions, the comradeship and the sheer hard work of the campaigners outside the jails. That has now been put right in honorable fashion by F. Stuart Ross in a book for which republicans, future historians and other academics should be eternally grateful. The so-far untold story of the men and women who fought the good fight, first against an uncaring world, and then in the glare of the world's media, is both important for the future and fascinating in its own right. Far, far outside the Blocks, people were gradually mobilised by various groups and the work led to thousands of street protests, not just in the 32-Counties, but in other countries all around the world. Who were these groups? How did they come together in massive shows of support which seemed, on the face of it, to show it was possible to unite people in a way not seen before in Ireland? How did people from the left, centre and even the right - socialists, communists, the trade unions and even the business classes - find common cause that temporarily allowed them to forget their differences and ideals in order to support a single issue? 'Smashing the H-Blocks' by F. Stuart Ross endeavors to trace the campaign from its start to its unhappy end. Ross is a Derry-based activist and academic with a PhD from Queens University and has also studied at Syracuse University in the US and at the London School of Economics. It would be impossible in this review to detail every group or individual who assisted the campaign and to be fair the author takes no sides between them, instead fairly giving an account of who they were and what they did. At the end of every chapter he has diligent footnotes to back every assertion - which is essential of course but which must have taken many hours of hard work. One quibble, here: it would have made it easier if the notes had been at the bottom of every page to avoid having to flick back and forth. The notes are really essential to an understanding of who was saying what. Ross's book limits itself to a political history of the prisoners' struggle against the British prison system from 1976 to 1982. The author does mention earlier hunger strikes led by Billy McKee in 1972 for political status and the first hunger strike in the blocks by Brendan 'Darkie' Hughes and six comrades. It is the Bobby Sands-led hunger strike on which Ross centres this attempt to bring clarity, firstly on how the street campaigns were organised and then on the bringing of thousands of feet marching through hill and dale over Ireland. He tells us that unlike other accounts of this period he wants to focus on the popular movement outside the prisons, challenging republican orthodoxy and stressing the importance of broad-based, grassroots movements in effecting political and social change. He believes that what happened outside the prisons during the three years of protest led to the reshaping and revitalising of modern day republicanism. Recently, there has been much controversy over whether or not a settlement was offered after Sands and three other hunger-strikers died. These arguments have been unedifying, to say the least, and do not do justice to the men's heroism. The author leaves that issue to others. But what did take place on the outside with demonstrations around the world has never been properly told or told in such detail. Trying to pinpoint the moment when someone decided that a broad front should be mobilised is not easy, bearing in mind the number of groups involved, for example, Peoples' Democracy, Sinn Fein etc. However, Ross tells us that a Bodenstown oration in 1977, given by Jimmy Drumm, a well-known and highly-respected republican leader from the 1940s onwards, might give us a clue. Drumm said: A successful war of liberation cannot be fought exclusively on the backs of the oppressed in the six counties, nor around the physical presence of the British Army . He went on to say, Hatred and resentment of this army cannot sustain the war, and the isolation of socialist republicans around the armed struggle is dangerous and has produced the reformist notion that 'Ulster' is the issue, which can be somehow resolved without the mobilisation of the working-class in the 26 counties . This statement by Drumm was seized upon by many left-wing groups, as well as republicans - who were then bedding down for a long war. But above all, he was now saying openly that it had to be acknowledged that the armed struggle could not succeed on its own - there was a crying need for politics. Prior to Drumm's words, the Republican Movement was reluctant to work with other groups in any protests - but now, even before the hunger strike protests, it saw the need for a broad front. This broad front came to fruition during the hunger strikes a few years later. There is no doubt that, among the various committees, Sinn Fein always had the largest representation and it had no love, particularly for the SDLP. Fr Piaras O Duill was the first elected chairman of the National H-Block/Armagh Committee and, from that moment on, the author takes us on a journey through the various permutations and forms the campaign took. All these groupings coincided with massive changes within the Republican Movement along the lines given earlier by Jimmy Drumm. From here on, the author details how the committees were formed locally and their structures, the dominant role of Sinn Fein and how others reacted to their position. He informs us of the myriad of regional committees formed and the absolute need to have support from the South. In his account of the contentious decision about ending the first hunger strike, the decision-maker being Darkie Hughes, he only states that he came under huge pressure because of the feared, imminent death of Sean McKenna. We already know why Bobby Sands activated the second hunger strike, its ghastly death toll and the demonstrations that took place worldwide. As stated earlier, this book is a must. It's a great read about a sad and tragic period. Stuart Ross is to be applauded for this worthy contribution to republican prison history. Book available through Amazon, here. Bobby Sands Trust 20111104 ...this book is a must. It's a great read about a sad and tragic period. Stuart Ross is to be applauded for this worthy contribution to republican prison history. Bobby Sands Trust 20111104 This is an important book for the light it throws on the politics of the period and, in particular, in restoring the plain people to their proper place in the narrative...What the account makes clear is that the movement against the H-Blocks wasn't whistled up by republican leaders but was-like many other significant developments, including the peace process-a bottom-up affair...F. Stuart Ross's book is essential for an understanding of what really happened in the hunger strike. -- Eamonn McCann Belfast Telegraph 20120113 Historians, paramilitaries and journalists have this in common: they are all acutely vulnerable to demophobia. It is not that they are fearful of crowds in the sense of being nervous of large numbers, but in their reluctance to acknowledge the role of the masses in shaping significant events. Take the 1981 hunger strike. The local figures now involved in bitter controversy over the way the strike ended were prominent in the events at the time. But the dispute in which they are involved, although passionately felt and of vital importance to themselves and their allies, refers to battles fought on narrow ground. The broad terrain on which vast numbers mobilised and shifted the axis of Northern politics figures only as background. The hunger strike was the focus for the biggest campaign of the Troubles. In terms of numbers taking to the streets, it was more formidable than either the civil rights movement of the late-1960s or the 1974 loyalist onslaught against the Sunningdale Council of Ireland and power sharing Agreement. It was through the experience of the campaign, rather than in the interplay between prisoners and paramilitary and political leaders that lasting change came about. The rank and file of the campaign were far more than mere extras. This is the central theme of F Stuart Ross's Smashing H-Block, published by Liverpool University Press. This is an important book for the light it throws on the politics of the period and, in particular, in restoring the plain people to their proper place in the narrative. -- Eamonn McCann Belfast Telegraph 20120112 Smashing H-Block by F. Stuart Ross is the first book to be published about the H Block campaign. True, there's a shelf-load of books on the saga within the prison and the intricate interplay between British and Irish politicians, church representatives, prisoners' leaders and so on. And there's fierce controversy still raging in letters columns and the internet about the putative deal which might have ended the strike sooner and saved the lives of six of the 10 men. What all of these publications ignore is the campaign outside the prison without which the hunger strike might have taken a very different course. Probably the two most important people in the campaign in Derry were Mary Nelis and Paddy Logue. Across Ireland, the most significant figure was Bernadette McAliskey. But you could while away hours meandering through H Block analyses without chancing upon their names. There's nothing unusual about this. The mass of the people are commonly relegated to roles as extras in the narrative of history. But Ross makes the people the main player. He quotes the 1981 annual report of RUC chief constable John Hermon estimating that there had been 1,205 demonstrations attended by some 353,000 people in support of the prisoners. The campaign brought bigger numbers onto the street than the civil rights movement of the late '60s or the Loyalist upsurge in 1974. By way of comparison, a Human Rights Watch report in October 2001 noted that 33 prisoners had died in hunger strikes against prison conditions in Turkey. A further 14 perished the following year. In all, 64 were to die. But, as Ross mordantly comments: Few people know this . The hunger strikers in Turkish jails matched the men in Long Kesh for fixity of purpose and readiness to die. But the scale of oppression in their country was of a different order to oppression here. No way would demonstrators have been allowed to gather on 1,200 occasions. Or 12 occasions for that matter. The prisoners' organisations were faction-ridden to a degree which made their Irish equivalents seem models of placidity. But even if that had not been the case, the absence of a mass campaign meant that Turkish politics were not sent into turmoil. The world shrugged and looked away. The main reason that didn't happen here is the main theme of F. Stuart Ross's book. Smashing H Block is a necessary and long-overdue new look at a vital phase in our recent history. Derry Journal 20120126 A necessary and long-overdue new look at a vital phase in our recent history. Derry Journal 20120126 Ross shows the complexity of alliances that composed the anti-H-Block campaign. Far from being a hunger strike inside the prison supported by Sinn Fein outside the prison, a conglomerate of forces made up the movement. judecollins.com By choosing to focus on the fight led by 1976 a 1982 by Irish Republicans against the policy of criminalisation by the British Government in Northern Ireland, Smashing H-Block highlights a moment hinge, and yet relatively ignored the history of Northern Ireland new. This last great popular mobilization of the nationalist community, marked by the hunger strikes carried out by prisoners Republicans in 1981, and the election, a few days before his death of Bobby Sands in the Westminster Parliament, did indeed up to now not been the subject of a comprehensive study, while themselves hunger strikes have been ample analysis by the scientific community. Student in what is happening outside the prisons, f. Stuart Ross stressed the difficulties encountered by the Republican movement has articulated the struggle carried out in prisons with the traditional Republican goals, in particular opposition to the British presence in Ireland. It shows also how this big popular mobilization in the North and South of the Ireland, but also among the diaspora in the United States has slowly desenclave the Republican Sinn Fein, were his campaign themes, and dragging the icon to make alliance with new actors, including civil society. Pushing Sinn Fein a abandon its policy of abstention electoral, this mobilization has also brought by a turn to empower more conventional (by the dual strategy bundle/bullet), and finally establish a little political respectability of this party which is now the main representative of the nationalist community in Northern Ireland. This mobilization also allowed Sinn Fein to attract new members, more open to voting, more mefiants tactics of fight army, and most active civil society. Thus, this campaign has generated unprecedented cooperation between the Republican movement, left other political organizations and many local associations. The study by f. Stuart Ross, very detailed and well documented, has however some limits, including to the chronological plan adopted, which reduced the sociological analysis of the movement has its strict minimum; Apart from a few details on the individuals the more media and the qualification of the mobilization of as working class f-stop, the author does us little information system on people who supported the movement, in terms of age, gender, religious or socio-professional category, for example. Such an analysis would have allowed to deepen the study of the underlying dynamics has the growing popularity of Sinn Fein. Vingtieme Siecle vol 115 2012

Superbly written, this is the definitive, authoritative work on the protests beyond Maze/Long Kesh prison which accompanied the republican hunger strikes. One of the most absorbing academic works I have read for years. A riveting read. -- Professor Jon Tonge A most interesting book based on solid and detailed historical research, yet immensely readable, written in a fluid, jargon-free and no-nonsense style. -- Dr Cillian McGrattan 2011

Superbly written, this is the definitive, authoritative work on the protests beyond Maze/Long Kesh prison which accompanied the republican hunger strikes. One of the most absorbing academic works I have read for years. A riveting read. -- Professor Jon Tonge A most interesting book based on solid and detailed historical research, yet immensely readable, written in a fluid, jargon-free and no-nonsense style. -- Dr Cillian McGrattan 2011

Author Information

F. Stuart Ross is a Derry-based activist and academic. He received his PhD from Queen's University Belfast and has also studied at Syracuse University and the London School of Economics.

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