It is terribly distracting and sounds very silly, which is unfortunate given the seriousness of the topic. The author tells his story with wry humour starting with how he ended up inside after a bodged up bank robbery for the IRA. In June 2014, I received the sickening news that my life-long friend and confidant, Gerry Conlon, had passed.

The lies, threats and intimidation that were afforded him in the immediate aftermath of this book coming out shows how much truth there actually is in this book and how the Hunger Strikers were actually pawns in a game being played by both the British and Irish Republicans not only at the time but still now in 2010 seeing they are the biggest money maker for Provisional Sinn Fein, and Gerry Adams in person seeing as he is the only one in charge of the Bobby Sands Trust, not even the Sands family are afforded any say in what the Trust does, claims or any money they might make. To get the story from someone who lived it, alongside those others fighting, and dying, for the autonomy of the Irish state was so important.Though tempted to give up several times, I continued to the end as the subject matter was fascinating. As their numbers increased and the blanket protest strengthened, news of beatings, deprivations and maltreatment began to leak out of the H-Blocks of Long Kesh and the women’s prison in Armagh.

Nugent was given a blanket on the second day of his imprisonment, which he wore during an exercise period. Among other things, this meant that they would now be required to wear prison uniforms like ordinary convicts. Just before Christmas 2017, my daughter Berni and I were sitting in the Europa Hotel in Belfast city centre, discussing Greed, when she said: “Do you know why the London people didn’t take the book? After ten years, and the release of historical state and personal papers, Richard O'Rawe's assertions in Blanketmen have been vindicated. They are locked in their cells for almost the whole of every day and some of them have been in this condition for more than a year and a half.One of the ‘Blanketmen’, he took part in the dirty protests that led to the hunger strikes of the early 1980s. This recognition was reinforced when on Friday, December 19th, all of the H-Block O/Cs were brought out of their blocks for a further meeting with Bobby Sands in H-Block 3. The Sunday Times ***"Richard O'Rawe deserves praise for charging one of the most cynical leaderships anywhere in this island with manipulating the courage and determination of the hunger strikers. Gerry had been framed by the police for the Guildford pub bombings in 1974 and had spent 15 years in prison for something he did not do. A 50% remission scheme was introduced to accommodate the release of sentenced prisoners and the internees were released.

Bobby Sands himself publicly expressed satisfaction at the new era of cooperation inside the jail, unprecedented since the British government embarked upon its policy of criminalisation in March 1976.As prison rules required the prisoners to wear prison uniform when leaving their cells, they were confined to their cells for twenty-four hours a day. As a result of their refusal, they would receive three days "on the boards" where all furniture was removed from their cell, and they were served the "number one diet" consisting of tea without milk, watery soup and dry bread. In March 1978 some prisoners refused to leave their cells to shower or use the lavatory because of attacks by prison officers, and were provided with wash-hand basins in their cells. Even though I abandoned the book after the first 20 pages or so, I am aware that he endured horrific conditions for the Cause in prison and I know he was a brave and loyal brother of his IRA clan. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.