{"title":"Brian Rowan","description":"\u003cp\u003eDelve into the insightful world of Brian Rowan, a distinguished journalist and commentator on Northern Ireland. Explore his compelling books, offering unique perspectives on the region's complex history.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"political-purgatory-book-brian-rowan-9781785373817","title":"Political Purgatory","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is a book about political stasis; the purgatory that Stormont became, and the sins of that long standoff. The story begins in January 2017, with Martin McGuinness's dramatic resignation as Deputy First Minister, and chronicles all the behind-the-scenes negotiations that ultimately resulted in the restoration of the Executive in January 2020, with the 'New Decade, New Approach' agreement. Then, that new fight with a fearsome and unknowable foe: coronavirus.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003ePolitical Purgatory\u003c\/i\u003e charts the three years from the collapse then restoration of the northern Executive to Covid-19 in the wider frame of building peace after conflict, and we turn the next corner into the centenary of Northern Ireland and that louder call for Irish unity since Brexit, like a piece of heavy machinery on fragile ground, has left cracks across the Union.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpanning several decades, some of the biggest names on the inside of Irish and British politics, including Gerry Adams, Naomi Long, Peter Robinson, Julian Smith and Simon Coveney, help veteran journalist Brian Rowan turn the pages in what President Clinton has called the 'long war for peace'.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49516690473233,"sku":"GOR011371364","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49738579312913,"sku":"NGR9781785373817","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1785373811.jpg?v=1750930164"},{"product_id":"how-the-peace-was-won-book-brian-rowan-9780717144860","title":"How the Peace Was Won","description":"In Northern Ireland, old and bitter enemies are sharing power. Ulsters historical No men  first Ian Paisley and now Peter Robinson  lead a devolved administration with IRA hawk Martin McGuinness as Deputy First Minister. How was this deal of all deals achieved? How was war transformed into peace? .","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49532499067153,"sku":"GOR001398881","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49664799965457,"sku":"GOR002213033","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0717144860.jpg?v=1750881068"},{"product_id":"armed-peace-book-brian-rowan-9781840187540","title":"The Armed Peace","description":"1994 marked a seminal point in the Irish peace process. The IRA and the Combined Loyalist Military Command had just announced their ceasefires. This was the new beginning - or so it seemed. Much has happened since, both good and bad. The original IRA ceasefire was blown away by the London Docklands bomb explosion in February 1996. The loyalists killed again, and the largest of the paramilitary organizations in this community - the Ulster Defence Association - became an enemy of the peace process. This is a group now steeped in drugs crime and linked to sectarian murder. The most prominent and probably the most feared of its leaders, the Belfast loyalist Johnny Adair, has twice been thrown back into jail since the Good Friday Agreement and remains there today, deserted by his own. Amid the fog of all that has been bad, much progress has been hidden. The IRA restored its ceasefire. From the defiant writing on the wall, which shouted out \"not a bullet - not an ounce\", it has moved to put some of its arms beyond use and the republican \"hawk\" Martin McGuinness has travelled from the table of the IRA Army Council to the seat of government in Belfast. Some on the loyalist side have also grown into the new politics of peace. David Ervine and Billy Hutchinson - one-time members of the UVF and prisoners in Northern Ireland's past - are now part of the political mainstream. They have given a new and progressive voice to loyalism. In \"The Armed Peace\", Brian Rowan looks at life and death after the ceasefires. He examines the armed peace, the struggle between guns and government and the intelligence war during which the IRA ventured behind enemy lines. Long after 1994, the spooks, the spies and the IRA's director of intelligence were still at play. Rowan writes on his contacts with the IRA's \"P O'Neill\" and uses his republican, loyalist and security sources to tell the inside story of the ceasefires and Northern Ireland's long journey from war towards peace.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49543282688273,"sku":"GOR004830208","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49633135722769,"sku":"GOR002211969","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49647950201105,"sku":"GOR003510643","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1840187549.jpg?v=1751442945"},{"product_id":"living-with-ghosts-book-brian-rowan-9781785374036","title":"Living with Ghosts","description":"In \u003ci\u003eLiving With Ghosts\u003c\/i\u003e renowned veteran journalist Brian Rowan retraces his steps through Northern Ireland's conflict years, as he bravely delves into the darkness of those times. His story takes us beyond the often strict boundaries of the news into the very real dilemmas and fears behind its scenes. In his journalistic career Rowan walked the thinnest of lines, where morals and principles were blurred, and as a result his mind became tortured. This book is an explanation, not a confession. He goes deep into his contacts with the IRA, the loyalist organisations, MI5, Special Branch, the army, and the many other players in the conflict period. And he joins the dots on a path out of 'war' in a place that has not yet found peace of mind. Rowan thinks and writes inside a moral maze, and in this book he invites us into his nightmares of remembering and to times he will never forget. \u003ci\u003eLiving with Ghosts\u003c\/i\u003e is a moving and deeply personal account of one man's doubts and decisions, and the challenges of reporting a war on his doorstep.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49567249432849,"sku":"GOR013232464","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49667386048785,"sku":"GOR012648815","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49744251519249,"sku":"NGR9781785374036","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50715858665745,"sku":"GOR013511595","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50920561738001,"sku":"CIN1785374036VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52090085212433,"sku":"GOR014485197","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1785374036.jpg?v=1751091010"},{"product_id":"behind-the-lines-book-brian-rowan-9780856405648","title":"Behind the Lines","description":"This work examines in detail the key events that led to both ceasefires in Northern Ireland in 1994, describing the policy changes within Sinn Fein, as well as the emergence of a new pragmatism within the Loyalist groupings. 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He is assisted by a ground breaking collection of newly written accounts from key individuals including public figures, loyalists and republicans, those working behind the scenes, and the ordinary people who have experienced loss and hurt.  Beginning with the Shankill bombing of 1993, this book takes a fresh look at the IRA and Loyalist ceasefires of 1994, the Docklands bomb, the Good Friday Agreement and the genesis of the dissident republican campaign. It addresses ongoing concerns such as the prisoners and the Disappeared, and traces a path through the endless consultations and political talks Eames\/Bradley, Haass\/O Sullivan and Stormont House negotiations. Like the most recent Fresh Start agreement, they were designed, but failed, to create a mechanism to address legacy issues and the archiving of the past.Above all, this is a book about individuals, a book which goes deeper than recording the big gestures and carefully choreographed steps of the public face of the peace process.\"","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49726603788561,"sku":"GOR007280154","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50450514837777,"sku":"GOR008331625","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51802938933521,"sku":"GOR014407532","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1780730926.jpg?v=1750961854"},{"product_id":"armed-peace-book-brian-rowan-9781840188622","title":"The Armed Peace","description":"The year 1994 marked a seminal point in the Irish peace process. 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