Rev up those atrocities ladies and gentleman, its time for Books about the troubles.

Big Boys Rules: The SAS and the secret struggle against the IRA

The SAS describes its attitude to the use of lethal force as 'Big boys' games, big boys' rules'. Anyone caught with a gun or bomb can expect to be shot. In Big Boys' Rules: The SAS and the Secret Struggle Against the IRA Mark Urban meticulously explores the security forces' covert operations in Northern Ireland: from the mid-1970s, when they were stepped up, to the Loughall ambush in 1987, in which eight IRA Provisionals were killed. While charting the successes and failures of special operations during the troubles, Urban reveals the unenviable dilemmas faced by intelligence chiefs engaged in a daily struggle against one of the world's most sophisticated terrorist organisations.

'This is a book that needed to be written and which fulfils the essentials of any Ulster story; it expands understanding beyond fragmented jingoism and newspaper headlines.' John Stalker, Sunday Times

The Shankill Butchers: A Case Study of Mass Murder

'This was the ultimate way to kill a man'

During the 1970s a group of Protestant paramilitaries embarked on a spree of indiscriminate murder which left thirty Northern Irish Catholics dead. Their leader was Lenny Murphy, a fanatical Unionist whose Catholic-sounding surname led to his persecution as a child for which he took revenge on all Catholics.

Not for the squeamish, The Shankill Butchers is a horrifying detailed account of one of the most brutal series of murders in British legal history - a phenomenon whose real nature has been obscured by the troubled and violent context from which it sprang.

The Trigger Men: Assassins and Terror Bosses in the Ireland Conflict

In The Trigger Men, bestselling author Martin Dillon delves into the dark and sinister world of Irish terrorism and counter-terrorism. Over three decades he has interviewed and investigated some of the most professional, dangerous and ruthless killers in Ireland. Now Dillon explores their personalities, motivations and bizarre crimes.Many of Ireland's assassins learned their trade in fields and on hillsides in remote parts of Ireland, while others were trained in the Middle East or with Basque separatist terrorists in Spain. Some were one-target-one-shot killers, like the sniper who terrorised the inhabitants of Washington State in the autumn of 2002, while others were bombers skilled in designing the most sophisticated explosive devices and booby traps. Another more powerful group of 'trigger men' were the influential figures in the shadows, who were experts in motivating the killers under their control. All of these men, whether they squeezed the trigger on a high-powered rifle, set the timer on a bomb or used their authority to send others out to commit horrific and unspeakable acts of cruelty, are featured in this book. The Trigger Men takes the reader inside the labyrinthine world of terrorist cells and highly classified counter-terrorism units of British Military Intelligence. The individual stories are described in gripping, unflinching detail and show how the terrorists carried out their ghastly work. Dillon also explores the ideology of the cult of the gunmen and the greed and hatred that motivated assassins in their killing sprees. There are penetrating insights into the mindset of the most infamous assassins: their social and historical conditioning, their callousness……

The Serpent's Tail

A gripping thriller based on a true sequence of events in which two young Belfast Catholics are recruited as informers and find themselves at the heart of a ‘sting’ involving the IRA, the SAS and MI5. The Serpent’s Tail is the first work of fiction by the man Conor Cruise O’Brien has described as ‘The greatist living authority on Irish terrorism.’

The true story of an SAS inspired sting against the Provisional IRA which almost destroyed the organisation. The IRA later admitted that the operation was a brilliant piece of planning by the SAS and the British Intelligence Agency, MI5. Its success was, however, short-lived leading to the sacrifice of many agents and the emergence of a more determined and ruthless IRA leadership.

In the style of Le Carre and Deighton, this book tells for the first time the story of the shadowy world of agents and double agents, the ruthlessness of both sides in the undercover war, the naivety of the British political and military Establishments, how and why the Provisionals took their campaign to mainland Britain, and bombed their way to the conference table and the White House.

The Dirty War

1969 was a year of rising tension, violence and change for the people of Northern Ireland. Rioting in Derry's Bogside led to the deployment of British troops and a shortlived, uneasy truce. The British army soon found itself engaged in an undercover war against the Provisional IRA, which was to last for more than twenty years.

In this enthralling and controversial book, Martin Dillon, author of the bestselling The Shankill Butchers, examines the roles played by the Provisional IRA, the State forces, the Irish Government and the British Army during this troubled period. He unravels the mystery of war in which informers, agents and double agents operate, revealing disturbing facts about the way in which the terrorists and the Intelligence Agencies target, undermine and penetrate each other's ranks.

The Dirty War is investigative reporting at its very best, containing startling disclosures and throwing new light on previously inexplicable events.

Theres been a big burst of interest on a few boards, and the share threads are going for a while with no content, sometimes a bit of variety can encourage others to upload. Cant keep reuploading the SEB and Initial D albums.

UVF: Behind the Mask

UVF: Behind the Mask is the gripping new history of the Ulster Volunteer Force from its post-1965 incarnation to the present day. Aaron Edwards blends rigorous research with unprecedented access to leading members of the UVF to unearth the startling inner-workings of one of the world’s oldest and most ruthless paramilitary groups.

Through interviews with high-profile UVF leaders, such as Billy Mitchell, David Ervine, Billy Wright, Billy Hutchinson and Gary Haggarty, as well as their loyalist rivals including Johnny Adair, Edwards reveals the grisly details behind their sadistic torture and murder techniques and their litany of high-profile atrocities: McGurk’s Bar, the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, the Miami Showband massacre and the Shankill Butchers’ serial-killing spree, amongst others. Edwards’ life and career has led him to the centre of the UVF’s long, dark underbelly; in this defining work he offers a comprehensive and authoritative study of an armed group that continues to play a pivotal role in Northern Irish society.

Time for some War memoirs

Boys for Men: A Vietnam War Memoir

The true stories of two soldiers. Though they are separated by almost 100 years, the similarities in their experiences are striking.

When Derrick Wolf left the U.S. for Vietnam in 1970 on January 6th, the day of Epiphany, little did he realize what a prophetic day it would turn out to be for him. Boys for Men is a journal of his tour of duty. Wolf tells of the grim daily routine of a tank crew near the De-militarized Zone just south of North Vietnam. From the near constant rain during monsoon to the unbearable high temperatures and humidity of the dry season, life becomes a series of long periods of boredom and hardship interrupted abruptly by deadly situations.

Combined with Wolf’s stories are excerpts of the previously unpublished 1876 journal of Sylvester Waltz, an infantryman during the Great Sioux War. Waltz was a member of the Yellowstone Expedition, which culminated in the Battle of the Little Bighorn where General George Armstrong Custer was killed and his forces defeated.

The greatest tank battle in history began during the early hours of 5 July 1943, and its outcome was to determine the course of the war on the Eastern Front. Kursk is a detailed account of this pivotal battle, when the Germans threw 900,000 men and 2500 tanks against 1,300,000 soldiers and 3000 tanks of the Red Army in a savage battle of attrition. Unlike many accounts of the war on the Eastern Front, Kursk draws upon both German and Russian archive material. With an authoritative text and detailed maps, this book is an enthralling account of one of the most decisive battles in history.

Nik Cornish is a founder member of the Eastern Front Assocition. He visits Russia and the Ukraine on a regular basis as an historian and researcher, specialising in military aspects of both world wars on the Eastern Front. He currently lives and works in the south of England.

Of No Value: A Vietnam War Era Memoir

When Derrick Wolf and Kent Campbell were wounded in battle, they thought the war was over for them. And while the war may have been done with them, the army was not.

Of No Value is an unvarnished depiction of the absurdity of war and army life in the early 1970s. From the pitiful treatment received at the army's hospitals to the completion of their service, they were scorned and insulted by the military.

The contempt continued at home, this time at the hands of their fellow Americans, who spat and called them "baby killers."

Of No Value is a memoir spanning the experiences of two soldiers from the time of their combat injuries to their discharge. It not only captures the ludicrous machinations of the military but also depicts the colorful counterculture life of the United States in the early 70s.

Both Wolf and Campbell are Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipients. Wolf is also the author of Boys for Men, a best-selling Vietnam memoir.

SNIPE HUNT: A Viet Nam War Novel

A team of inexperienced Army snipers is sent on a five-day mission into the communist-controlled Michelin rubber plantation with vague orders to intercept a high-priority target. Nash Jaramillo and recently promoted Trey Jefferson are the snipers, along with two volunteer spotters. They are joined by a fifth member of the team, a former Viet Cong who defected, and his background makes the rest of the team uneasy. This hastily assembled squad must search out the enemy in the endless rows of rubber trees, knowing they have no backup. Their first contact with the enemy reveals a valuable and dangerous secret, one that transforms them from the hunters to the hunted. Now they must face deadly encounters with both the enemy and with supposed friends, all in the diminishing hope of making it to their rendezvous with the mechanized infantry platoon that can save them. The non-stop action and excitement will keep you captivated all the way to the surprise ending.

Best We Forget: A novel of chaos, conspiracy and black Aussie humor in the Vietnam War

Best We Forget is off-beat, in the style of Catch 22 and The Virgin Soldiers. It is an international novel from an Australian viewpoint – a picture of the idiocy of the Vietnam War war penned with the blotchy ink of black humor.

The novel centres on 12 months in the life of National Serviceman Brian “Donkey” Simpson, a naive young Australian setting out on the adventure of a lifetime with a bunch of like-minded mates – but Vietnam is a horror story, a bullet just an inch away at any time.

In a typical Army stuff-up, the Army makes Simpson (a former country journalist) secretary to Australia’s commander in Vietnam – and the bait in a murderous political plot. But who’s pulling the strings? The good guys or bad?

Sprinkled throughout are many sub-plots and stories involving the South Vietnamese general who’s plotting a coup d’état; the six-gun totin’ CIA general who’s trying to stop him; the Vietnamese whore who’ll do anything to get to America; the raunchy American nurses who love loving; the GIs lost in a sea of booze and drugs.

In the big picture, Best We Forget dissects the inner pain of rejection inflicted on fighting men by their own people; it examines the conscience of those who inflicted the pain. It is an out-of-control roller coaster of classical farce, intrigue, double-cross, espionage, horror, and black, black humor strung together by the puppetry of Murphy’s Law. Of Catch 22. It’s the story of the Vietnam veteran – Australian and American - you’ve never read before.

Prepare to laugh – and cry.

21 Months, 24 Days: A blue-collar kid's journey to the Vietnam War and back

21 Months, 24 Days is an engaging memoir of a blue-collar kid turned soldier. Threatened by the draft in the late sixties, he enlisted in the Army to avoid becoming a grunt, yet ended up one anyway. He endured a grueling war in Vietnam and then returned to a country too angry to care. While his journey took unexpected turns, his choices got him there, so he did his best to react positively and keep moving forward.

Udden delivers his story in a comfortable, friendly style. He conveys the experiences of basic training, advanced infantry training, and what it was like to live, work, guard, patrol, and fight in the jungle. The reader will feel the adrenalin rush of a firefight, the thrill of a wild ride dangling below a helicopter, and the humor in celebrating his 21st birthday on a firebase.

Through his words and personal photographs, you will live through his journey exactly as he experienced it.

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And thats all folks, For now anyway. Requests?

Spoke too soon, i missed one!

Vietnam: A Tale Of Two Tours

An Army helicopter pilot's memoirs and first-hand account of what he experienced personally during two tours in Vietnam - one at the height of the war in1969 and one at the very end in 1973. This is a detailed description of the life of one helicopter pilot and what he did in the air, on the ground, with the people during his first tour in the Central Highlands while assigned to and flying for an Infantry Division, the Cambodia Invasion, and what it was really like living in Vietnam. The second tour was in the Saigon area with an Air Cavalry Troop and recounts live for Americans at the final months of the War, final cease fire events, prisoner exchanges, life on the ground, Saigon, the final flight of combat troops to leave Vietnam and the end of American combat operations and involvement. For those who want to know what it was like to be there – without the hidden agenda, embellishment, or hype normally associated with the Vietnam War

NOW im finished! any requests for later down the line?