Martin McGuinness

Martin McGuinness, former Chief of Staff of the IRA and current Northern Ireland Education Minister, is the lynch pin in the current cease-fire agreement. McGuinness has been described as excellent officer material; the second most powerful man in Britain after Rupert Murdoch; the personification of the armed struggle; and, IRA godfather of godfathers. Yet he is also a devout Catholic, a husband, a father to four grown up children and a keen poet and fisherman. In his native Derry, he is equally revered and reviled. Liam Clarke and Kathryn Johnston uncover the truth behind this enigmatic and intensely private individual who holds the peace process in the palm of his hand. Following interviews with friends and family, IRA volunteers, police officers, IRA victims, civil servants and politicians, the book tells the remarkable story of how McGuinness steered the IRA through war to peace.