One of the book's charms is the necessary focus on anecdotes and pen portraits of participants in the battles. These bring to life some of the conflicts, like the story of Lieutenant Bartholomew Teeling and Irish men serving in General Humbert's French forces in September 1798 who showed immense courage yet was executed by the British after the Battle of Ballinamuck. McMahon reaches a high point if the style in the brief chapter on Knockanross when he discusses the life and times of Murrough O'Brien, Lord Inchiquin. - The Irish Story.

Like all guerrilla wars, the Irish War of Independence was characterised by great courage and ruthless brutality. It created many heroes and spawned two of the most hated forces that a British government had ever inflicted on Ireland: the Black and Tans and the Auxiliaries.

This book traces the cause, development and consequences of the war, which led to the bloody birth of modern Ireland.