{"product_id":"treaty-or-treason-phillip-kerrigan-9798548207678","title":"Treaty or Treason: Ireland's Wars 1916 - 1923 Everyone must choose a side","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn historical fiction of the wars of Ireland in the 1920's and their impact on the Irish and their country, inevitably wars are about the people affected and their stories. No one is immune from the impact of violence and upheaval.\u003c\/p\u003eWestmeath, a county in the \u003cb\u003eIrish\u003c\/b\u003e midlands. It's the beginning of the 20th century and two boyhood friends grow up in the rural countryside dominated by the British military in Athlone. \"Treaty or Treason\" is an historical fictional account of those whose lives were affected by the major events in Ireland in that time.\u003cbr\u003eThey grow into young men in a heart breaking coming of age, seeing the horror and heroism of the \u003cb\u003eEaster uprising\u003c\/b\u003e debacle in 1916 unfold in \u003cb\u003eDublin\u003c\/b\u003e. But it is an event that ignites a national blaze and turns the two young men into \u003cb\u003erevolutionary fighters\u003c\/b\u003e whose secret activities put them in grave danger and change their lives.\u003cbr\u003eFor two years from 1919 they fight the \u003cb\u003eIrish War of independence\u003c\/b\u003e against the mighty British Empire all the time seeing the prize of their beloved \u003cb\u003eRepublic\u003c\/b\u003e and independence getting closer for \u003cb\u003eIreland\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003cbr\u003eThe brutality of their foes, the mercenary Black and Tans and their treatment of the civilian population forges their friendship and resolve. Their society has been torn apart, their leaders challenged. The boot heel of \u003cb\u003eImperialism\u003c\/b\u003e stamps down on their country. \u003cbr\u003eThis is a saga of boys to men to fighters at a time when the world is recovering from World War 1. But for Ireland the struggle is just beginning and the fight will be ferocious and vicious against a powerful enemy.\u003cbr\u003eJoe Keegan and Sean McKeon stand shoulder to shoulder, victory is in sight. But at the last minute it is snatched away by the politicians and leaders who see a different way forward. A \u003cb\u003eTreaty\u003c\/b\u003e and Dominion status, not a Republic will be accepted.\u003cbr\u003eFor the whole country, choices must be made that were never foreseen.\u003cbr\u003eA \u003cb\u003eCivil War\u003c\/b\u003e looms, it will be ugly and Joe and Sean now have to make a choice: Treaty or \u003cb\u003eTreason\u003c\/b\u003e!\u003cbr\u003eJoe never doubted he would join with the anti Treaty forces of the \u003cb\u003eIRA \u003c\/b\u003ebut Sean confounds Joe and accepts the Treaty and joins the Provisional Government Army. \u003cbr\u003eFriends become enemies and their lives and loves are compromised by the deep emotional divisions within the country that survive to the modern day. Joe's relentless fight against the powers of his former comrades destroys his freedom and many thousands of others like him who are imprisoned in their quest for their ideal.\u003cbr\u003eJoe loses his dream as Sean commits himself to a future that demands allegiance to a power he had hoped to defeat.\u003cbr\u003ePHILLIP KERRIGAN is an Australian author of Irish descent and has an abiding interest in Irish history and politics. His family took part in the times he writes about.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Phillip Kerrigan\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 8548207671\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798548207678\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/15\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 374\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.10lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.77d","brand":"Phillip Kerrigan","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43945199206655,"sku":"9798548207678","price":16.96,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_f33c186e-322e-4175-9aa4-c5f48a9073a6.jpg?v=1681507354","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/treaty-or-treason-phillip-kerrigan-9798548207678","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}