Looking for a Recommendation

[Psychonaut]

I've decided that I'd like to read about the war of Irish independence. Can anyone recommend me one good standard historical work and, perhaps, one good historical fiction work?

[Birka]

Hands down, the best work of historical fiction is "Trinity" by Leon Uris, published in 1976 I think. He had a follow up to this book called "Redemption" a few years later and this is just about as good as "Trinity".

I am a fiction reader and not a historian in the classical sense, so I cannot recommend a history book. There was an American who wrote a book about the "troubles" from a first person view when he lived there in the 80's that is a very good book. It is called "Belfast Diaries". I would strongly recommend this bood also.

[Black Turlogh]

You might also want to look into the Green Flag series by Robert Kee. I believe Kee is an Englishman, and an objective one at that, so worry not about getting a biased take on things.

[Murphy]

You might also want to look into the Green Flag series by Robert Kee. I believe Kee is an Englishman, and an objective one at that, so worry not about getting a biased take on things.

I will second this recommendation from Black Turlogh on The Green Flag by Robert Kee. You also might want to check out Michael Collins's Intelligence War: The Struggle Between the British and the IRA - 1919-1921 by Michael T. Foy.

You may also like to check out the A New History of Ireland series by Oxford if you have a love for Irish history. They've just released the Volume III paperback (I can't wait until my own arrives in the post :D!).