Martin McGuinness

This work tells the story of Martin McGuinness' personal journey from undistinguished IRA volunteer to the man that "The Cook Report" called "Britain's No 1 Terrorist". By the end of the 1990s, "Esquire" magazine rated him the second most powerful man in the United Kingdom after Rupert Murdoch. And, although he denies ever having been IRA Chief of Staff, he says that he regards the charge as a compliment. McGuinness, first Minister for Education in the Northern Ireland Assembly, is the lynchpin of the current ceasefire. He has been described as "excellent officer material", "the personification of the armed struggle", and "IRA godfather of godfathers". Yet he is also a devout Catholic, a husband and father of four and a keen poet and fisherman. In his native Derry, he is equally revered and reviled. This book uncovers the truth behind the 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.