Book review: State violence, collusion and the Troubles: counter insurgency, government deviance and Northern Ireland

"State Violence, Collusion and the Troubles: Counter Insurgency, Government Deviance and Northern Ireland." Maurice Punch. Pluto Press. March 2012. --- State Violence, Collusion and the Troubles reveals disturbing unanswered questions about the use of state violence during the conflict in Ireland. Maurice Punch documents how the British government turned to desperate, illegal measures in a time of crisis, disregarding domestic and international law. He also broadens out his analysis to consider other cases of state violence against ‘insurgent groups’ in Spain and South Africa. Christina Steenkamp thinks this book is a sobering and overdue caution to democratic states facing terrorist threats.