Before the Dawn

Sinn Fin leader Gerry Adams offers a unique, intimate account of his childhood in working-class Belfast and the turbulent years of social activism that followed. First published in 1996 at a time when politics in the North was at an impasse, and the Good Friday Agreement was still many intense months away Before the Dawn tells of the pogroms of 1969 and the hunger strikes of 1981, moving from the streets of West Belfast to the cages and the H-Blocks of Long Kesh. An engaging and revealing self-portrait that is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand modern Ireland. Updated with a new introduction and epilogue.