This book takes a provocative second look at paramilitary loyalism, charting the evolution of the loyalist identity through more than forty years of conflict and peace. Based on extensive documentary and oral evidence from former combatants, politicians and key interlocutors, it assesses this journey through the lens of a model of identity taken from a range of academic disciplines. With its focus on drawing out the defining humanity – in its positive and negative guises – of the loyalist experience, the book tells a story that traces a line from the chaotic, violent birth of the paramilitaries in the late 1960s and early 1970s to the challenges facing the organisations in the post-conflict landscape.

The book will be of interest to a wide range of audiences, including students and scholars of Irish studies, terrorism and extremism, peace and conflict studies, criminology, psychology and political sociology, as well as the educated general reader seeking a closer understanding of loyalist paramilitarism or the role of identity in provoking and sustaining conflict.