First published in 1949, 'Guerilla Days in Ireland' is an extraordinary story of the Irish War of Independence and the fight between two unequal forces, which ended in the withdrawal of the British from twenty-six counties. Seven weeks before the Truce of July 1921, the British presence in County Cork consisted of a total of over 12,500 men. Against these British forces stood the Irish Republican Army whose flying columns never exceeded 310 riflemen in the whole of the county. These flying columns were small groups of dedicated Volunteers, severely commanded and disciplined. Constantly on the move, their paramount objective was merely to exist, to strike when conditions were favourable and to avoid disaster at all costs. In 'Guerilla Days in Ireland' Tom Barry describes the setting up of the West Cork flying column, its training and the plan of campaign, which he implemented. In particular he gives his account of the Kilmichael ambush, one of the most controversial episodes of the War of Independence.
The Diary of an Ordinary Man is an autobiography of a man who hailed from alcoholic parents in a distressed neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. Tom Barry dropped out of high school and joined the U.S. Army, where he did tours in Korea and Germany. After his military service, he drifted from job to job before joining the New York City Department of Corrections as a new corrections officer. This book introduces the reader to some of the diverse characters employed in the department at that time and reviews some of the many aspects of working in a jail, including Tom's perspective of the formative 1970 New York City jail riots and their aftermath.
During his twenty years with the agency, Tom worked his way through the ranks to become a warden and in the process he put himself through college (NYIT) and graduate school (St. John's University in Queens, New York). One of the author's many successes was preparing and managing the nation's first municipal direct supervision facility for operation. Under his leadership, the facility became a model for the department and an example for the nation.
The Diary of an Ordinary Man was written from the perspective of a blue-collar worker. Within the book the reader will be entertained with some humorous and human-interest stories. The book covers a particularly volatile period in our nation's history, wherein major societal changes occurred, which resulted in many challenges and innovative solutions, some of which may be relevant today. Tom's many difficulties during the course of his career and his methods for overcoming them may inspire the reader in dealing with his or her own challenges, for no life is without its problems. Everyone must climb their own fences on their road to success.
About the Author
Tom Barry lives in San Antonio with his wife, Nancy. Together they enjoy hosting backyard barbeques, traveling, dancing to country music, salsa, oldies, and listening to blues. In his retirement he immerses himself in woodworking, chess, bowling with his wife and friends, and shooting skeet and targets. He is an amateur student of history, having read many texts on a wide variety of historical subjects. His reading tends to be nonfiction and an occasional novel. Additionally, he enjoys Southwestern art and the poetry of Robert Frost.
Prior to his retirement in the early 2000s, Tom was a jail auditor for the National Sheriff's Association and the American Correctional Association. He served as president for the North American Association of Wardens and Superintendents and the American Jail Association, and finally as a member of the Board of Directors for the International Correctional Arts Network (ICAN). He attends church regularly and is a member of the Knights of Columbus. He also is a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and a member of the American Legion.
About the Book
The Diary of an Ordinary Man is an autobiography of a man who hailed from alcoholic parents in a distressed neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. Tom Barry dropped out of high school and joined the U.S. Army, where he did tours in Korea and Germany. After his military service, he drifted from job to job before joining the New York City Department of Corrections as a new corrections officer. This book introduces the reader to some of the diverse characters employed in the department at that time and reviews some of the many aspects of working in a jail, including Tom's perspective of the formative 1970 New York City jail riots and their aftermath.
During his twenty years with the agency, Tom worked his way through the ranks to become a warden and in the process he put himself through college (NYIT) and graduate school (St. John's University in Queens, New York). One of the author's many successes was preparing and managing the nation's first municipal direct supervision facility for operation. Under his leadership, the facility became a model for the department and an example for the nation.
The Diary of an Ordinary Man was written from the perspective of a blue-collar worker. Within the book the reader will be entertained with some humorous and human-interest stories. The book covers a particularly volatile period in our nation's history, wherein major societal changes occurred, which resulted in many challenges and innovative solutions, some of which may be relevant today. Tom's many difficulties during the course of his career and his methods for overcoming them may inspire the reader in dealing with his or her own challenges, for no life is without its problems. Everyone must climb their own fences on their road to success.
About the Author
Tom Barry lives in San Antonio with his wife, Nancy. Together they enjoy hosting backyard barbeques, traveling, dancing to country music, salsa, oldies, and listening to blues. In his retirement he immerses himself in woodworking, chess, bowling with his wife and friends, and shooting skeet and targets. He is an amateur student of history, having read many texts on a wide variety of historical subjects. His reading tends to be nonfiction and an occasional novel. Additionally, he enjoys Southwestern art and the poetry of Robert Frost.
Prior to his retirement in the early 2000s, Tom was a jail auditor for the National Sheriff's Association and the American Correctional Association. He served as president for the North American Association of Wardens and Superintendents and the American Jail Association, and finally as a member of the Board of Directors for the International Correctional Arts Network (ICAN). He attends church regularly and is a member of the Knights of Columbus. He also is a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and a member of the American Legion.
The consequences of political fear-mongering and tough talk on immigration in the American Southwest.
The Tea Party and its allies celebrate the rogue states of the Southwest as a model for the nation in their go-it-alone posturing and tough immigration-enforcement talk. In Border Wars, dogged investigative journalist Tom Barry documents the costs of that model: lives lost; families torn apart; billions of wasted tax dollars; vigilantes prowling the desert; and fiscal crises in cities, counties, and states. Even worse, he warns, the entire nation risks following their lead.
As Barry explains, the lack of coherent federal policy on immigration and drug war conduct and the uncritical embrace of all things in the name of national security has opened doors for opportunists from boardrooms to governor's offices in Texas and Arizona. Corporate-prison magnates eagerly swallow up undocumented immigrants into taxpayer-funded dungeons, border sheriffs and politicians trade on voters' fears of Latinos and big government, and pro-business policy institutes and lobbyists battle the public interest.
Border Wars offers a stark portrait of the domestic cost of failed federal leadership in the post-9/11 era.