evidence: The scale of the British army’s presence in Northern Ireland during the Troubles is staggering. More than a quarter of a million troops served in Operation Banner, the army’s longest continuous campaign. [...] That the push for a quick military victory was driven in large measure by unionist pressure and the goal of placating loyalist paramilitaries who were beginning to show their strength is one of the central findings of this compelling study. [...] Bennett’s epilogue details the obstacles that were thrown up to his research, partly motivated by fears that archival sources might assist those seeking to prosecute soldiers and partly because he came to be regarded as a less promisingly uncritical chronicler of the British army than initially thought. It illuminates the ongoing struggles to shape the writing of the history of the Troubles.