Book excerpt: Tom Barry: IRA Freedom Fighter chronicles the action-packed life of the Commander of the Third West Cork Flying Column, including the decisive Kilmichael ambush and the controversy regarding sectarianism during the 1920–22 period. Author, Meda Ryan, details his involvement on the fringes of the Treaty negotiations; his Republican activities during the Civil War; his engagement in the cease-fire/dump-arms deal of 1923; his term as the IRA's Chief of Staff and his participation in IRA conflicts in the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and right up to his death in 1980. Includes an extensive body of primary source material, including Tom Barry's papers,