摘要：The subject of Michael Collins and his role in the Anglo-Irish War of 1919¨C1921 has become increasingly well-trod ground over the past decade or more, but J.B.E. Hittle attempts to blaze a new trail by examining the war not so much from the perspective of Collins's successes, but from that of failed opportunities on the part of the Crown's intelligence services. A retired thirty-one year veteran of the U.S. intelligence community, Hittle earned an MA in History from LSU and is considered an expert on many aspects of insurgency and counterterrorism. His stated intent in this work was to use the war "as a case study of intelligence mana gement under con-ditions of low-intensity conflict" (p. xiii). Hittle's Preface first provides a useful primer on the state of the historiography on the war, and he acknowledges the transformation from an Irish nationalist¨Ccentered, heroic view of events to one more tempered by modern critical analysis such as that provided by Peter Hart, whose works have provoked much debate among nationalists and academics alike. The rancor of that debate has somewhat marred the study of the subject from an Irish perspective, and Hittle acknowledges the difficulties of working within that troubled environment. Conversely, historiography on the British side has been much improved of late through new scholarship such as Christopher Andrew's 2009 history of MI5, reviewed in this publication in Vol. III, No. 4, Winter 2010.1In addition to the problems with historical treatments of the war, Hittle further cites the issues that attend the fact that few of those who have written about the war had any kind of practical experience with profes-sional intelligence functions. This, he contends, has led to a lack of solid analysis of the intelligence struggle. While such an argument might be well received in the intelligence community, it is not likely to draw applause from academicians trained in the complexities of historical anal-ysis. Whether or not such rigor has been applied to this subject is one story. Asserting that academics are incapable of doing so, however, is quite another story entirely. It is one that seems rather unkind at best, and vaguely unprofessional at worst. With Hittle's having so tweaked the nose of academe in view, readers of his work will no doubt be anxious to Hagerty: Michael Collins and the Anglo-Irish War: Britain's CounterinsurgeProduced by The Berkeley Electronic Press, 2012
