Borstal Boy 
I was given a copy of this wonderful book by an Australian I met when travelling in Europe in 1990. The copy was an early sixties Pan edition - its spine was broken, the pages were dog-eared and stained and it had fallen into three pieces. My Australian fellow-traveller had had it passed to him by a similar stranger. On giving it to me he made the proviso that I too must pass it on once I'd read it. I passed it on to a friend in England and I know that he passed it on to someone else. I don't

In 1939, 16-year-old Brendan Behan, a volunteer with the IRA, was arrested in Liverpool for possessing explosives. He says nothing about his intentions and little about his trial, but there'd been some deadly bombs planted in English cities and he was presumably planning to do the same. As he was under 17, the maximum sentence he could be given was 3 years in a Borstal, the name at the time for young offenders' institutions in England, and he tells the story of that time in this book, published
In 1939, 16-year-old Brendan Behan, a volunteer with the IRA, was arrested in Liverpool for possessing explosives. He says nothing about his intentions and little about his trial, but there'd been some deadly bombs planted in English cities and he was presumably planning to do the same. As he was under 17, the maximum sentence he could be given was 3 years in a Borstal, the name at the time for young offenders' institutions in England, and he tells the story of that time in this book, published
Autobiographical work about Behan's experience in borstal after he was arrested in Liverpool with explosives preparing for a terrorist attack.Interesting to see that in 1930s Britain terrorist activities were not regarded with the level of hysteria that now prevails and that he was sent back to Ireland after serving three years in a relatively benign environment.The book is quite a good read, though overly long. By the time it was 3/4 through, I felt that he had run out of things to say and the
Written in the 1950s and set in the very early 40s in England; though WWII would typically be front and center at such a time, it is instead a distant echo because all our characters are incarcerated in juvenile prison - the Borstal of the title.More or less autobiographical, Behan is a 16-year-old product of an IRA family, who is apprehended in Liverpool with bomb-making materials before he succeeds in any action. Though the IRA members of his generation distanced themselves significantly from
Brendan Behan
Paperback | Pages: 386 pages Rating: 3.99 | 2169 Users | 150 Reviews

Identify Based On Books Borstal Boy
Title | : | Borstal Boy |
Author | : | Brendan Behan |
Book Format | : | Paperback |
Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
Pages | : | Pages: 386 pages |
Published | : | by Nonpareil Books (first published 1958) |
Categories | : | European Literature. Irish Literature. Cultural. Ireland. Biography. Autobiography. Memoir. Nonfiction |
Description In Pursuance Of Books Borstal Boy
This miracle of autobiography and prison literature begins: "Friday, in the evening, the landlady shouted up the stairs: 'Oh God, oh Jesus, oh Sacred Heart, Boy, there's two gentlemen here to see you.' I knew by the screeches of her that the gentlemen were not calling to inquire after my health . . . I grabbed my suitcase, containing Pot. Chlor., Sulph Ac, gelignite, detonators, electrical and ignition, and the rest of my Sinn Fein conjurer's outfit, and carried it to the window . . ." The men were, of course, the police, and seventeen-year-old Behan. He spent three years as a prisoner in England, primarily in Borstal (reform school), and was then expelled to his homeland, a changed but hardly defeated rebel. Once banned in the Irish Republic, Borstal Boy is both a riveting self-portrait and a clear look into the problems, passions, and heartbreak of Ireland.Be Specific About Books In Favor Of Borstal Boy
Original Title: | Borstal Boy |
ISBN: | 1567921051 (ISBN13: 9781567921052) |
Edition Language: | English |
Characters: | Brendan Behan |
Setting: | Ireland |
Rating Based On Books Borstal Boy
Ratings: 3.99 From 2169 Users | 150 ReviewsWrite Up Based On Books Borstal Boy
Brendan tells his story of a childhood in Ireland to his involvement with the I.R.A. and his arrest and incarceration in the U.K.A great tale of a heavy life, with heavy drinking and flying fists the size of melons.I was given a copy of this wonderful book by an Australian I met when travelling in Europe in 1990. The copy was an early sixties Pan edition - its spine was broken, the pages were dog-eared and stained and it had fallen into three pieces. My Australian fellow-traveller had had it passed to him by a similar stranger. On giving it to me he made the proviso that I too must pass it on once I'd read it. I passed it on to a friend in England and I know that he passed it on to someone else. I don't

In 1939, 16-year-old Brendan Behan, a volunteer with the IRA, was arrested in Liverpool for possessing explosives. He says nothing about his intentions and little about his trial, but there'd been some deadly bombs planted in English cities and he was presumably planning to do the same. As he was under 17, the maximum sentence he could be given was 3 years in a Borstal, the name at the time for young offenders' institutions in England, and he tells the story of that time in this book, published
In 1939, 16-year-old Brendan Behan, a volunteer with the IRA, was arrested in Liverpool for possessing explosives. He says nothing about his intentions and little about his trial, but there'd been some deadly bombs planted in English cities and he was presumably planning to do the same. As he was under 17, the maximum sentence he could be given was 3 years in a Borstal, the name at the time for young offenders' institutions in England, and he tells the story of that time in this book, published
Autobiographical work about Behan's experience in borstal after he was arrested in Liverpool with explosives preparing for a terrorist attack.Interesting to see that in 1930s Britain terrorist activities were not regarded with the level of hysteria that now prevails and that he was sent back to Ireland after serving three years in a relatively benign environment.The book is quite a good read, though overly long. By the time it was 3/4 through, I felt that he had run out of things to say and the
Written in the 1950s and set in the very early 40s in England; though WWII would typically be front and center at such a time, it is instead a distant echo because all our characters are incarcerated in juvenile prison - the Borstal of the title.More or less autobiographical, Behan is a 16-year-old product of an IRA family, who is apprehended in Liverpool with bomb-making materials before he succeeds in any action. Though the IRA members of his generation distanced themselves significantly from
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