In comparison to what has been written on the IRA, very little has been published on loyalist paramilitary organisations. Henry McDonald and Jim Cusack’s The UVF (revised and updated edition, Poolbeg, 2000) is one of the very few books to have been written on the oldest loyalist paramilitary organisation. The book is a chronological history of the UVF since 1966, from the Malvern Street killings to the current feud with the UDA. The style of the book is journalistic rather than academic, and is easily readable. The narrative centres on personalities, facts and events. Those not very familiar with the world and history of the UVF will probably find this book quite informative. The book is a useful complement to Steve Bruce’s The Red Hand (1992) which dealt mainly with more general socio-political considerations on the nature of loyalist and pro-state terrorism; something which is a bit lacking in McDonald and Cusack’s book.

To their credit, the authors have analysed the loyalist organisation in a serious manner. Even if they are obviously not sympathetic to the actions of the UVF, they have given the movement more than a fair treatment. As opposed to the Martin Dillon school of journalism that treats the UVF as no more than a bunch of gangsters and psychopaths just worthy of a few "true crime" books to be placed among those published on the likes of the Yorkshire Ripper and the Mafia, McDonald and Cusack analyse the organisation as an extreme political, rather than criminal or pathological, expression of unionism. The authors are very impartial, and some might accuse them of not being critical enough of the UVF. Even when dealing with some of the worse atrocities committed by the UVF, like the killings carried out by the Shankill Butchers and in the ‘Romper Rooms‘, the authors describe those in a cool, neutral and dispassionate style.

The book contains a number of very interesting stories, some not very well known, such as Catholics that have helped the UVF, or the very suspicious activities and individuals of the bizarre and extreme ‘Red Hand Defenders‘. The best part of the book is that which recounts the "other peace process", that is how loyalist organisations were drawn into the peace process thanks to the key role played by individuals such as Chris Hudson.

For the authors, "the modern UVF straddles two worlds –sectarianism and political innovation. At times the organisation can swing from one extreme to another." (p.274) The main weakness of the book is that the authors pay insufficient attention on the various structural factors that cause such radical paradigmatic shifts. How can one day the UVF produce the likes of the Shankill Butchers and the other the civic unionism of the PUP? Or even, how can they simultaneously co-exist? How can Billy Hutchinson address a Socialist Party meeting on the future of the working-class and the UVF intimidate Catholics in Larne the same day? The authors haven’t explored enough this contradictory nature of the "progressive unionism" of the UVF. The authors also do not really ask whether "political innovation" could one day the upper hand over "sectarianism". Is sectarianism a necessary or just a contingent element of the UVF’s ideology? If it is a necessary element, then isn’t the dynamic of the UVF such that the sectarian element will inevitably have the upper hand?

This reviewer found the author’s view of Irish nationalism and republicanism highly irritating. Readers from Unionist and Loyalist backgrounds might find it more appealing, but nevertheless it raises a number of important questions about the relations between Irish nationalism and the UVF that they answer in an unsatisfactory manner. For the authors, the UVF is essentially an autonomous extreme reaction of the loyalist population to Irish nationalism. So, they conclude the book by writing that it is now up to republicans and nationalists to lift the siege. But is the UVF’s dynamic solely related to Irish nationalism and republicanism, has it not got a dynamic independently of them? For example, the first few killings carried out by the UVF in 1966 were done at a time where the IRA was quasi-inexistent. Or when republicans were killing many off-duty soldiers and policemen in the 1980s, UVF activity was very low. Has the UVF got a dynamic outside its confrontation with nationalism and republicanism? There are sufficient grounds to think that such an independent dynamic exists, but the authors quite neglect it.

In spite of its shortcomings, The UVF is a useful and informative book that is worth reading, especially at a time where loyalism is facing a difficult and uncertain future.