I think this book should be judged on its own merit and not a person's personal like or dislike for the author. This work offers insight into Gerry Adam's prison time at Long Kesh, a place where he spent several years in the 1970's. This is an important work if one understands that guerrilla movements are often strengthened through incarceration of their members and the subsequent political mismanagement by prison authorities. It is in prison where a movement shares hardship and forms lifelong bonds, where new members are indoctrinated into the undergound war, where up and coming guerrillas earn street cred, and where its leadership has the time and motivation to hone their strategy. Taken in this light, Cage Eleven is an interesting window into the life behind bars for members of the outlawed IRA. At the time that Adams wrote these series of articles, they were smuggled to the outside and openly published. Thus, the purpose of these writings was to give the movement hope and strength and while engendering public sympathy. Adams was an astute writer, filling his articles with Irish humor and references to Irish culture. However, this book is more of a specialty work for someone interested in learning more about Adams, the IRA, or the effect of prison on outlawed movements. If none of these areas draw your interest, this is most likely not the work for you.
