The Billy Boy

Zusatztext

<p>A cult figure among loyalists, despised and feared by nationalists, Billy 'King Rat' Wright is reputed to have been involved in a number of sectarian murders before he himself was shot dead by republican gunmen inside the Maze Prison in 1997.</p><p>Wright became involved with loyalist paramilitaries at the age of 16, and in the early 1990s he emerged as the UVF commander in the Mid-Ulster area. The Billy Boy documents Wright's role in the Drumcree dispute of 1995-96 and his split from the UVF, recounting how he ignored both a death threat and an order to leave Northern Ireland, only to remain in Portadown and form the Loyalist Volunteer Force. It covers Wright's trial and subsequent imprisonment for a crime it has been claimed was set up by the State; recounts the circumstances of his killing inside a top-security prison; and investigates the allegations of State collusion in Wright's death.</p><p>Terrifically gripping and often disturbing,<i>The Billy Boy</i>is an exhaustive account of a notorious figure of the Troubles, whose life and death were surrounded by controversy and political debate.</p>

Autorenportrait

Chris Anderson is a freelance journalist and contributes to numerous newspapers, including the<i>Irish Times</i>, the<i>Irish Independent</i>, the<i>Sunday Mirror</i>and the<i>Sunday Life</i>. He lives in Portadown.

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