Mad Dog - They Shot Me in the Head, They Gave Me Cyanide and They Stabbed Me, But I'm Still Standing

by Adair (Author)

• New

  Paperback
  2009

  $19.98

  Johnny Adair placed himself at the heart of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. To some he was a criminal and a terrorist. To others he was an integral part of Belfast's bloody history and in it he reveals its roots in his own uncompromising and compelling style. Such a struggle should never have to happen, but to understand why it did, you have to read Johnny's account of what it was to be a part of it. Johnny's story goes all the way from the heart of the fighting to his new life in England and Scotland, where he has lived since 2003 after splitting from the UDA. Dedicated to achieving lasting peace, Adair is a figure who was for years central to the events in Northern Ireland and whose life on the edge makes for a gripping real-life adventure.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2007

  $3.31

  Johnny Adair was born in the Shankhill Road area of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The youngest of seven children, he was raised a Protestant. As a teenager, Johnny and his gang would roam the streets looking for Catholics for no other reason than religion and he bears many scars and war wounds from endless street battles. A young Loyalist, Johnny earned his reputation as a paramilitary leader long before he fully understood the politics but quickly came to realise the purpose of the paramilitary antics - freedom and peace in Northern Ireland - and this belief fuelled his passion for the campaign, making him unstoppably ruthless in his quest. The authorities hold him responsible for 41 murders and he became known as the most feared and infamous terrorist of them all. Now, he breaks his silence to tell his true spine-chilling story. In 1995, Johnny was sentenced to 16 years for 'Directing Terrorism', but in 1999, he was the 293rd prisoner to be released from the Maze Prison under the Good Friday Peace Treaty. In total, there have been ten attempts on his life and he has a hole in the back of his head, the size of a 50p piece, where he was shot whilst at a UB40 concert, plus a hole in the side of one leg from another attack. But, his story is not one about money or grudges - he was simply fighting for what he truly believes in - peace in Northern Ireland, a lifelong struggle in which he became known as the hardest man in the UK.