The General Book

The screenplay of the award-winning film about an Irish folk hero-and burglar-killed by the IRA.

The General is Martin Cahill, a working-class Dubliner who was the mastermind behind a series of daring robberies that stunned Ireland in the 1980s. Despite being the country's most wanted man, he eluded capture-and showed great humor and lan in doing so-until he was assassinated by the IRA for refusing to serve their cause.

The screenplay of John Boorman's film, for which he won the Cannes Film Festival's award for best director, delves deeply into Cahill's heart to reveal a man who possessed a relish for defying the might of society, a ferocious cunning, a sense of perpetual celebration, and a dark brutality-all the characteristics of a Celtic chieftain. With the strong sense of place and character that he also demonstrated in his Academy Award-nominated Hope and Glory, Boorman brings this man-and his society-to life with an immediacy and empathy rare to modern film writing.