Books

FIRST EDITION, pp. 272, crown 8vo, original green cloth, backstrip lettered in gilt, publisher's device stamped in blind to lower board, top corner of upper board gently knocked, tail edge roughtrimmed, top edge dustsoiled and edges lightly spotted, dustjacket a little darkened overall, faint pencil mark to margin of image on front panel, a few tiny nicks and gently rubbed at extremities, very good. The author's major work, 'an enthralling Revolutionary picture of the Dublin underworld' (blurb) in the aftermath of the civil war - winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction in 1925. 'In the ominous figure of Gypo, an ex-policeman and informer [.] the author has created a character of Dostoievskian force' (blurb).

Set during the Irish War of Independence, 'The Informer' tells the story of Gypo Nolan, a man who betrays his friend, Frankie McPhillip, to the British authorities for a reward, and is subsequently consumed by guilt and paranoia. It is a gripping exploration of moral conflict and psychological turmoil.