Fishers of Men: The Gripping True Story of a British Undercover Agent in Northern Ireland

I am from Co. Fermanagh and all I can say is thank you for everything you and your peers did to save many lives.

Rob Lewis is the pseudonym of a case officer who served in an ultra secret military intelligence unit, known as the Force Research Unit, in northern Ireland. He describes the selection, training of this unit as well as the methodology that it employed in Ulster to spot, recruit and run agents inside the IRA. Due to the secrecy restrictions imposed on him the chapters about his time in the north are a collection of bland anecdotes. If one wishes to read a book by an insider that blows the lid off of the FRU read, Stakeknife, by Martin Ingram.

It wasn’t “gripping” but it was interesting. Writing style is a bit self absorbed.

I really enjoyed this book , a well written memoir, we've come a long way since the book "spycatcher" by Arthur wright

if you like the stories of old time espionage and the selection of men then this will entertain you.anecdotally based, hard to find book, but worth the wait and it added to my library of hard to finds.

During the 1970's and 1980's, Northern Ireland was a fiery cauldron of religious hatred between Catholics and Protestants with regular bombings, shootings and kidnappings. As well as soldiers, police officers and terrorists, literally dozens of innocent civilians on both sides of the struggle were killed or maimed in the violent struggle for independence. The hatred of the British by many loyal Irish nationalists, had been seething for decades, however it had entered an even more deadly phase after the tragic events of Bloody Sunday in January 1972, when 13 civilians were shot dead by British Paratroopers.British Army Intelligence recognised that amongst all this hatred and division, there were persons close to the Provisional IRA who were ripe for manipulation by specially trained intelligence officers to become covert agents. Rob Lewis was a young Welshman who had initially entered the Army and saw a career ahead in tank regiments and sitting inside a heated turret, but after a short tour in Northern Ireland he became exposed to the world of covert intelligence, and volunteered for selection into this shadowy world.Lewis succeeded in his quest, and joined the highly secretive Force Research Unit (FRU), that were responsible for identifying and approaching potential "moles" that would be financially rewarded for passing on critical information on terrorist activities conducted by the IRA. Working alongside Special Branch and SAS teams, Lewis and his comrades engaged in an extremely dangerous "cat and mouse" game that could be met with disaster at any step in the road if approached individuals informed the IRA of the British Army's presence, and an ambush was planned in retaliation.Lewis's autobiography is a relatively easy and entertaining read, and whilst not overly gripping, he does provide an interesting insight into the activities of an army unit charged with a deadly task, and those persons interested in the murky world of covert intelligence will find this quite engrossing. As Lewis was serving in Northern Ireland at the time of many key events ( hunger strike by Bobby Sands, assassination of IRA agents in Gibraltar by SAS teams, the murder of two British corporals caught up in an IRA funeral procession ), he does additionally provide some insight into the tension experienced by serving British agents, and the way in which an undercover agent lives on a knife edge.Recommended reading for those interested in the world of undercover "spooks".

Hugely interesting book, unlike certain other books focused on 14th Int and The Det this really does provide a frontline view from an agent who goes out to successfully recruit informers, burgle houses etc focusing much less on the training and much more on operational experience. Extremely heartening to know the successes, skill and bravery of such `operators' risking their lives to protect others. If I were to draw a fault with it the author dwells too much on his own run-ins with authority, he has a serious chip on his shoulder to the extreme detriment of his career. I must confess I am just lost with admiration for the fact that he managed to get out of his initial army basic training and I love the fact that he was able to pass his tests for the Intelligence Corps by burgling an office and stealing the exam answers. You wonder if he'd been caught would he have been reprimanded or commended? His story of life in the armoured corps is revealing, the idea that on a night exercise you leave a couple of guys to stand sentry and man the radio then head off down the pub takes some beating. Like JEB Stuart said, if you want a good time join the cavalry! I recommend you also read The Operators by James Rennie which covers the same subject from an officer's perspective, Former Soldier Seeks Employment by John Miller and Stakeknife by Martin Ingram (although take the latter with a large pinch of salt) .

You should not really be surprised that this book lacks any depth of detail. By definition of the fact that this chap was an intel guy and was involved in activities that do not lend themselves to public disclosure, the story line repeatedly promises much but, each time, delivers no real punch.It is worth a read, but don't expect too much closure; the money shots were stripped out by the MOD prior to publication.Really, because of the above points, this book is a 3-star read, but I somehow doubt that this is the authors fault, so I tipped it into 4 stars!I would say though that a couple of evenings at the pub with the author would probably lead to some interesting conversation.

It was a book that you can't put down , I know some of the individuals mentioned and a friend who commanded the SAS and all Special Forces said to be wary of a friend but no relation although we share the same surname who said that he was attached to the SAS,SBS and was in 14 Intelligence Service who I believe were renamed and are based at Pontrilas in Herefordshire.If you had served with either regiment or 14 Int , you would not talk about it ,rather like 2 friends who were in MI5 and MI6, they could be next door to each other , be very good friends but pretend they don't know each other or have only met for the first time !

I suspect this book is mainly of interest to people who are ex military, police or NI residents. The story line is a day to day account of military service in general and the daily routine of FRU personnel in NI. Being ex military, ex police and having served in NI in the 1980s, I reckon that the author is relating censored true accounts from his perspective. Procedures have no doubt been tightened up in all aspects, including accountability for the behaviour, personal safety and compromise of operators within these arenas. There was a sense of anti climax when reading the operational accounts but that is the reality of this type of work. I quite enjoyed reading the book however, which is effectively a snapshot of the times.

Within the obvious restrictions of censorship this proved to be a very reasonable read.Like many books of this genre, it starts with a chapter or two of 'where I come from' and then gets into more details of the realities of army life.Given the nature of the work there can be no real in depth examination of operations but those that are discussed are revealing in terms of tension, humour and patience, lots of it.

I enjoyed reading this book from start to finish. Having served in Northern Ireland myself on normal Soldiering patrols. It was great to have an insight on what was going on behind the scenes. I often wondered if any of the snippets of info my team gained ever led to anything, having read this book I wonder even more now.