In January 1980, a secret review quietly rewired Britain’s war in Northern Ireland. Commissioned by the Chief Constable of the RUC and led by future MI5 Director General Sir Patrick Walker, it placed intelligence above the law - and changed everything.

What followed was a vast, covert agent-running machine that penetrated the Provisional IRA at unprecedented depth. Thousands of informers were recruited and handled outside any legal framework, authorised to lie, collude, and kill. Publicly, ministers spoke of the rule of law. Privately, the State crossed its own red lines.

Supporters claim Walker’s revolution saved lives and forced the IRA towards politics, helping pave the way to the Good Friday Agreement. Critics argue it licensed murder, subverted justice, and corrupted policing beyond repair. As one damning note to Tony Blair put it: ‘The State is assassinating people.’

Primed with new and important revelations, this meticulously researched book is the inside story of the decades-long struggle to expose that truth - an attritional battle between detectives, lawyers, and a powerful ‘Securocracy’ determined to protect its secrets. From shoot-to-kill and collusion inquiries to Operation Kenova and the Stakeknife scandal, it reveals how the State has so doggedly fought to control the narrative, silence scrutiny, and preserve its legacy, whatever the cost.