Cage Eleven

Book excerpt: Long before he became President of Sinn Féin, Gerry Adams was a civil rights activist who took part in sit-ins, marches and protests in Northern Ireland. Along with hundreds of other men, Adams was interned on the Maidstone prison ship and in Long Kesh prison – without charge or trial – during the 1970s for his political activities. Women were interned also, in Armagh Women's Prison. Cage Eleven is his own account – sometimes passionate, often humorous – of life in Long Kesh. Written while Adams was a prisoner, the pieces were smuggled out for publication. This updated edition includes a new introduction and sketches drawn in Cage Eleven by another prisoner at the time, Danny Devenny. 'Offers a unique insight into ... the experience of internment ... an unrivalled representation of the resilience and humour that were as much a part of the life of the political prisoner as the adherence to a set of political ideals.' Irish Herald