My life in loyalism - Billy Hutchinson

Growing up in the Shankill area of Belfast and living through the sectarian turmoil of the late 1960s,Billy Hutchinson joined the UVF in the early 1970s.In 1975, at the age of just 19, he was sentenced to lifein prison, and it was in the cages of Long Kesh thathe first came under the influence of loyalist iconGusty Spence.

Hutchinson spent much of the 1980s as overall CommandingOfficer of UVF/Red Hand Commando prisoners, and upon hisrelease in 1990, he became involved with the recently establishedProgressive Unionist Party. As an authentic link between the UVFand the PUP, he was at the forefront of negotiations that led to theBelfast Agreement and was the UVF's point of contact during theweapons decommissioning programme. Written with greatcandour and honesty, this is a gripping memoir of an extraordinarylife which reveals previously unpublished accounts of both theNorthern Ireland Troubles and the peace process that culminated in the historic Belfast Agreement of 1998.

From Tartan gang member to leading loyalist paramilitary, and fromProgressive Unionist politician to Belfast City Councillor,My Life in Loyalism is Billy Hutchinson's remarkable story.