Ó BROIN, Leon. The Prime Informer. A Suppressed Scandal.

London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1971. Large post octavo. pp. 174. Purple paper boards, titled in gilt. A fine copy in
very good jacket.
The extraordinary story of William Henry Joyce and Arthur Balfour might have ranked as one of the great scandals of this century - had it ever come to light. It could have ruined the career of a famous British Prime Minister and had a far-reaching effect on the relations of Great Britain and Ireland. Shortly before the First World War Roger Casement wrote about it to a friend: “I have recently had put into my hands the most extraordinary evidence of the infamy of Balfour, Salisbury & Co. at the time of the Times attack on Parnell. It is a statement that, if published, would do more to wreck the AngloSaxon Alliance than anything I have seen if properly edited and written up. The evidence is there - the corruption is there; the shamelessness is there, the debauchery of the “public service” by the highest servants of the State is there: all for political ends against Ireland.”

[L4 10D]