Of the 191 rebels court-martialled after the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916, 90 received death sentences. In 15 of the cases, the death penalty was confirmed and the rebels shot. The official British government record of the proceedings in each of the 15 trials was kept secret for most of the 20th century and was only released to the public in 1999. The official records presented in this book provide the only definitive record of the court martial proceedings, hitherto the subject of much speculation and propaganda on both sides. Further material released in early 2001 includes the trial of Countess Markievicz and important evidence about "shoot to kill" British military tactics. The complete official court-martial records, photographs of the leaders and key British players, and the incisive commentary of historian Brian Barton provide insight into the minds of the rebel leaders at a defining moment in Irish history.