Foreword by Sean MacBride. - Described by an editorial critic as "an excellent book, full of insights, " The Centre Cannot Hold is "a work which, having recounted the tragedy, manages to conclude on a theme not of despair but of hope, and faith in the future." Dick Roche of the Irish Independent says 'Centre is "a courageous, contentious, uncompromising book essential for an understanding of the six-county problem ..."Jack Hassard, a Dungannon Protestant and a NI labour leader who resigned as member of the NI Police Authority because of the refusal of the Authority to press for an investigation of police ill-treatment and torture, says: "The Centre Cannot Hold is the best and most accurate account I have read of the sensitive years and I have read them all. Tom Collins' version of the conflict is completely fair and well-balanced. It was a revelation to me and will prove so to all its readers ..."Andy Tyrie, Chairman of the Ulster Defence Association, says:"Centre is the best book I have ever seen on the NI conflict. It will sell, and Ulster Protestants will buy it. But it is not our book. The Protestant Ulsterman's relationship to Britain is different it is one of love/hate. ""This is the book to point up the failures of the British government. But it is written from a nationalist viewpoint. I would love to see this same man do a book from the Ulster Protestant point of view ... "Tom Collins, who was born in the United States holds both Irish and US citizenship. Collins was author of The Search for Jimmy Carter (1976); he collaborated with his wife Pat on her book Mary: A Mother's Story (1981). He has been researching the Northern Ireland conflict for many years.