On the morning of 15th May, 1922, over 1,000 recruits of the newly established Civic Guard broke ranks and immediately set about raiding the armory while Commissioner Michael Staines' TD and his senior officers withdrew under armed protection and evacuated the barracks, much to the annoyance of Michael Collins, the Chairman of the fledgling Provisional Government. This book investigates the reasons why the earliest recruits of the Civic Guard took up arms against their own masters.