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Welcome to the History Extra podcast, fascinating historical conversations from the makers of BBC History Magazine.

In the 1970s, Northern Ireland was divided by the troubles.

But the conflict stretched far beyond its city's streets.

All the way across the Atlantic, a group of Philadelphia gunrunners were keeping the IRA supplied

by smuggling hundreds of Armolite guns and other weapons.

Reporter Ali Watkins recovers this story in her book The Next One Is for You,

and I spoke to her to find out more.

So your new book, The Next One Is For You, looks at how a group of

Philadelphia Gunrunners, known as the Philadelphia Five, kept the IRA supplied with arms at the height

of the troubles. So before we go any further, Ali, can you give us some context? What was the

situation in Northern Ireland, and in Belfast in

particular in the mid-1970s? So when we're talking about this period leading into this moment

...