Peter Hart is a Canadian historian, specialising in modern Irish History.
He has written three books to date on what he terms the "Irish Revolution" of 1919-23 (more commonly referred to as the Irish War of Independence 1919-21 and the Irish Civil War 1922-23.).
The first of these books is titled, "The IRA and its Enemies, community and conflict in county Cork". This is an in-depth study of the organisation, social composition and actions of the Irish Republican Army in County Cork during the War of Independence. The book has attracted controversey in Ireland for its at times negative portrayal of the IRA. In particular Hart describes Tom Barry as a vicious killer, particularly with regard to the Kilmichael Ambush, where Hart claims he had British prisoners killed. Also controversial is Hart's claim that the IRA in Cork undertook a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Protestants after the truce that ended hostilities with Britain in July 1921. Hart points to the killing of 12 Protestants in Dunmanway in 1921-21 to support his thesis.
Hart since published book, titled "the IRA at War 1919-23" is a collection of essays on various social, political and military aspects of the IRA in these years.
His latest work is a biography of Michael Collins (Irish leader), which is titled simply, "Mick".
Hart has also contributed the volume, "The Irish Revolution", which is a collection of articles by various ˙istorains of the period.