David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

populations. This was not some distant
and foreign land: they were dealing with
their own country, their own language,
and their own culture. They had
resources and weapons and soldiers and
experience that dwarfed those of the
insurgent elements that they were trying
to contain. When Freeland toured the
empty streets of the Lower Falls that
morning, he believed that he and his men
would be back home in England by the
end of the summer. But that’s not what
happened. Instead, what should have
been a difficult few months turned into
thirty years of bloodshed and mayhem.
In Northern Ireland, the British made
a simple mistake. They fell into the trap
of believing that because they had