Rev Harold Good, Derry-born Methodist minister, retired Church leader and one of the oldest surviving actors in the Irish Peace Process, lifts the curtain on a remarkable life in an overdue memoir that promises to be the publishing event of the year.

From Ian Paisley's turbulent arrival in the early Fifties to the burning of Bombay Street and internment; from searching for bomb victims with his bare hands on the Shankill to climbing into bunkers with Fr Alec Reid to verify IRA decommissioning, Good has seen it all. Helped by recently excavated phone texts, he reveals his role as a back channel between the DUP and Sinn Féin when he facilitated secret meetings in his home between Martin McGuinness and Jeffrey Donaldson that helped create the historic partnership government co-led by Paisley and McGuinness.

Good couldn't have imagined that one day he would help change the course of Irish history, play a hitherto undocumented role in weapons disposal by FARC and ETA in Colombia and the Basque Country, and be asked by Queen Elizabeth II over lunch in Buckingham Palace for advice about her visit to Ireland.

This challenging page-turner is an important contribution to the post-Brexit debate about the future of Ireland.