The Raid, also known as the Tain Bo Cuailgne, is the story of Ireland and its people. Bold and brassy, filled with life, The Raid opens with Ailill and Maeve, the king of Connacht and his wife, arguing over who is the wealthiest. A quick comparison shows them to be entirely equal with the exception of a magnificent white bull, owned by the king. The jealous Maeve, equal to her husband in all things, discovers a dark-brown bull far superior to anything the king owns, in the province of Ulster. She declares war upon the province in a bid to capture the Brown Bull of Cooley and bring it home. The Red Branch of Ulster is seriously unprepared when Connacht invades its lands. Only Cuchulainn, a boy warrior, stands between Ulster and certain annihilation. Supported by the Morrigan, the goddess of war, he begins a reign of terror upon the Connacht warriors, appearing like mist out of the darkness to attack and kill, only to vanish back into the darkness from whence he came. In Cuchulainn's heroic stand, the reader discovers the genesis of the determination of the Irish people, their will to stand alone against oppression.