Customer Reviews
Harrowing read - By: nick mason, 16 Nov 2008 
a book written by a American,Prodestant & catholic writers,doesnt attempt to gloryfy the troubles like some books ive read do just puts the whole conflictin prospective & lists everyone whole sadly died giving a small paragraph on the events leading to thier deaths.Harrowing ,very sad ,a must read for anyone who wants a unbiased comprehensive look at the Northern Ireland troubles
Should be compulsory. - By: Avid Book Devourer, 24 Sep 2008 I came to this book a bit late -in 2007 - after always meaning to look at it but not quite finding the time. I'm glad I took the opportunity to get a copy - like some other reviewers I was surprised at how many victims I knew, or how many people & incidents I'd forgotten. It should be compulsory reading for anyone interestedin Northern Ireland, or conflictin general as the sheer volume of work serves as a fitting memorial for those we shouldn't forget. The petty reviewer who offered one star needs his/her "head examined"in Ulster colloquial-speak.
Totally engrossing - By: R. Marsh, 26 Dec 2007 I received this book as a christmas present, much to my family's amazement. But as they browsed through it after our christmas dinner they were all drawn into it's web.
This book provides an account of each troubles related death, beginningin 1966 then year by year. Each year begins with a brief statement of fact about the state of playin that year & then proceeds to detail each person who lost their life, along with a factual based account of the circumstances.
It cleverly cross references other related entries. Before you know it you are caught upin the web going from an account of the hunger strikes to the shooting of three IRA membersin Gibraltar to Michael Stone's attack on an IRA funeral & the subsequent murder of two soldiers at another funeral. And so it goes on.
One line from the introduction of this book summedin up for me it is "an account of what happens when a community decides to resolve its differences through violence".
I am sure there are ommissions, inaccuracies & mistakes but it is a must read for anyone interestedin the history of the troubles & who wishes to discover more about the human cost of the conflict.
Not just a book - but a valuable memorial - By: T. A. Gordon, 03 Dec 2006 I have to say that when I lift this book from it's space on the shelf, I always find it hard to stop reading it & to put it down.
As I read through the chronological order, I can often remember what I was doing at that time, & I can often recollect hearing about the victims, often briefly mentionedin dispassionate news broadcasts, with little time spent putting any of it into context. This is where the book re-dresses that inbalance. With even the smaller paragraph entries, the victim becomes someone - taken too early & before their time.
This is a masterful piece of work that deserves to be applauded. It also deserves to bein every school libraryin Northern Ireland.
Essential reading - By: Nicholas Whyte, 27 Oct 2006 I haven't finished this. I never will. It is too heart-rending. It lists 3697 victims of the Troubles, including not only those who died as a direct result of violent acts, but also others whose deaths, ostensibly due to natural causes, was obviously related to the violence.
The gut-wrenching thing is the sheer pointlessness of it all. The bloke who worked for the Queen as a royal coachman, out bird-watching one day, killed by the British armyin crossfirein a battle with the IRA. The Unionist councillor, blown upin his car, on his way out of a meeting where he had asked fellow councillors to show a mark of respect to a Catholic victim of Loyalists a few days before.
I found I had forgotten so much of this. It's all terrible, all difficult to read. The worst of all are the stories of children like the little girl killedin the Omagh bomb at the age of 20 months, as her mother was buying her shoes for her uncle's wedding where she was to be a flower girl.
Grim though it is, I am really glad that the authors went to the trouble of compiling all this information. Putting everyonein context, allin one book, sorted only by chronological order, is a reminder that whatever the grand historical rights & wrongs, death is death & all who died left loved ones behind them. I wish this kind of survey could be done for other conflicts.
