Very Good

Informative, well researched and well written, a solid overview of the events of that day.

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Very revealing

Great insight into what happened on that fateful day. The narration is excellent. Captivating.

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As close to the truth as you'll get

An interesting and detailed account of Bloody Sunday. As close to the truth as you will get. Douglas formulates the events, characters and actions in an accurate and engaging way.

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Irish names butchered worse than Catholics of NI

Good book overall, really enjoy Douglas Murray as an author. Mostly balanced, however much criticism of the IRA without mention of the Unionist Paramilitaries nor the collusion between the British military or the largely unionist Police force and the Unionist gangs. This made the scenario seem like it was the IRA vs Soldiers who were there to “protect” the catholic population... protect from whom was never fleshed out. Would also have been nice if the narrator (voice actor) did the bare minimum to research the pronunciation of any of the Irish names, they were utterly butchered unfortunately.

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Enlightening

I wasn't sure whether to-purchase this book. My fear was that it would be rather dry and not that interesting. however, I found I was fascinated with the information presented here. Douglas Murray has done a good job of boiling down the thousands of pages of evidence into something digestible. Having never read a book that covers a lengthy government instituted enquiry, I had no real idea what to expect. The main testimonials are in the form of question and answer sessions, just like a regular court case. however, where an official enquiry differs is, or at least the Saville one, is how utterly impotent the enquiry was in some cases to seek answers from key participants. To me, it seemed like the more important to the enquiry you were, the more evasive you could be.

Prime examples of this unwillingness and downright adversarial obstructionism has to be the included sections in the book dealing with the questioning of former British Prime Minister, Edward heath and
the former IRA member, Martin McGuinness. Both simply refused to answer many of the more important questions put to them and in the case of McGuinness, even mocked and exhibited sarcasm toward the lawyers questioning him. To me, it was farcical to the extreme and made me wonder why more stick and less carrot wasn't used to elicit truthful responses from these men.

Further, it seemed to me that every soldier questioned in the enquiry did their best to avoid answering pointed questions with the oft used reason given as memory loss. Thirty years is a long time and I understand that some details will be lost in the events, even shortly afterwards, but it seemed to me that most people were simply stonewalling at best and outright lying at worst. it's amazing to see question after question side stepped, evaded or otherwise unanswered while under oath. Indeed, it seemed to me that conclusions could only be drawn based on what the witnesses didn't say, the things they worked very hard at not divulging.


Bloody Sunday has been one of those awful events in a troubled Northern Ireland history. To me, the only tangible thing achieved by the end of the twelve year long and very costly enquiry was an official apology from the British government. it was clear to the ordinary man in the street that the British soldiers did lose fire discipline, a polite way of saying they ran amok in some cases. Whether this was due to a fear/threat reaction or an innate disregard for life in some of the soldiers, I'm not sure. Based on the behaviour of some of the worst offenders afterward, I'd say it was the latter. Either way, the behaviour of the soldiers that day was the overriding reason. However, one thing that did surprise me and is a noteworthy inclusion in the summing up, is the participation of the IRA that day. A participation that the IRA would not want widely known about then as well as now.

For those who might be far more familiar with the events of that terrible day and are wondering if they really need to bother with such a book, I'd urge you give this a read, if for nothing else than to read the actual words of many of those involved as well as the human carnage caused. The stories of heroes and villains that day and the impact felt by those events in a troubled community.

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Poor pronunciation

A well written book let down by the readers terrible pronunciation of Irish names and words. The readers inability to pronounce words such as "Provo", place names in Derry or the names of the main characters let's down what should be an enthralling listen.

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COMPLEXITY AND CATASTROPHE

The culmination of history, nationalism, passion and deception- Bloody Sunday, in all it's hideous aspects, throws up a turbid portrayal of conflicting interests. Murray walks a fine line well, although I am still a but uneasy about the outcome of Lord Saville 's findings and attributions. A good contribution to the ongoing debate.

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Listen for a balanced accurate view

Having grown up in N Ireland it was easy to take sides. This account brings balance. Such a terrible event was probably inevitable. I hope we can learn from it and avoid any form of repetition.

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Simply superb

A throughly enthralling book that gives relevance and insight into the sad and complex events which took place on day.

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Predictably impressive by Douglas Murray

I knew a fair amount about the headline issues arising out of Bloody Sunday but appreciated the additional texture and insight provided. I was attracted to the book as I admire Douglas Murray's work and wished to hear his take on the events of that day and the subsequent governmental response.

It was grating that many names were mis-pronounced notably, from recollection, Doherty, McLaughlin, Roisin and Colmcille.

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