On Bloody Sunday: A New History of The Day and Its Aftermath By Those Who Were There

The first ever complete oral history of one of the darkest episodes in modern Irish history

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In January 1972, a peaceful civil rights march in Northern Ireland ended in bloodshed. Troops from Britain's 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment opened fire on marchers, leaving 13 dead and 15 wounded. Seven of those killed were teenage boys. The day became known as 'Bloody Sunday'.

The events occurred in broad daylight and in the full glare of the press. Within hours, the British military informed the world that they had won an 'IRA gun battle'. This became the official narrative for decades until a family-led campaign instigated one of the most complex inquiries in history.

In 2010, the victims of Bloody Sunday were fully exonerated when Lord Saville found that the majority of the victims were either shot in the back as they ran away or were helping someone in need. The report made headlines all over the world.

While many buried the trauma of that day, historian and campaigner Juliann Campbell - whose teenage uncle was the first to be killed that day - felt the need to keep recording these interviews, and collecting rare and unpublished accounts, aware of just how precious they were. Fifty years on, in this book, survivors, relatives, eyewitnesses and politicians, shine a light on the events of Bloody Sunday, together, for the first time.

As they tell their stories, the tension, confusion and anger build with an awful power. ON BLOODY SUNDAY unfolds before us an extraordinary human drama, as we experience one of the darkest moments in modern history - and witness the true human cost of conflict.

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Published Jan 18, 2022

384 pages

Average rating: 9.75

4 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

eemcrow
Dec 12, 2024
10/10 stars
Absolutely excellent. I listened to this as an audiobook on Audible and loved it (I'm a sucker for Northern Irish accents). Loved it so much that I might try it again later in print.

This offers a really great overview of Bloody Sunday the the events before and after for someone who knew little to nothing about it prior.
spoko
Oct 21, 2024
10/10 stars
Campbell does a masterful job building a compelling history of this pivotal day—what led up to it, how it happened, and the aftermath. She does it almost entirely with the words of those who were involved, which seems like a bit of a novelty at first, but I think ends up making it all the more powerful.

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