Anatomy of a Killing: Life and Death on a Divided Island

Description

On the morning of Saturday 22nd April 1978, members of an Active Service Unit of the IRA hijacked a car and crossed the countryside to the town of Lisburn. Within an hour, they had killed an off-duty policeman in front of his young son. In Anatomy of a Killing, award-winning journalist Ian Cobain documents the hours leading up to the killing, and the months and years of violence, attrition and rebellion surrounding it. Drawing on interviews with those most closely involved, as well as court files, police notes, military intelligence reports, IRA strategy papers, memoirs and government records, this is a unique perspective on the Troubles, and a revelatory work of investigative journalism.

Ian Cobain is an award-winning investigative reporter whose work has appeared in the Guardian, The Times, the Irish Times and Middle East Eye. For his journalism he has won he Martha Gellhorn Prize and the Paul Foot Award, along with two Amnesty International media awards. His first book, Cruel Britannia (Portobello 2012) won the Paddy Power Total Politics Award for Debut Political Book of the Year. His second book was The History Thieves (Portobello 2016).

By homing in on one man's violent death, Ian Cobain tells a riveting and tragic story but, while doing that, he has also written a precise, compelling history of the Troubles. It's one of the best I've read -- Roddy Doyle Cool and careful, and utterly devastating... alive to nuance and complexity * Irish Times * A remarkable piece of forensic journalism and a worthy addition to the Troubles bookshelf -- Ed Moloney Ian Cobain has provided a superb piece of journalism that avoids any moralising or analysing from his own perspective and that has a powerful impact on the reader, forcing the reader to consider the humanity of the players but also leaving space for the reader to make the final judgment on who was right and who was wrong or if the whole sorry mess could have been avoided -- Malachi O'Doherty Anatomy of a Killing is meticulously researched and the results are arresting. For anyone who grew up in The Troubles, this will be a valuable reminder of just how dark a shadow we lived under. For many others, it will be shocking to discover what people in one part of the British Isles had to endure in recent times -- Timothy Philiips Ian Cobain has written a brilliant and balanced account of the ugly war of attrition fought between the IRA and the British state. He traces the interwoven lives of an IRA team, revealing the social divisions, injustices and passions that that led to a brutal killing in the late 1970s. His reconstruction of a forgotten assassination and its reverberations offers a compelling microhistory of the Troubles, and explains why Northern Ireland is still a deeply traumatised society -- Ian McBride, Foster Professor of Irish History, University of Oxford An ambitious social and political history of the Troubles, drawing on court files, interviews, police notes and IRA strategy papers... Cobain leaves no perspective unexamined... A deftly rendered history that refuses to simplify a messy and tragic period * Prospect * [A] compelling, interwoven narrative... This is very fine journalism - reportage with thoroughly researched context * Spectator * Reads like a work of fiction... true and harrowing -- Eoghan Harris * Irish Sunday Independent * A compelling narrative account of the human cost of the Conflict... both a valuable contribution to preserving the memory of the Conflict and to the continued out-workings of the fragile peace (in) process in this Northern Ireland * Village Magazine * [A] compelling, forensic account * New Statesman * As compelling a piece of non-fiction as I've read for a while... This is a useful contribution to our understanding of the conflict in Northern Ireland and an interesting - in places fascinating - read * Mail on Sunday * As gripping as a thriller, except that this isn't fiction but cold, spine-tingling reality, with a worthy purpose running through it... This is an important book * Daily Mail * Cobain gives a balanced account of the shadow ordinary people lived under... Thanks to Anatomy of a Killing, Millar's death is no longer just a footnote * Daily Express * A concise and gripping history of the Troubles, revealing the people behind the pain and violence * Vice * A brilliant, captivating, richly illuminating account of a brutal killing. Essential reading for anyone interested in the Northern Ireland conflict * Richard English, author of Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA * Exceptionally compelling... Though scrupulously even-handed, Cobain doesn't shy away from telling a good story, using deft lyrical flourishes and narrative teases... he expertly marshals both quotidian detail and broad social backdrop as he builds up to the shooting itself * Michael Hughes, TLS *