Customer Reviews

Bloody Sunday: Massacre in Northern Ireland : The Eyewitness Accounts

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The eyewitness accounts of Sunday, 30 January 1972, illustrate in stark detail the reality of what happened to civil rights demonstrators that fateful day in Derry. These accounts dispute the hurried conclusions of the British government's Widgery Report which attempted to cover up the British Army's gross misconduct. The evidence in this book is compelling, with independent eyewitnesses unknowingly corroborating each others' accounts of soldiers shooting unarmed and fleeing demonstrators and bystanders. It's raw and sometimes painful reading, the story of ordinary people caught up in bloody and violent events. For anyone who wishes to understand the calls for justice and the re-opening of an honest inquiry into Bloody Sunday, this book is must reading.

This book recounts the massacre of Bloody Sunday; January 30, 1972, in Derry City and its subsequent official cover-up by Lord Widgery. It was a peaceful human rights march of some 20,000 until two British army regiments started firing indiscriminately into the crowd. Though dozens of international news reporters witnessed it all, not a single one of the murderers was ever charged; much less imprisoned. Evidentiary audio-tapes of army transmissions indicating murderous intent were rejected by Widgery, as was the testimony of anybody except the perpetrators. Soldiers shot a total of 30, most of them boys, most in the back; of whom 14 died. The subsequent brazen cover-up and award of the Order of the British Empire to its Commanding Officer, Col. Derek Wilford, demonstrated the incorrigible nature of British rule in Occupied Ireland. Many of those human rights marchers later joined the IRA to fight for their freedom; of whom two died on hunger strike. Bloody Sunday was the third deadliest British terrorist atrocity in Ireland since 1969. This book, as the definitive work on that atrocity and its on-going official cover-up, demonstrates why the Irish still have no viable option but to take up arms. Nobody denies the truth of this book. Read it!

Although I found most of this book exciting and insightful to read towards the end it started getting repiticious. Most of the people had the around the same thing to say, so after the 250th page I had known all I needed to know basically. There was new information in some letters, but for the most part they had the same thing to say. It was very helpful in fully understanding Bloody Sunday and so that is why I have to give it 4 stars.

The eyewitness accounts are carefully assembled and note made of comparisons with the official version of events. This is excellent for anyone who is curious about what took place. I would suggest that outsiders obtain a map of Derry to refer to as they read the book. There is a small map of the immediate area inside the book, but I wished that I had at hand a large map showing the surroundings.

I have never read such a one sided account of a regretable incident in Northern Ireland's history. All the fact's from both sides have not come out and until that happens we will not the truth. I laugh at people from other countries who think that they know everything about the troubles in (NI)unless you have lived here you don't know what it's like.

This book is biased, one-sided nonsense. If the British soldiers fired "indiscriminately" into the crowd then why were no women, children or old people killed? If you look at pictures of the crowd that day there were plenty of these present. The Paras were shot at by IRA snipers, attacked with acid bombs and incendiaries, and retaliated. Regretfully, some innocent men were killed in the crossfire. The allegation that the soldiers were a bunch of psychos who randomly shot at an unarmed peaceful demonstration is a lie.