Lost Lives: The Stories of the Men, Women and Children Who Died as a Result of the Northern Ireland Troubles

Product Information

There may be some who believe that more detail should have been given to provide more context for each death, but had the authors done this the work would have lost it's poignancy and impact as the individual deaths got lost in the political and religious miasma. This is not to say that Lost Lives is a perfect resource: apart from anything else, there were considerable problems in obtaining and releasing information which have necessarily influenced the content of the book; not to mention the necessity of imposing definite parametres on a frequently vague and slippery problem, often in contrast to other groups working towards the same aim.

Co-author David McKittrick said that the book was intended to be as "unemotional and flat as possible". Closer studies of the troubles in their various aspects will, of course, provide a larger perspective that a volume like this simply can’t.It was – and remains – the only book to record the circumstances of every single death in a conflict. anyone in or out of Northern Ireland, or anywhere else for that matter, who thinks violence is the answer should read this (or even just slowly flick through it) and see that it achieves nothing except needless pain and suffering generally by those not involved. A man burst into a house in Belfast, shot dead the occupant and then exclaimed: 'Christ, I'm in the wrong house.

Anyone who is simply "counting the numbers" would then begin to realise the enormity of this group of individuals who have to live with their physical and mental injuries day in and day out. I have absolutely no personal connection with this situation, apart from as a bewildered and uncomprehending onlooker, but I too was very struck by the phrase ‘no victim of the troubles is denied his or her moment of acknowledgement regardless of affiliation or history.The victims must never be forgotten and it must never be forgotten that all the victims died for no other reason than evil hatred. A 'who's who' of 18 Northern Irish actors have recorded stories for a movie made by the Belfast based DoubleBand Films company. But last night former Belfast Telegraph political editor Mr Thornton - now with BBC NI's Spotlight team - said that while he was flattered that the book was still being talked about 20 years since it was first published, he and his co-authors did not want the book reprinted for a few reasons. Readers unfamiliar with the troubles also need to bear in mind that acts of violence not leading to death – torture, maiming, beating – obviously do not fall into the remit of Lost Lives, although they often appear in the context of a given case. It is often quoted from as an authority and the National Library of Ireland are still looking for another copy.