On the last day of the Conservative Party Convention in Brighton, the IRA planted a bomb in the hotel. The explosion destroyed rooms, and killed and injured many people. Margaret Thatcher was one of the lucky ones. In her room, working on her keynote address, she escaped injury. This book tells the story of that incident bringing the characters on both side to life.
In the early chapters we meet the participants. The author also relates the history of the conflict. I thought he did an excellent job making the reasons for the conflict clear without taking either side. I learned a lot.
The second part of the book goes into the incident and the follow-up hunt for the perpetrators. This part of the book reads like a police procedural as the police search for and arrest the bomber. To me it was astonishing that the author could elucidate the history of the conflict in a readable way and then pull the reader into a chase that reads almost like fiction.
This is one of the best and most unbiased descriptions of The Troubles I have read. It is also easy to read and moves at a good pace. If you are interested in the history of this conflict, I highly recommend this book.
I received this book from Putnam Books for this review.
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