One Morning in March: Dunblane and the Shooting that Changed Britain

by Stephen McGinty

On 13 March 1996 Thomas Hamilton walked into the gym hall of a primary school in Dunblane armed with four legally owned handguns and in less than four minutes fired 105 bullets, killing 16 young children, their teacher and injuring many more. It was a crime that first shocked the world then changed the nation.

Based on original archival research and exclusive interviews with parents, politicians and police, One Morning in March tells for the first time the incredible and powerful true story of how, in their darkest hour, a band of parents used their grief as fuel in a fight to forever ban handguns in Britain, and create the tightest gun laws in the world.

Genres: Nonfiction

312 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 12, 2026

Reviews

[Sahar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute perfection. I remember hearing about this as a kid and as I didn’t remember all of the details, the author did a brilliant job at taking me through that horrific day, the impact to the close knit community and political mess surrounding the shooting. It’s heartbreaking but absolutely worth a read.

[Kate Pendlenton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I expect that most of us 'of a certain age' remember where we were when we heard about the Dunblane tragedy in 1996. I was a student, and walked into the living room of our student house to find my housemate watching the TV news in tears as the gravity of the situation unfolded. I'm now a teacher and schools are all protected by high fences and electronic entry doors, all as a direct result of this horrendous crime.

This book feels like a fitting tribute to the victims of the Dunblane shooting. It explores the background of the shooter, Thomas Hamilton, and the failure of the police to connect the many various complaints about him before he finally carried out his murderous act. The latter half of the book follows the battle fought by the grieving parents, and others, to ban the ownership of handguns. I had expected this to be the least interesting part of the book, but it was so well written, it kept my interest until the end. The book is completed with an account of watching Andy Murray win Wimbledon, and finally put Dunblane 'on the map' for something other than the terrible tragedy of 30 years ago.

A respectful and unsensational tribute to a town and its residents forever changed by evil, but ultimately using this trauma to rebuild.

[Scott Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sensitive tribute to the people of Dunblane

Stephen McGinty has written a worthy tribute to the resilience and courage of the people caught up in the most shocking mass killing in the UK. He describes the increasingly disturbing behaviour of perpetrator Thomas Hamilton, and covers the murder of those 16 children and one teacher in just a few shocking pages - perfectly illustrating the speed and violence of Hamilton’s murderous spree. McGinty then uses the remaining half of the book to outline the formation of the bereaved parents’ Snowdrop campaign and their struggle against the pro-gun lobby and the Conservative government. I would have preferred deeper background on Hamilton’s early life and a little more on his psychopathology; but this book achieves its aim - to remember those lost in this dreadful act, and the hard work of the parents who tried to make society safer.

[Liam Dobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first ever review on Goodreads and I want to say that Stephen McGinty should be extremely proud of his work chronicling an extremely dark time in British history. From start the finish the focus of the writing is fitting to the memory of the victims and the push for greater firearms controls, something that is often forgotten when looking back at the legacy of Dunblane. McGinty's portrayal of Thomas Hamilton serve to build the picture of a person, not swaying reported events of the time to attack his character, helping the reader to feel the disconnect that would have been felt at the time for Hamilton to go from a troubled individual to mass murderer with no concrete motive. Thank you Stephen for this book.

[Tyrone Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was still in high school when this massacre happened, I turned on my stereo in my room in my city in little NZ, to news of this sad event followed later by the cover of “Knock knocking on Heaven’s door”.
The thing that got me, was the claim that Thomas Hamilton was “not mentally ill”, I’m sorry, but anyone who can go into a primary school gym, full of 5 and 6 year olds and start shooting is as far as I am concerned, very much screwed in the head!!
Lastly, any politician who puts his party’s love for guns over the wants of the people, should NOT be a politician….they forget who put them there in the first place, and it sure ain’t guns!

[Shona · Rating 5 out of 5]

So well written. It was an event I’d never forget. This book gave an insight into the background leading up to the event and into the aftermath for those involved. Very sensitively written! I’d highly recommend this book

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read! Missed signs, humongous mistakes, lessons hopefully learned. Never ever again.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gripping

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was obviously going to be a harrowing read. Well written, very informative and sensitive to the families and victims.