Aftermath: The Omagh Bombing and the Families' Pursuit of Justice

by Ruth Dudley Edwards

This insider’s account of the campaign to bring the Omagh bombers to justice is both an extraordinary tale of human resilience and an inspiration to ordinary people anywhere, who have been devastated by terrorism; a universal story of David challenging Goliath.

Genres: Terrorism, Ireland

384 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2009

About the author

After being a Cambridge postgraduate, a teacher, a marketing executive and a civil servant, Ruth Dudley Edwards became a full-time writer. A journalist, broadcaster, historian and prize-winning biographer who lives in London, her recent non-fiction includes books about The Economist, the Foreign Office, the Orange Order and Fleet Street. The first of her ten satirical mysteries, Corridors of Death, was short-listed for the CWA John Creasey Memorial Dagger; two others were nominated for the CWA Last Laugh Award. Her two short stories appeared respectively in The Economist and the Oxford Book of Detective Stories.

Series:
* Robert Amiss Mystery

Reviews

[James Winter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed the first half of this book, and as one with a keen interest in Omagh as both a writer and researcher, Edwards' access to the victims puts us in touch with feelings not available in other news stories. The victims become more human, less owned by the media. They move from the public to the private conscience. That's the real value of this book.

My issue began with the fundraising chapter and moving straight-through to the end. So much time is spent on the players of the trail and court proceedings, mostly on the side of the victims, that I never felt in the moment in the courtroom itself. The defendants never seemed more than cliches, and I wish the author had spent time making the likes of McKevitt and Murphy human, or rather, painting the problem of them as human. I realize this might be giving terrorists more than their due, and I'm in no way advocating for the likes of the RIRA. But to depict them as human lessens their monstrousness, in my view. Faces and names aren't enough. Besides their bio sheet and RIRA actions, who were these men? How did they come to do such things, besides the easy abstract notions of a united Ireland? Of course, maybe this book isn't the place for such things, an analysis too big for the scope of the project.

[Gillian]

Not able to finish this one.


Authors bias and revisionist history became more and more apparent the further in I read. Then she became a part of the narrative herself.

Ok if this was claimed to be a memoir but she’s clear it’s a history. It’s not that.

[Tommy · Rating 3 out of 5]

First section : Not for the squemish!!
Lots of legalise thereafter!!
A chilling insight into the working of terrorist groups and the British and Irish governments obsession with appeasing them at the expense of ordinary law-abiding folk!!

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a gripping and well-written account of the worst incident of the Northern Ireland Troubles, and that incident's aftermath.