Reading Northern Ireland: Part One, 'Anatomy of a Killing: Life and Death on a Divided Island' by Ian Cobain
I have long been interested in Northern Ireland*, largely due to more general interests in UK politics and the study of peacemaking. This attitude has been turbocharged in recent years by a combination of factors: my first trip there, back in 2019; the Brexit process, which brought Northern Ireland to the forefront of British politics in a manner that had not been seen for some years; and the 2020 Lockdown, during which I began reading books on The Troubles. Though Northern Ireland is undoubtedly different, it is certainly not alien to, nor disconnected from, the rest of the United Kingdom. Its history is our history. My goal this year is to read more books concerning Northern Ireland, in an effort to increase my understanding of its past, present and future. I am starting this process with Anatomy of a Killing: Life and Death on a Divided Island (2020) by Ian Cobain. -------- In his most recent book, Cobain takes an original approach to The Troubles that tells an important and int