Unionist Voices and the Politics of Remembering the Past in Northern Ireland

Having Maintained A Cultural Wall Of Silence For Over 30 Years, Unionists In Northern Ireland Are Now Ready To Speak About The Dreadful Wrongs That Were Done To Them And Their Community During The Troubles. Using An Extensive And Original Collection Of Oral Histories, Often From People Who Suffered From Paramilitary Violence First-hand, This Book Analyses Unionists' Recollections Of The Past. The Stories Contained In This Book Are Both Potent And Full Of Pathos, But Despite The Sadness And Despair They Convey, They Also Offer The Reader A Chance To Hear, For The First Time, An Alternative History Of Northern Ireland's Conflict. The Book Concentrates On The Testimony Of 'ordinary' Unionist Civilians - Those Unconnected To The Security Forces Who Were Simply Innocent Victims Of A Ruthless And Lengthy Campaign Of Violence By Irish Republican Paramilitaries. In The 'new' Northern Ireland, As The Political Process Moves Towards Truth Recovery, It Is Crucial That These Unionist Stories Are Both Told And Acknowledged, In An Attempt To Add Much Needed Balance To The Historical Debate About The Troubles. This Book Offers Hitherto Unknown Perspectives On The Conflict From Those People Who Suffered From The Effects Of Systematic Terror. Thematic Introduction And Background To The Northern Ireland Conflict -- Unionists, Memory And Subjectivist Constructions Of The Political 'other' -- Recalling The Adjustment To Political Violence -- Unionist Remembrance Of Political Violence And Suffering In Northern Ireland -- The Disappearance Of Unionist Storytelling And The Conflict -- Truth Recovery, Unionists And Social Memory -- Conclusion: Mastering The Past In Northern Ireland. Kirk Simpson. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 164-173) And Index.