Bear in Mind These Dead.

Bear in Mind These Dead. Susan McKay. Faber and Faber. [pounds sterling]14.99 p.b. xi + 412 pages. ISBN 978-0-571-23696-1. Of all the books that have been written about the most recent batch of 'troubles' in Northern Ireland, this is one of the most effective in conveying the horrors that people endured at the hands of IRA and 'loyalist' murder gangs. This is a collection of personal stories, of stories of those who were killed or 'disappeared', and of those who survived and mourned. Almost 4,000 people died between 1966 and 2005 and this book describes what happened. It tends to avoid critical analysis of underlying causes and political ramifications because others can do this. This book is concerned with seeing The Troubles from the ground up, from the perspective o the people who suffered. Of all the stories it contains the one that moved this reviewer most was of the woman whose son 'disappeared'. He was murdered by the IRA because it said he was an 'informer' which he was not. His mother was a devout Catholic and when she attended Mass the Eucharistic Minister who handed her the chalice was one of her son's murderers. (P.P.F)