{"title":"Books by Ken Wharton","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780750985468","title":"The Bloodiest Year 1972","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e‘This is good honest history. Soldiers and civilians alike owe the author a debt of gratitude for telling it like it was.’\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e - Patrick Bishop, best-selling author of \u003cem\u003e3 Para\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKen Wharton's latest book on the Northern Ireland Troubles is, as always, written from the perspective of the British soldier.\u003c\/strong\u003e Here he chronicles the worst year of The Troubles - 1972 - a year in which 172 soldiers died as a direct consequence of the insanity that would grip Ulster for almost 30 years. His empathy lies firstly with the men who tramped the streets and countryside of Northern Ireland - but also with the good folk of the six counties who never wanted their beautiful land to be the terrorists' battleground. Ken Wharton is utterly condemnatory of the Provisional IRA and INLA but he certainly pulls no punches in his assessment of the Loyalist paramilitaries and terror gangs who sought to outdo the barbarism of their republican counterparts. Based on the testimony of the men who were there during that terrible year, the author tries to investigate every loss in as much detail as time and space permit, with longer chapters to describe 'Bloody Friday' the appalling tragedy of Claudy and - with the 12-year public inquiry finally over - the terrible events of 'Bloody Sunday'. \u003cem\u003eThe Bloodiest Year\u003c\/em\u003e is written with passion and a detailed knowledge in particular of Belfast and the experience of the ordinary squaddie on the streets. The Troubles have become Britain's forgotten war and so long as he is able, Ken will do his best to keep the memory of Operation Banner alive.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56294634062197,"sku":"9780750985468","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780750985468_f0259e38-a1eb-42de-878c-da99dbcb619d.jpg?v=1786014518"},{"product_id":"9780750997287","title":"Torn Apart","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIn the early twentieth century there was a war brewing on Britain’s doorstep. Northern Ireland was filled with discrimination and suspicion, a sense of foreboding that would soon erupt into full-blown rioting.\u003c\/strong\u003e As the fiftieth anniversary of the Troubles approaches, Ken Wharton takes a thorough look at the start of the Troubles, the precursors and the explosion of violence in 1969 that would last until the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. In all, the Troubles cost 50,000 casualties and nearly 2,000 civilians’ lives across Northern Ireland, the Republic and England.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUtterly condemnatory of the paramilitaries, Wharton pulls no punches in his assessment of the situation then and seeks to dismiss apologists today. His sympathy lies first with those tasked with keeping order in the province, but also with the innocent civilians caught up in thirty years of bloodshed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eTorn Apart\u003c\/em\u003e is an in-depth look at the start of the Troubles, looking at the seminal moments and Northern Ireland today using the powerful testimony of those who were there at the time.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56298940760437,"sku":"9780750997287","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780750997287_a6f892ab-86f7-406b-940f-51fca94fe794.jpg?v=1786014752"},{"product_id":"9781906033798","title":"A Long Long War","description":"\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Paperback \/ softback","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56308351107445,"sku":"9781906033798","price":29.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781906033798_ce5d1326-2c6d-4564-a9f5-0d6360e616b3.jpg?v=1786029403"},{"product_id":"9781907677069","title":"Bullets, Bombs and Cups of Tea","description":"\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Paperback \/ softback","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56308388659573,"sku":"9781907677069","price":29.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781907677069_eb8996a9-8b01-4781-9092-006ea520fd0b.jpg?v=1786028981"},{"product_id":"an-agony-continued","title":"An Agony Continued","description":null,"brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57487945662837,"sku":"9781804510421","price":29.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781804510421.jpg?v=1786355168"},{"product_id":"bloody-belfast","title":"Bloody Belfast","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormer soldier Ken Wharton witnessed the troubles in Northern Ireland first hand. \u003cem\u003eBloody Belfast\u003c\/em\u003e is a fascinating oral history given a chilling insight into the killing grounds of Belfast’s streets.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWharton’s work is based on first hand accounts from the soldiers. The reader can walk the darkened, dangerous streets of the Lower Falls, the Divis Flats and New Lodge alongside the soldiers who braved the hate-filled mobs on the newer, but no less violent streets of the ‘Murph, Turf Lodge and Andersonstown. The author has interviewed UDR soldier Glen Espie who survived being ambushed and shot by the IRA not once, but twice, and Army Dog Handler Dougie Durrant, who, through the incredible ability of his dog, tracked an IRA gunman fresh from the murder of a soldier to where he was sitting in a hot bath in the Turf Lodge, desperately trying to wash away the forensic evidence.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWharton’s reputation for honesty established from previous works has encouraged more former soldiers of Britain’s forgotten army to come forward to tell their stories of \u003cem\u003eBloody Belfast\u003c\/em\u003e. The book continues the story of his previous work, presenting the truth about a conflict which has sometimes been deliberately underplayed by the Establishment.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57629186785653,"sku":"9780750985475","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780750985475.jpg?v=1791212853"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-ken-wharton.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}