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West Belfast begins quietly in a city in the 1960s, much like any other European city, with children playing in the streets and young people such as John O Neill and Angela McCann exploring life and love. But it is a city which is just about to explode into violence when the Civil Rights Movement, demanding equality for Catholics, is suppressed by the government. In response, the IRA (Irish Republican Army) begins an armed struggle against the British Army and the Northern Ireland state, and we see the tragedy of people at war, the devastating effect it has on families and the lives of their children.
Unlike any other modern novel about the Irish Troubles , West Belfast offers a unique perspective. The author, Danny Morrison, is a former IRA prisoner, who was also Director of Publicity for Sinn Féin for eleven years, and is intimately, indeed emotionally, familiar with his material and characters.
Morrison is the author of seven books, including four novels and numerous short stories.
First written 25 years ago, Morrison has re-worked and shortened his original novel for this Elsinor publication.

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Danny Morrison, geboren und aufgewachsen in Belfast, ist heute einer der intellektuellen Köpfe der republikanischen Bewegung in Nordirland. Als Chefredakteur der Zeitung An Phoblacht/Republican News wurde er 1982 zum Direktor des Öffentlichkeitsreferats von Sinn Féin ernannt. Von 1982 bis 1986 war Morrison Sinn Féin-Abgeordneter im nordirischen Parlament, dem Stormont Assembly. Unter der Beschuldigung der IRA-Mitgliedschaft wurde er 1990 in Belfast verhaftet und später zu acht Jahren Haft verurteilt; im Zuge der eingeleiteten Friedensgespräche im Mai 1995 vorzeitig entlassen. Heute lebt er als freier Journalist und Autor in Belfast.

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