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Oliver Cromwell was a military politician who started his rise to power in 1641 when he persuaded parliament take control of both army and militia. His new central army defeated the royalists and by 1647 had taken Charles into custody. Early in 1648 royalist risings broke out in Wales, Kent, and Essex and a Scottish army invaded on Charles's behalf and there were rumours of royalist agreements with Levellers. There followed several years during which Cromwell fought a series of battles across England, invading both Ireland and Scotland during this period. It is during 1648, following the battle of Preston that Robert Wilton really starts this novel, a novel which includes intelligence and counter-intelligence; romance of a sort without any bodice ripping; an underworld of conspirators; the execution of a monarch; and an unusual struggle between two adversaries.

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This book is an autobiographical memoir written by the mother of James Collinson, who died at Deepcut shortly after his 17^th birthday. I cannot imagine the pain and grief which the loss of a much-loved son can cause, but I can imagine that being treated with disdain and dishonesty by his employer, by the police, and by successive Governments could only make that pain worse.

Mrs Heath (who has remarried since James’s death) tells her dreadful story from the heart, but in a very matter-of-fact way. I can only admire her bravery as she and her former husband fought the system to find out the truth of what happened to her son against a background of incompetence and unpleasantness (‘Mrs. Collinson, there was one bullet and one body. Draw your own conclusions’.)

The book makes painful but compelling reading, and one cannot ignore the logic of her appeal for a Public Enquiry into what happened to her son, and to Cheryl James, Sean Benton and Geoff Gray, who also died from unexplained gunshot wounds at Deepcut.

She states that she, like the other parents, wants to know the truth about how her child died. I believe that she is a little naive to believe that a Public Enquiry would actually find the truth about anything – we have recently seen Leveson and Hutton fail to get to the bottom of serious questions.

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On 16th of August in 1819, British troops charged at and opened fire on a crowd in Manchester. The crowd -etsimated at between 60,000 to 80,000 had gathered in St Peter's Fields to demand parlamentary reform. As a result of that charge 15 people were killed and between 400 and 700 were injured. This had been the worst massacre of British people by British troops in history.

Then came Sunday January 30th, 1972. In Londonderry.

The events of the day that has come to be known as 'Bloody Sunday' are filled with controversy. Debaet and argument have raged in the years following the incident, and there have been claim and counter-claim made as to the guilt or responsibility.
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