Eamonn McCann’s account of what it is like to grow up a Catholic in a Northern Irish ghetto – first published in 1974 – quickly became a classic account of the feelings generated by British rule. The author was at the centre of events in Derry which first brought Northern Ireland to world attention. He witnessed the gradual transformation of the civil rights movement from a mild campaign for ‘British Democracy’ to an all-out military assault on the British state. McCann argues that the ideals that inspired the early movement continue was the only way out of the bloody mess in Northern Ireland.