Under Goliath

Under Goliath, the giant crane in the Belfast docks, Alan Kenton and Fergus Riley strike up a friendship, cemented by their discovery of a hidden gun. But Alan's family is Protestant, Fergus's Catholic, and terrorism is growing throughout Ulster. Alan tells the story of the year he was thirteen from the perspective of the adult he now is. His English father who hates violence, Uncle Jack a fervent Orangeman, his brother a trade unionist, his mother exhausted and despairing, Fergus who seems no different from himself, are all facets of a story in which prejudice, bigotry, hatred and violence are all vividly exposed. The final emotion is of rage at the futility and waste of it all. A strong book. Highly recommended.