Inform yourself on Northern Ireland

National Peace Council, Information Pack on Northern Ireland, £6 incl. p&p from NPC, 88 Islington High St, London N1 8EG. This information pack is similar to the successful pamphlet "Orange and Green" produced by the Quakers about Northern Ireland 20 years ago. It strives to be objective by presenting information fairly but without much comment or analysis. The strength of this approach is that it covers a lot of history in a short space and then describes many of the key events of the last 25 years. This has to be helpful for anyone who wants a short introduction to the problems in Northern Ireland. The main concern, though, is to inform the reader about the government-inspired peace process of recent years, which deserves (but doesn't get) a substantial critique.

Other sections include a look at human rights abuses from all sides and at the role of women in promoting change.

Reviewed by Bob Overy