Truth, Denial and Transition

Cheryl Lawther is a Lecturer in Criminology in the School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, Queen’s University Belfast. Her article: "Securing’ the Past: Policing and the Contest over Truth in Northern Ireland’, British Journal of Criminology, 2010, 50, 3: 455-473 was awarded the Brian Williams Article Prize by the British Society of Criminology in July 2011, in recognition of the best article by a ‘new’ scholar.

• Foreword (Professor Kieran Mcevoy), CHAPTER 1: Introduction, CHAPTER 2: Truth, Denial And Blamelessness, CHAPTER 3: Truth, Politics And Victimhood, CHAPTER 4: Truth, Trust And (Re-)Writing The Past, CHAPTER 5: Truth, Confidence And Loyalty, CHAPTER 6: Truth, Sacrifice And Betrayal, CHAPTER 7: Conclusion: Truth, Transition And Political Responsibility, Appendix: List Of Interviewees, Bibliography

Professor Colin Harvey, Professor of Human Rights Law, School of Law, Queen's University Belfast:"Dr Lawther's work is a timely and necessary intervention in discussions of the contested past in Northern Ireland. Her argument has considerable explanatory and normative power and assists greatly in understanding how unionism and loyalism grapples with the legacies of the conflict. This impressive volume is required reading for anyone seeking to understand transitional contexts where formal truth processes are not in place."Professor John Brewer, Professor of Post Conflict Studies, Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation and Social Justice, Queen's University Belfast:"Great social science is mostly deeply embedded in personal experience and transitional justice studies is producing a new generation of young scholars struggling to understand the ambivalences of peace and the ambiguities of truth in the wake of some dramatic political transitions at the time of the new millennium. Cheryl Lawther is primary among them. She deals skilfully and intelligently with the problems Northern Ireland has in being reconciled to its past and has produced a first class book. Her work will be greatly admired by academics and lay readers alike."Professor Kieran McEvoy, Queen's University Belfast:'This is what top notch transitional justice scholarship looks like. It is a formidable achievement and a very welcome addition to the Routledge Transitional Justice Series'