One Day in My Life

'One Day in My Life' may as well have been penned in the blood of Bobby Sands, as he describes the endeavor to persevere and survive abuse and torture at the hands of his jailers. In less than one hundred pages, that was first penned on toilet paper and hidden inside the authors body, he documents the events of one day describing how he and his fellow comrades in the infamous H-Blocks of Long Kesh Prison faced and resisted the state sponsored brutality with bravery, resolve and encouragement. Allowing themselves to exist in conditions of filth, cold and near starvation to protest their given status as common criminals rather than one of political prisoners which they were. This book is an account of true believers who surrendered their bodies, but never their minds or their espirit de corps. To understand their determination is to understand that they were willing to accept a slow, agonizing death rather than imperialistic tyranny. Foot note: Bobby Sands never left prison alive. A little while beyond the time that he wrote the original manuscript he was elected MP of Fermanagah and South Tyrone in April 1981. He died at the age of 27 on the sixty-sixth day of a hunger strike on 5 May 1981. Nine of his comrades, also, died on their hunger strikes around the same time. The death of Bobby Sands and the others did more to further the Cause than any number of bombings that occurred during the Troubles.

This short book is entitled "One Day in My Life," and it is exactly that-- one day, from waking to trying to sleep, in the H-Block prison of Long Kesh. Sands chronicles the reality of his life plainly: the food (when the prisoners get it), the personalities of the abusive prison guards, the (completely unprompted) torture, and even a short visit from his family. While his anger is continuously simmering under the surface of the text, the most prominent feeling conveyed is endurance: the routine of horror he must endure for his cause is worth it, because he knows that what is right must eventually prevail. And it will, in no small part because of this ordinary man who found in himself extraordinary passion and dedication. This book is perfect for those who want to put a human face to Ireland's "troubles," or anyone who admires the underdog (after all, its background is oppressed people in a small, poor country against one of the most powerful nations on Earth). The style is completely accessible to any reader, and the content would not be inappropriate for mature middle-schoolers.

Almost certainly the most important book of my lifetime. "One Day In My Life" brings the horror and hell of Long Kesh back into the front lines. This short book will bring readers to their knees. As important as "Night" by Eli Weisel to the Holocaust, Bobby Sands is to the Irish troubles. Even if you're not involved or agree with the struggle of the I.R.A. in Northern Ireland, please read this book! [...]

Book Review: One Day In My Life OT 02/25/02 05:30Feb 25, 2002 (M2 Best Books via COMTEX) -- 'One Day in My Life' documents a day in late winter, 1979, in which Irish Republican activist Bobby Sands endures the horrors and humiliations of life in LongKesh prison. Bobby Sands was one of many Blanket Men - so- called because theyrefused to succumb to being classed as criminals, and so wore blankets instead ofprison uniform - who embarked on numerous protests in an attempt to sway theattitudes and practices of the British authorities in Ireland. Every page of this book, from front to back cover, is instilled with contentious political ire. As this reviewer is a British citizen, I am perhaps not best placed to fully evaluate the motivations and morality of an Irish Republican. From the foreword by Gerry Adams onwards, the question invoked in my mind time and time again was whether the treatment of Bobby Sands and his fellow Blanket Men was a crime against human decency committed in my name, or aterrible means to a justifiable end - that is to protect British citizens against thethreat of domestic terrorism. As Bobby Sands and three other men shared a sentence ofeighty-four years for being found in possession of a solitary hand gun, it seems thatthe punishment meted out to Bobby Sands was inordinately huge. Better men than I have raged in blind conviction for both sides of that argument, and the one thing I am certain of in regard to that issue is that it will not be answered in the course of a book review. With that in mind I believe the best way to approach this book is by viewing it as a personal account of one man's struggle to survive in a hellish existence. Bobby Sands, alike with the rest of the Blanket-Men, could have extricated himself from much of the hardship he endured if he were to renounce his claims that he was a political prisoner and allow himself to be criminalised. This, he andmany others refused to do, and the courage they had in their own convictions -irrespective of what exactly those beliefs were - is a staggering example of thestrength of man's will. This document was written on toilet paper using a biro pen refill, and was concealed within Bobby Sands' own body. During the course of the book it is revealed that there was but one pencil and one pen refill which was passed man to man around the entire block. The scarcity of toilet paper is also recounted. Thesetwo facts alone - probably the two tamest indications of the quality of life insidethe H-blocks that could be found in 'One Day in My Life', illustrate the fact thatthis book is a labour. Yet no matter how difficult and harrowing it becomes to readthe reader feels duty bound to continue as the very process of recording thisinformation must have been infinitely more torturous for the author. The day recounted in 'One Day in My Life' is a squalid microcosm of everything we fear about being incarcerated. Men are starved, routinely beaten, verbally and physically abused,

This book brings home the tragedy of the Statelet of Northern Ireland. My main impression after reading it was that the British Government are guilty of appaling crimes and a total lack of respect for human rights. The people of Britain are disgusted with the justice systems of many 'barbaric' nations, this book shows that the British justice system is guilty of crimes which equal, if not surpass, those perpetrated by any other nation. It is difficult to read this book without shedding a tear, not only for Bobby Sands, but for the countless others who have fallen victim to British 'Justice'.