Twenty-three-year-old, British soldier Stephen Restorick was killed by an IRA sniper's bullet on February 12, 1997, while he manned a checkpoint in Northern Ireland. This book is the moving testimony of his story and the aftermath told by his remarkable mother, Rita. Written in a direct, spare style with no hint of self-pity, the book nevertheless conveys, with almost unbearable poignancy, the intense grief that became, for Rita Restorick, a powerful impetus to work for peace in Northern Ireland. Like many English people, her knowledge was sketchy, and she had a great deal to learn about the on-going conflict. Her compassion and feeling for the people of the north as they inch their way towards peace, and her personal understanding of how immensely difficult compromises can be, make this extraordinary book as compelling as it is courageous.