Cruel Fate: One Man's Triumph over Injustice

by Hugh Callaghan

In March 1991, Hugh Callaghan and the other men known as "the Birmingham Six" were released from custody after spending sixteen years in British jails as the result of an appalling miscarriage of justice. Cruel Fate is Callaghan's personal account of his life, the strange circumstances that saw him arrested and charged as an IRA bomber after the Birmingham pub massacres of November 1974, and his survival through the years spent in various prisons.

When first published in Ireland, the book was hailed as a triumph of the human spirit. Now available in America for the first time, this edition includes a new epilogue in which Callaghan reflects on his experiences since regaining his freedom.

312 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1993

Reviews

[Glenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deeply affecting account of unjust imprisonment and torture, told by a quiet, simple, honest man. In that sense I found it similar in tone to Eric Lomax's hugely moving 'The Railway Man' -- an ordinary, lovely man, caught up in huge events. Some great insight into the ease with which the public can be turned into a mob by an unprincipled press, and how the police and judiciary can close ranks to protect their own, even at the expense of innocent people and the victims of terrible crimes. The reminder of the thin veil of civilisation covering our barbarity is balanced here by the support and humanity that some people were able organise for Hugh and the rest of the Birmingham 6 in spite of the neanderthal lynch-mob mentality of much of the country at the time. Hugh's lack of bitterness and simple contentment in ordinary things such as football, playing with grandchildren, and enjoying a pint in the pub manage to leave the reader with some hope that the courage and decency he (and many of his supporters) displays will be what saves us all in the end.