Jamie Bryson answers thirteen questions in a Booker's Dozen.



TPQ: What are you currently reading?

JB: The Madness Of Crowds By Douglas Murray.

TPQ: Best book you have ever read?

JB: I enjoyed Ed Moloney’s books on Paisley: From Demagogue to Democrat? and A Secret History of the IRA, and also Tim Shipman’s All Out War and Fall Out on Brexit. But my favourite book of all time is Sun Tzu’s The Art of War closely followed by Robert Greene’s 33 Strategies of War. This just edges The Run Of His Life by Jeffrey Toobin.

TPQ: A must-read before you die?

JB: I could die tomorrow so I don’t really have a set plan. I enjoy reading books as they come to me, some old and some new.

TPQ: A preference for fact or fiction?

JB: I don’t read fiction at all. I don’t enjoy it.

TPQ: Favourite female author?

JB: I thought Ruth Dudley Edwards book on the Omagh bombing,  Aftermath, was very good.

TPQ: Favourite male author?

JB: Probably Robert Greene, although I tend to always follow Jeffrey Toobin’s books and in recent years Tim Shipman.

TPQ: First book you ever read?

JB: The Famous Five.

TPQ: Favourite childhood author?

JB: Enid Blyton.

TPQ: Any book you point blank refuse to read?

JB: No, I enjoy reading alternative arguments, even those I disagree with. It allows you to test your own ideas in the fires of scrutiny and to intellectually challenge yourself against others arguments.

TPQ: Any author you point blank refuse to read?

JB: No.

TPQ: Pick a book to give to somebody so that they would more fully understand you.

JB: Well Malachi O’Doherty has a chapter on me in his recent book Fifty Years On. So probably that or my own book covering my involvement in the flag protests, My Only Crime Was Loyalty.  Although I was reasonably young when I wrote that book and would read back now and cringe at some of the things I said in it. But fundamentally it is still a good explanation of my political motivations in a rather unvarnished format.

TPQ: Last book you gave as a present?

JB: The Secret Barrister to a journalist friend just last week.

TPQ: Book you would most like to see turned into a movie?

JB: Tim Shipman’s All Out War.


Jamie Bryson is a loyalist activist, author and journalist

Booker's Dozen @ Jamie Bryson

Jamie Bryson answers thirteen questions in a Booker's Dozen.



TPQ: What are you currently reading?

JB: The Madness Of Crowds By Douglas Murray.

TPQ: Best book you have ever read?

JB: I enjoyed Ed Moloney’s books on Paisley: From Demagogue to Democrat? and A Secret History of the IRA, and also Tim Shipman’s All Out War and Fall Out on Brexit. But my favourite book of all time is Sun Tzu’s The Art of War closely followed by Robert Greene’s 33 Strategies of War. This just edges The Run Of His Life by Jeffrey Toobin.

TPQ: A must-read before you die?

JB: I could die tomorrow so I don’t really have a set plan. I enjoy reading books as they come to me, some old and some new.

TPQ: A preference for fact or fiction?

JB: I don’t read fiction at all. I don’t enjoy it.

TPQ: Favourite female author?

JB: I thought Ruth Dudley Edwards book on the Omagh bombing,  Aftermath, was very good.

TPQ: Favourite male author?

JB: Probably Robert Greene, although I tend to always follow Jeffrey Toobin’s books and in recent years Tim Shipman.

TPQ: First book you ever read?

JB: The Famous Five.

TPQ: Favourite childhood author?

JB: Enid Blyton.

TPQ: Any book you point blank refuse to read?

JB: No, I enjoy reading alternative arguments, even those I disagree with. It allows you to test your own ideas in the fires of scrutiny and to intellectually challenge yourself against others arguments.

TPQ: Any author you point blank refuse to read?

JB: No.

TPQ: Pick a book to give to somebody so that they would more fully understand you.

JB: Well Malachi O’Doherty has a chapter on me in his recent book Fifty Years On. So probably that or my own book covering my involvement in the flag protests, My Only Crime Was Loyalty.  Although I was reasonably young when I wrote that book and would read back now and cringe at some of the things I said in it. But fundamentally it is still a good explanation of my political motivations in a rather unvarnished format.

TPQ: Last book you gave as a present?

JB: The Secret Barrister to a journalist friend just last week.

TPQ: Book you would most like to see turned into a movie?

JB: Tim Shipman’s All Out War.


Jamie Bryson is a loyalist activist, author and journalist

7 comments:

  1. "...No, I enjoy reading alternative arguments".....
    Really, judging by your choice there doesn't seem to be any degree of 'alternative arguments' at all......

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  2. Thanks for taking the time to do this Jamie - always good to discover the type of engagement people have with books.

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  3. I get the impression Jamie is a product of his community ... I get a sense of unionist 'siege mentality' which is a term I've not considered for decades.

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    Replies
    1. we all are products of our own community. I think a coming of age takes place when we reflect on that community rather than reflect it.

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    2. "reflect on ... rather than reflect it".

      Brilliant distinction AM.
      Only following considered and informed reflection can potentials exist for transcension of conditioned-in responses.

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  4. AM

    Thats true but it was just from my overview of his concentrated reading -from war/conflict strategms, Paisley, IRA, and Shipman.

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    Replies
    1. I think that is right. It just seems it is where many of us start out before thinking outside the box.

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