Belfast, 1971: children playing in the rubble of a bombed‐out home, the funeral of a young man, bitter women blowing celebration whistles after the shooting of a British soldier, a young boy and girl discussing their knowledge of guerrilla weapons, young people in a pub singing boozily sentimental songs about past wars and victories, a housewife staggering out of her home after having been hit in the face by a soldier's stray rubber bullet.