Publisher's Synopsis
WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING***
The Orwell Prize judging panel, chaired by Martha Lane Fox, said:
A magnificent book that deftly combines vivid, compelling accounts of the victims of the fire with forensic (but no less engaging) detail on the decades of politics and policy which led up to it. Expect to find yourself crying over details of building regulations you never knew existed – and over the fact that so many of us let shifts in such regulations go unnoticed, to such devastating impact. Show Me the Bodies has the values of The Orwell Prize at its core: it is beautiful writing about a devastating subject that we should all understand.
On 14 June 2017, a 24-storey block of flats went up in flames.
The fire climbed up cladding as flammable as solid petrol. Fire doors failed to self-close. No alarm rang out to warn sleeping residents. As smoke seeped into their homes, all were told to 'stay put'. Many did - and they died.
It was a tragedy decades in the making.
'Never before, in years of reviewing books about buildings, has one brought me to tears. This one did.' - Rowan Moore, Observer Book of the Week
