Blue

Reviews / Votes

This courageous and finely written book is a timely invitation to think more deeply about what we ask of our police -- Jane Shilling * DAILY MAIL * A stark account of a talented police officer's breakdown . . . This is a startlingly honest book and the final two chapters are heartbreaking -- Richard Morrison * THE TIMES * I read BLUE more or less in one sitting. I thought it was wonderful - very powerful, deeply moving and utterly honest -- Henry Marsh, author of DO NO HARM Admirably honest and movingly human . . . Sutherland asks us to look behind the faceless blue and see the individual people * SPECTATOR * A remarkable book: a magnum opus on belief and success, on depression and despair. It is well written and intellectually demanding, profound and deeply moving. In places, it is funny; everywhere, it is thoughtful. It has as much to tell us about mental illness as it does about policing. And there is much love in it: for friends, for family, for life -- Alastair Stewart An honest look at the vulnerability that comes with bravery * THE I * Brave and very honest -- Bear Grylls The effect of this honesty is to leave us both more appreciative of police officers and more concerned for their well-being, as well as encouraged that such a compassionate man was promoted so vertiginously. [Sutherland] describes police work as "fulfilling, humbling, inspiring, daunting, shattering, rewarding and soul-stirring" which is also a fair description of his book * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT * Courageous and moving -- Tom Harper, THE SUNDAY TIMES Home Affairs Correspondent John Sutherland lays out the human cost of working as a police officer in simple, devastating terms * HUFFINGTON POST * A gripping book . . . moving and really powerful . . . I highly recommend it -- Jumoke Fashola * BBC LONDON * Will expand people's understanding of what it means to be a police officer in Britain today, revealing the truth about the toll that a career in policing can have on those tasked with the responsibility of tackling crime. This is a brave and compelling account of policing from a very senior officer in the most renowned police force in the world -- Colin Taylor, author of LIFE OF A SCILLY SERGEANT I commend it to the public. It's a great book -- Cressida Dick, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service A superb book -- Charles Cumming A remarkable, revealing and inspiring insight into the worlds of the police and the policed. The stories told are by turns heart-warming and saddening, moving and maddening - it is an account of the very best and the very worst of our society. It is a book which should be required reading for all who aspire to public office, in any sector and at every level -- John Nichol, author of TORNADO DOWN A fascinating, powerful and beautifully written insight into the life of a police officer -- Dan Walker, journalist and broadcaster A remarkable, honest account of twenty years in policing -- Sophy Ridge, journalist and broadcaster