This is an horrific and tragic book; it is an account of one the most devastating mass shootings in recent history. In July, 2011, Anders Breivik detonated a home made bomb in front of the Norwegian Prime Minister’s office in Oslo killing 8 people; he then drove out of Oslo to Utøya Island, the site of a summer camp for the youth wing of the Norwegian Labour Party, where he brutally murdered 69 people, most of whom were teenagers, before giving himself up to police. Breivik claimed he was a member of a revolutionary group committed to stopping the Islamisation of Europe and the growth of feminism. The Norwegian Labour Party, he argued, had been responsible for the policies of ‘cultural Marxism’ that were leading to the arabisation and feminisation of Norway. Breivik showed no remorse for his actions, claiming they were legitimately political. In a manifesto published online he outlined his beliefs and his political strategy; indeed, it was important to him that he be captured alive as his trial was going to enable him to put his views to a wide audience.

Seierstad, who is also the author of The Bookseller of Kabul, has used extensive interviews and testimonies to create a gripping account of Breivik and his actions. Breivik was the son of a nurse and a Norwegian diplomat. His parents separated when he was young and he lived with his bipolar mother; his father, after a failed attempt to get custody, had little to do with him. At an early age Breivik’s psychologists noted his dissociative personality and recommended treatment which was rejected by his mother. As a young man he joined Norway’s far right Progressive Party but became disillusioned when he was passed over for pre-selection as a candidate in council elections. He retreated to his mother’s house and became a recluse, joining right-wing chat rooms and playing online games World of Warcraft and Call of Duty. Over that time he wrote his political ‘manifesto’ and elaborately planned his attacks. One of Us is a chilling and harrowing book and, like Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, is destined to become a classic account of evil. It should be compulsory reading.

Mark Rubbo