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Cut Short

Why We’re Failing Our Youth – and How to Fix It

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Cut Short

Written by: Ciaran Thapar
Narrated by: Anthony Welsh
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Read by Anthony Welsh and featuring an exclusive audio Q&A with the author.

'Lays down a transformative path to peace' David Lammy MP

'A devastating and beautifully-drawn tribute to the young boys that the media turns into statistics of knife crime' Candice Carty-Williams

'I came away from this book enraged, enlightened and with a sense of urgency to do something' Annie Mac
_________________________

Demetri wants to study criminology at university to understand why people around him carry knives.

Jhemar is determined to advocate for his community following the murder of a loved one.

Carl's exclusion leaves him vulnerable to the sinister school-to-prison pipeline, but he is resolute to defy expectations.

Tony, the tireless manager of a community centre, is fighting not only for the lives of local young people, but to keep the centre's doors open.

Drawing on the latest research and interviews with experts, this refreshingly nuanced and beautifully written book interweaves the stories of a cast of characters at the sharp end of Britain's serious youth violence epidemic, with chapters on subjects such as social media, gentrification and criminal justice.

Showing how we are all connected to this tragedy, Cut Short is a gripping, urgent, sympathetic and often painful portrait of a society fracturing along lines of race, class and postcode. It is a blueprint for positive change, and a book we desperately need.

© Ciaran Thapar 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

 Activists Conflict Management Education Politics & Activism Relationships Social Sciences Violence in Society

Critic Reviews

A very inspiring and important piece of work and I'd encourage people to buy it, to read it and to act on it (Ed Miliband)
Ciaran is the rarest thing: a writer of heart and clarity, who has spent thousands of hours absorbing the rules, codes and heartbreaks of life in some of London's most vulnerable communities . . . I read everything that Ciaran writes because it feels necessary to understand the city that I live in (Sam Knight, New Yorker staff writer)
Honest, authentic and raw, this book confronts our deepest assumptions about violence, and lays down a transformative path to peace (David Lammy MP, author of Tribes)
Pays poignant tribute to the victims of youth violence who so often become statistics . . . A compelling read that covers a difficult subject with nuance and authority . . . more urgent than ever (Shanti Das)
Cut Short is an assured debut that leaves you in no doubt of Thapar's talents as a writer. His depictions of the characters he gets to know during his years as a youth worker are full of respect, even love . . . These character studies are complemented by an analytical rigour that means Thapar's powerful narrative kicks against the state - against the austerity and demonisation that keep so many young black men trapped in cycles of poverty and marginalisation while a discourse of knife crime draws attention away from its root causes (Ashish Ghadiali)
Makes you stop and think (Nick Robinson, BBC R4’s Today programme)
An incredibly important look at the plight of Britain's youth, delivered with clarity, honesty and an open heart (Nikesh Shukla, editor of The Good Immigrant)
Ciaran's work is informed by lived experience at the frontline of social change. It takes a sensitive and respectful look at the truths less often told (George the Poet)
A devastating and beautifully drawn tribute to the young boys that the media turns into statistics of knife crime. In telling their stories, Ciaran Thapar brings to the page their dreams, their imaginations and their hearts (Candice Carty-Williams, author of Queenie)
A powerful account of teenage lives blighted by violence (Robert Wright)
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