This is a thorough and damning indictment of the systemic failures that led to the Grenfell Tower fire. Major themes include repeated warnings about unsafe cladding, government and companies looking the other way because it’s cheaper, and missed opportunities to avoid the tragedy.

The chapters alternate between a timeline of the fire on the night (12.54 a.m., 1.20 a.m., 1.30 a.m., …) and describing the events lead up to the fire. It’s a powerful if unsettling read.

I don’t enjoy the events it described, but the writing is nice and clear. The author has done lots of research and spoken to a lot of Grenfell survivors, which creates a good mix of detail and human stories. There’s so much good stuff in here (“good” with an asterisk). Highly recommend.

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