The Sleep of Reason

Friday, 12th February, 1993. Two outwardly unremarkable ten-year-old boys began the day by playing truant and ended it running an errand for the local video shop. In between they abducted and killed a two-year-old boy, James Bulger. In search of an explanation, award-winning journalist David James Smith looks behind the misinformation, misunderstanding and sensational reporting to an exact account of the events of that day. A sensitive and definitive account, The Sleep of Reason achieves a unique understanding of the James Bulger case, and comes as close as may ever be possible to explaining how two ten-year-olds could kill.

David James Smith was born in south London and wrote for Esquire before joining the Sunday Times Magazine, for whom he travelled around the world writing cover stories, investigative articles, reportage and profiles, winning several awards for his feature writing. An article for the Magazine led to his second book, All About Jill: The Life and Death of Jill Dando (2002). The acclaimed Supper with the Crippens followed in 2005, then came One Morning in Sarajevo - 28 June 1914 (2008), a reconstruction of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Young Mandela, his influential biography of the early life of Nelson Mandela was published in 2010. More recently, David has served as a Commissioner at the Criminal Cases Review Commission investigating miscarriages of justice.