He Told Us is one of those books you almost don't want to pick up. Not because it isn't well written, but because you know the story it tells will be confronting. Yet it feels like a book we owe it to the victims, survivors, and their families to read. Some stories are too important to look away from.
The Christchurch mosque attacks were unprecedented in New Zealand. Never before had the country experienced an act of terrorism on such a devastating scale. For many New Zealanders, it shattered the belief that something like this could never happen here. And for many of us who weren’t in the city at the time of the attacks, the details of what actually led to this event, have never really been clear.
After reading the first 70 or so pages, I was quick to come to the realisation that Christchurch was not an isolated event. Through meticulous research, the authors place the attacks within a much broader global context, revealing how extremist ideologies, online radicalisation, and acts of hate have been building around the world for years. It is a sobering realisation that this tragedy was one chapter in a much larger and deeply unsettling story.
The depth of research behind He Told Us is mind blowing! Rather than simply recounting the events of 15 March 2019, the authors explore the warning signs, the failures, and the consequences, asking difficult but necessary questions about how such an attack could happen and what we can learn from it.
He Told Us is not an easy read, nor should it be. It is thoughtful, deeply researched, and emotionally powerful. It serves as both a record of one of New Zealand's darkest days and a reminder that vigilance, compassion, and understanding are essential if we hope to prevent history from repeating itself.
