On a warm autumn day in April 1996, 35 people were murdered and dozens of others injured at the Port Arthur Historic Site in Tasmania in an hour of sheer madness. This book is an account of the emergency services and Government response and media reaction to the murderous outrage, not only in the first twenty four hours, but in the weeks, months and years that followed. It covers the original incident, the Government's efforts to help the local community and indeed the whole State recover from the atrocity and the trial of the man responsible and many events since then. The author was responsible for on-site media management of the Port Arthur incident from shortly after it happened. In his position as press secretary to the Premier of Tasmania he then handled media arrangements for the Supreme Court trial late in 1996, while also being a link to Government for many of the people impacted by the shootings. This personal account of an event unprecedented in modern Australian history has been drawn from his experiences and observations from being closely involved in the event for nearly a decade.