In his introduction Rav Ilson asks several questions: Tisha B’Av is a day of mourning yet the practices & halachot of Tisha B’Av seem to go against all the basic rules of aveilut. We are told not to mourn a relative excessively yet we mourn year after year after year? Why is there no tziduk hadin on Tisha B’Av? What is the meaningfulness of crying in aveilut?