Following her Sunday Times bestseller Unlawful Killings, Her Honour Wendy Joseph KC reconstructs four gripping courtroom dramas, drawing on her many years’ experience as a murder trial judge to ask whether our justice system works, and if it has improved over the centuries.

‘Joseph is a natural storyteller.. but what makes it stand out is her point of view.’ The Times

‘A compelling read’ Lady Hale

‘A more cerebral version of Kavanagh QC ? with sensitivity, suspense and an easy style.’ New Statesman

‘Beautifully written, immensely engaging, powerful and disturbing insight into a judge’s work and the choices faced.’ Peter James

‘If ever I was on trial I would want my judge to be this one.’ Cherie Blair, CBE KC

Have we got any better at delivering what is right and fair, both to the perpetrators and the victims of society’s most heinous crimes?

From the trial of a child charged with disposing of dismembered body parts, to the woman accused of killing her own husband, Joseph is utterly compelling as she sets out how the system works. But, as she compares these modern courtroom tales with eerily similar cases and miscarriages of justice from years ago, might the most chilling story of all be that the lessons of the past have yet to be learned?

Incisive, masterfully crafted, Rough Justice illuminates the struggles of any one of us caught up in our legal system – but particularly the marginalized and the easily exploited – and grapples with the concept of ‘justice for all’ so that we might demand better.

‘The author’s wit and wisdom deserve as wide an audience as possible.’ His Honour David Radford

‘An author who uses hindsight to contemplate foresight whilst generating genuine insight.’ Professor Dame Sue Black

‘The criminal law has found its voice: quiet, determined, steely, and yet always humane.’ Justin Webb

‘A riveting front-line account of our beleaguered courts…Told with clarity and eloquence, it distils an arcane subject with the vigor and pace of a legal thriller.’ Kia Abdullah

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Praise for Unlawful Killings by Her Honour Wendy Joseph KC, Sunday Times bestseller, March 2023:

‘The most exceptional book I have read in a long time.’ CLARE MACKINTOSH

‘Absolutely superb. 5 stars’ PHILIPPA PERRY, author of THE BOOK YOU WISH YOUR PARENTS HAD READ

‘Wendy Joseph’s gripping account of the law at work reads like a cliffhanger.’ Sunday Times

‘A gripping insight … beautifully crafted … grim tales lifted by humour and honesty.’ The Times

‘Her writing is characterized by analytical precision, but it is also a book of great empathy and urgency… A fine book.” TLS

‘A very rare gem. written with authority, humility and compassion. Compellingly clever and sharply honest.’ PROFESSOR DAME SUE BLACK, author of ALL THAT REMAINS

‘Riveting, thought-provoking, and very, very entertaining. I loved it.’ RODDY DOYLE

‘Will make you question all the fundamentals that you’ve come to take for granted about offenders, the crimes that they commit – especially murder – and the punishment they deserve. A page turner that will leave you wanting to know more.’ EMERITUS PROFESSOR DAVID WILSON, author of MY LIFE WITH MURDERERS

‘Joseph is a natural storyteller.. but what makes it stand out is her point of view.’ The Times

‘If ever I was on trial I would want my judge to be this one.’ Cherie Blair, CBE KC

Hot on the heels of her Sunday Times bestseller Unlawful Killings, Her Honour Wendy Joseph KC skilfully reconstructs four courtroom dramas, drawing on her many years’ experience as a murder judge to ask whether our justice system works, and if it has improved over the centuries. Have we got any better at delivering what is right and fair to both the perpetrators and the victims of society’s most heinous crimes?

From the trial of a child charged with disposing of dismembered body parts, to the woman accused of killing her own husband, Joseph is utterly compelling as she sets out how the system works. But, as she compares these modern courtroom tales with eerily similar cases and miscarriages of justice from years ago, might the most chilling story of all be that the lessons of the past have yet to be learned?

Incisive, masterfully crafted, Rough Justice illuminates the struggles of any one of us caught up in our legal system – but particularly the marginalized and the easily exploited – and grapples with the concept of ‘justice for all’ so that we might demand better.

‘The author’s wit and wisdom deserve as wide an audience as possible.’ His Honour David Radford

‘A riveting front-line account of our beleaguered courts…Told with clarity and eloquence, it distils an arcane subject with the vigor and pace of a legal thriller.’ Kia Abdullah

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

Praise for Unlawful Killings by Her Honour Wendy Joseph KC, Sunday Times bestseller, March 2023:

‘The most exceptional book I have read in a long time.’ CLARE MACKINTOSH

‘Absolutely superb. 5 stars’ PHILIPPA PERRY, author of THE BOOK YOU WISH YOUR PARENTS HAD READ

‘Wendy Joseph’s gripping account of the law at work reads like a cliffhanger.’ Sunday Times

‘A gripping insight … beautifully crafted … grim tales lifted by humour and honesty.’ The Times

‘Her writing is characterized by analytical precision, but it is also a book of great empathy and urgency… A fine book.” TLS

‘A very rare gem. written with authority, humility and compassion. Compellingly clever and sharply honest.’ PROFESSOR DAME SUE BLACK, author of ALL THAT REMAINS
‘Riveting, thought-provoking, and very, very entertaining. I loved it.’ RODDY DOYLE

‘Will make you question all the fundamentals that you’ve come to take for granted about offenders, the crimes that they commit – especially murder – and the punishment they deserve. A page turner that will leave you wanting to know more.’ EMERITUS PROFESSOR DAVID WILSON, author of MY LIFE WITH MURDERERS

Now on Death Row, he has seven days to live.
Some people want him released.
Others will kill to keep him just where he is.
Alice has only one chance to save him. But should she?

‘Essential reading’ YANIS VAROUFAKIS

The world’s largest democracy is facing the greatest challenge since the end of British colonial rule in 1947.

?The Incarcerations pulls back the curtain on Indian democracy to tell the remarkable and chilling story of the Bhima Koregaon case, in which 16 human rights defenders (the BK-16) – professors, lawyers, journalists, poets – have been imprisoned, without credible evidence and without trial, as Maoist terrorists.

Alpa Shah unravels how these alleged terrorists were charged with inciting violence at a public commemoration in 2018, accused of waging a war against the Indian state, and plotting to kill the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Expertly leading us through the case, Shah exposes some of the world’s most shocking revelations of cyber warfare research, which show not only hacking of emails and mobile phones of the BK-16, but also implantation of the electronic evidence that was used to incarcerate them. Through the life histories of the BK-16, Shah dives deep into the issues they fought for and tells the story of India’s three main minorities – Adivasi, Dalits and Muslims – and what the search for democracy entails for them.

Essential and urgent, The Incarcerations reveals how this case is a bellwether for the collapse of democracy in India, as for the first time in the nation’s history there is a multi-pronged, coordinated attack on key defenders of various pillars of democracy. In so doing, Shah shows that democracy today must be not only about protecting freedom of expression and democratic institutions, but also about supporting and safeguarding the social movements that question our global inequalities.

‘A chilling, meticulously documented account of the arrest and ongoing trial of some of India’s most exceptional citizens. The Incarcerations shows us that the BK-16 pose a danger to the current Hindu Nationalist regime not for what they have done, but for daring to have a different dream about what kind of country India should be. Alpa Shah’s book is about the criminalisation and incarceration of dissent itself. It does us a great service’ Arundhati Roy

SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA NON-FICTION DAGGER

‘Thomas Grant has brought together Hutchinson’s greatest legal hits, producing a fascinating episodic cultural history of post-war Britain that chronicles the end of deference and secrecy, and the advent of a more permissive society . . . Grant brings out the essence of each case, and Hutchinson’s role, with clarity and wit’ Ben Macintyre, The Times

‘An excellent book . . . Grant recounts these trials in limpid prose which clarifies obscurities. A delicious flavouring of cool irony, which is so much more effective than hot indignation, covers his treatment of the small mindedness and cheapness behind some prosecutions’ Richard Davenport-Hines, Guardian

Born in 1915 into the fringes of the Bloomsbury Group, Jeremy Hutchinson went on to become the greatest criminal barrister of the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. The cases of that period changed society for ever and Hutchinson’s role in them was second to none. In Case Histories, Jeremy Hutchinson’s most remarkable trials are examined, each one providing a fascinating look into Britain’s post-war social, political and cultural history.

Accessibly and entertainingly written, Case Histories provides a definitive account of Jeremy Hutchinson’s life and work. From the sex and spying scandals which contributed to Harold Macmillan’s resignation in 1963 and the subsequent fall of the Conservative government, to the fight against literary censorship through his defence of Lady Chatterley’s Lover and Fanny Hill, Hutchinson was involved in many of the great trials of the period. He defended George Blake, Christine Keeler, Great Train robber Charlie Wilson, Kempton Bunton (the only man successfully to ‘steal’ a picture from the National Gallery), art ‘faker’ Tom Keating, and Howard Marks who, in a sensational defence, was acquitted of charges relating to the largest importation of cannabis in British history. He also prevented the suppression of Bernardo Bertolucci’s notorious film Last Tango in Paris and did battle with Mary Whitehouse when she prosecuted the director of the play Romans in Britain.

Above all else, Jeremy Hutchinson’s career, both at the bar and later as a member of the House of Lords, has been one devoted to the preservation of individual liberty and to resisting the incursions of an overbearing state. Case Histories provides entertaining, vivid and revealing insights into what was really going on in those celebrated courtroom dramas that defined an age, as well as painting a picture of a remarkable life.

To listen to Jeremy Hutchinson being interviewed by Helena Kennedy on BBC Radio 4’s A Law Unto Themselves, please follow the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04d4cpv

You can also listen to him on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs with Kirsty Young: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03ddz8m