Product Description

A radical lawyer with an unparalleled commitment to his clients, driven by anger at injustice and hypocrisy, intelligent, handsome and dynamic, Michael Mansfield has been tearing down the citadels of arcane legal conventions for more than forty years. Unafraid of rejection or failure, Michael has taken on the most difficult and challenging cases of our times and despite the odds, won plenty. In Memoirs of a Radical Lawyer Michael dissects many of them, revealing his motivations, meticulous approach to forensic science, cross examination techniques, the political dimensions and emotional reactions with clarity, subtlety and charm. Interspersed with personal anecdotes and recollections, this insightful book is liberally laced with Michael's quirky brand of anarchic humour. Cases range from the Angry Brigade, the Bradford 12, the Birmingham Six, the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, Angela Cannings, Jill Dando, Ruth Ellis, Dodi Fayed, the 'Fertilizer' conspiracy, Iraqi hi-jackers, Stephen Lawrence, Fatmir Limaj (Leader of the Kosovan Liberation Army), the Marchioness Disaster, the Price sisters, the 'Ricin' trial, Risley prison riots, Tahira Tabassum, Judith Ward, Arthur Scargill and the miners to the Jean Charles de Menezes inquiry, and many more. Issues of public concern, human rights and innovative attempts to construct a democratic legal system are discussed in full, but Memoirs of a Radical Lawyer also unveils with honesty and wit a man who has put as much passion and energy into his life as his work, one of the great personalities of our time.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #544 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-07
• Binding: Hardcover
• 512 pages

Review
`A fascinating insight into the mind of a man who has devoted his life to securing the liberty of others ... These memoirs benefit from a career spent at the heart of some of the most controversial criminal cases of the past four decades' --New Statesman

`Brilliant...a sophisticated criminal practitioner who has delivered some of the most powerful pieces of advocacy witnessed in this country's courtrooms' --Chambers Legal Directory 2009

`Michael Mansfield, QC, believes in the rule of law; that everyone is entitled to a defence of himself in these memoirs, but he also presents himself as passionate and political in pursuit of well-defined ideals' --The Times

`This is essentially a fascinating and passionate record of the author's major cases in courts, inquests and public inquiries, whose context will be as familiar to the general reader as to the lawyer, and which concerned or raised issues beyond the narrowly legal.' --Michael Beloff, Spectator

`Such is Mansfield's skill as an advocate that even in his chapter of his book he persuaded me that, as a matter of fact, there is something extremely fishy about the death of Princess Diana in the Paris underpass ... I hugely admire him ... This book is not just a show-off catalogue of his greatest hits. It is a shaming, chilling list of injustices. It is a reminder of how very difficult it is, once an injustice has been committed, to alter the public minds and to alter the minds of the Appeal Court Judges...He was right about the Birmingham Six, right about Stephen Lawrence, right about the Bloody Sunday, could it be - could it really be - that he is right about the death of Princess Diana? Was she really murdered?' --A.N Wilson, Daily Mail

'Mansfield's handling of witnesses shows a deftness and lightness of touch, combined with an unrelenting grasp of the underlying details .. tightly written, and ... manages to distil his cases down to their central issues with a minimum of jargon, making it an enjoyable read.' --Thom Dyke, New Statesman

About the Author
Michael Mansfield QC was born in 1941 and educated at Highgate School and Keele University. Called to the Bar in 1967, he established Tooks Chambers, in 1984 and became Queen's Counsel in 1989. He has represented defendants in criminal trials, appeals, inquests and inquiries in some of the most controversial legal cases the country has seen, particularly where issues of Civil Liberty have arisen; he is President and Patron of numerous organisations including the Haldane, Amicus and Viva!, Professor and Honorary Fellow of many universities as well as being a regular contributor to public debates on human rights issues.

Customer Reviews

An excellent read.
An an aspiring barrister, I found this book enlightening and enthralling. Charting Mansfield's rise from conventional middle-class roots to the top of the legal profession and detailing that charted his rise, this is an exhilarating and disarmingly honest book.

Mansfield's prose is straightforward but eloquent and he communicates his story in a direct, yet highly articulate manner (much as one would doubtless find his courtroom deliveries).

I would thoroughly recommend this account of one who made a career of championing the rights of those demonised by many members of the press and the establishment to anyone, whether they have an interest in law or not. Those who read this memoir will find it honest, charming and eye-opening.

An inspiration
I studied law for a year before changing course at Uni a few years back (it wasn't quite for me) but never lost my respect for those who practice it. And arguably at the top of the list of high profile figures in the law is Michael Mansfield.

Lawyers, however, ever fluent in "legalese", aren't traditionally known for talking straight, so I feared that Mr Mansfield might be a little plodding. But you'll be pleased to know that this book is far from plodding. There are highlights here from pretty much every major case and inquest of the past 40 years here, each of which is narrated in very a pacey and intriguing way.

From his experiences in high-profile cases he brings to life the drama of the court-room and the tension of a public enquiry where a melting pot of huge emotions and questions of law are brimming over on every side. The moment when he makes a Para-trooper, Soldier F, finally admit that yes, he did shoot an unarmed man on Bloody Sunday, makes for harrowing, hairs-on-the-back-of-your-neck stuff. And there's lots more like it. The Jean Charles de Menezes chapter in particular is hugely fascinating and very moving.

I've read a couple of reviews of the book in the past week and what's funny is that even those who disagree vehemently with his politics recognise that he's an inspirational figure who's done more than any other person to help shape and improve the British legal system.

Anyone interested in the law, current affairs, international relations, government and policing should read it. You can't fail to be inspired, occasionally depressed, enlightened and entertained.

Fascinating overview of contraversial legal cases in UK
A well-written and clear book that I as a nonlegal reader found hard to put down. It is a must for anyone with an interest in our changing legal rights or a belief in the security of the innocent, or indeed anyone looking for a compulsive good read.

I was reminded of the salient features of many past cases that have hit the headlines. Mr Mansfield leads the reader easily through the history and complex features of these cases such as the Marchioness Disaster and, more recently, Jean Charles de Menezes. Points of law and the fallibility of forensics are among issues discussed.