Product Description

In an extraordinary history of the criminal trial, Sadakat Kadri shows with wit, legal insight and a travel writer's eye for detail, how the irrationality of the past lives on in the legal systems of the present. A bold and brilliant debut from a prize-winning new writer. 'The Trial' spans a vast distance in time, opening in the dread silence of the Egyptian Hall of the Dead and ending with the melodramas and hubbub of the 21st-century trial circus. Reconciliation and vengeance, secrecy and spectacle, superstition and reason all intertwine continually. The book crosses from the marbled courtrooms of Athens through the ordeal pits of Anglo-Saxon England, past the torture chambers of the Inquisition to the judicial theatres of 17th-century Salem, and from 1930s Moscow and post-war Nuremberg to the virtual courtrooms of modern Hollywood. Kadri shows throughout how the trial has always been concerned with doing more than guaranteeing fairness and holding human beings to account for their deliberate crimes. He recounts how insentient and irrational defendants from caterpillars to corpses were once summonsed to court, before being exiled for their failure to attend or sentenced to die again -- and argues that the same urge to punish lives on in today's trials of children and the mentally ill. But although Justice's sword has always been double-edged -- as ready to destroy a community's enemies as to defend its dreams of due process -- the judicial contest also operates to enshrine some of the western world's most cherished values. The show trials of Stalin's Soviet Union were shams, but Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib are a reminder that a lack of a trial is equally unjust, and at a time when our constitutional landscape seems to be melting away, an appreciation of the criminal courtroom's history is more necessary than ever. As the Labour government launches an almost annual attempt to truncate trial by jury, and as authorities on both sides of the Atlantic are indefinitely detaining people in the name of an endless war on terror, 'The Trial' could hardly be more timely.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #262034 in Books
• Published on: 2006-07-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 508 pages

Review
'He tells a good story, deftly managing to mix anecdote and serious analysis. An impressive performance.' The Times 'A mine of information and an entertaining read, written with wit and style.' Sunday Telegraph 'An amusing and colourful and a deeply thoughtful book of contemporary relevance!a real achievement.' Guardian 'An interesting and timely book.' Observer 'You don't have to agree with Kadri's political views to find his history of the trial engaging stuff.' Daily Telegraph 'A talented stylist who knows how to tell a good story.' Financial Times 'Scholarly and instructive.' John Mortimer, Spectator

The Times
'He tells a good story, defly managing to mix anecdote and serious analysis. An impressive performance'

Sunday Telegraph
'a mine of information and an entertaining read, written with wit and style'

Customer Reviews

A positive verdict
Mr Kadri's book is excellent. He focuses on people's desire to punish wrongdoers, but the balancing fear of making a mistake. Amazingly, for much of history, very little weight was put on the evidence of witnesses. The trial of Walter Raleigh gave birth to a turning point in that regard - though not in time to save his life. Kadri's accounts of witch trials, war-crimes trials and Stalinist show-trials are all well researched and very readable. Recommended for both lawyer and non-lawyer.

A Trial?
How to do justice to this book. Firstly the positives. The author has a talented knack of setting the scene & capturing the essences for some of the most (in)famous trials in history. Mr. Kadri encapsulates the drama & dialogue, them crams them into a succinct account. I was especially impressed by his report of the Salem Witch trials and that of Walter Raleigh. The author does not indulge in judicial linguistics and `The Trial' is a model of well written prose.
However, the case for the prosecution is as follows.
His section on Greek law and justice seems sparse. He devotes a good portion of it to the abnormal trial of Socrates, which showed the extreme working of the Athenian legal system. There are no mentions of the essential role of speech-writers such as Lycias in the process. Also, I was surprised there was only a passing mention to the judicial murder of Charles I, which pointedly cut short the doctrine Divine right of kings.
My main issue with the book, is the rather condescending attitude of the author to the common people of the period. Admittedly, basing evidence of everyday life on extant court document would tend to skew most peoples views. But Mr Kadri seems to use the terms "superstitious" and "ignorant" with abandon, himself ignoring recent trends in historical evaluation.

But to sum up, apart from these minor gripes, I'd recommend this book, but perhaps not all of its judgements.