Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 29 October 2009.

Probably one of the most recognisable British lawyers of our time, Mansfield has been involved in some of the biggest law suits this country has seen. This is someone who certainly has a story to tell and here he tells it with a modest charm that makes for a fascinating read.

Synopsis

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.

Reviews

‘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

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. Memoirs of a Radical Lawyer, published by Bloomsbury in September 2009, 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. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation