Memoirs of a Radical Lawyer [Hardcover]

`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

'Probably the biggest household name at the criminal Bar is Michael Mansfield, QC, a sure-fire role model for students wondering about a career in criminal (or civil rights) law.' The Times Online 'The radical lawyer has become an icon in a disenchanted age (Mansfield's) high profile victories take on a hallowed significance: the good guys against the rotten state with a flourish of his insolence and a refusal to shut up they flock to him, the disaffected, the inner city victims, Arthur Scargill, and he looks after them all. The Establishment loathes him.' Lesley White, Sunday Times, 'Michael Mansfield QC is a die-hard grand old rebel. He has rejected the Labour Party, dismisses Blair as a Tory, and thereby disqualifies himself from the headlong rush of so many of his senior legal contemporaries to sup in the Labour Government trough of power.' Guardian 'There is no question that he has been a force for good in this country, and has kept the flag of civil liberties flying when governments would have been very happy to have seen it suppressed. He can't retire - his country needs him. Carpentry must wait.' Lynn Barber, Observer

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.

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.