A TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR A WATERSTONES
PAPERBACK OF THE YEAR 'Superbly told' Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph
'A hamper of treats' Sunday Telegraph '[Grant employs] scholarship
and depth of evidence' London Review of Books 'These tales of
eleven trials are shocking, squalid, titillating and illuminating:
each of them says something fascinating about how our society once
was' The Times 'Deceptively thrilling' Sunday Times 'Excellent . .
. Thomas Grant offers detailed accounts of eleven cases at the Old
Bailey's Court Number One, with protagonists ranging from the
diabolical to the pathetic. There is humour . . . but this is
ultimately an affecting study of how the law gets it right - and
wrong' Guardian Court Number One of the Old Bailey is the most
famous court room in the world, and the venue of some of the most
sensational human dramas ever to be played out in a criminal trial.
The principal criminal court of England, historically reserved for
the more serious and high-profile trials, Court Number One opened
its doors in 1907 after the building of the 'new' Old Bailey. In
the decades that followed it witnessed the trials of the most
famous and infamous defendants of the twentieth century. It was
here that the likes of Madame Fahmy, Lord Haw Haw, John Christie,
Ruth Ellis, George Blake (and his unlikely jailbreakers, Michael
Randle and Pat Pottle), Jeremy Thorpe and Ian Huntley were defined
in history, alongside a wide assortment of other traitors, lovers,
politicians, psychopaths, spies, con men and - of course - the
innocent. Not only notorious for its murder trials, Court Number
One recorded the changing face of modern British society, bearing
witness to alternate attitudes to homosexuality, the death penalty,
freedom of expression, insanity and the psychology of violence.
Telling the stories of twelve of the most scandalous and celebrated
cases across a radically shifting century, this book traces the
evolving attitudes of Britain, the decline of a society built on
deference and discretion, the tensions brought by a more permissive
society and the rise of trial by mass media. From the Sunday Times
bestselling author of Jeremy Hutchinson's Case Histories, Court
Number One is a mesmerising window onto the thrills, fears and
foibles of the modern age.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
