Reviews

The criminal trial of Marshal Philippe Pétain in Paris in 1945 was that of the highest ranking military officer accused of treason, in having betrayed his country by collaboration with the enemy. The contrast in personal fortunes was extreme: Pétain had, as supreme commander of French

There is no shortage of books about some politicians but Winston Churchill seems to be in a separate category from the others. When Churchill: Walking With Destiny (Allen Lane, 2018) by Andrew Roberts (now Lord Roberts of Belgravia) was published that biography, at 1,105 pages, was said to be the 1,

A psychonaut, according to a dictionary, is someone who explores altered states of consciousness, especially through hallucinatory drugs. The term apparently originates from 1970 when one author described the psychedelic, drug-induced experiences with his friend. Mike Jay is a historian of

The many, and systematically horrible, events in the southern states of America over many years in the middle of the last century are described in Margaret Burnham’s new book By Hands Now Known: Jim Crow’s Legal Executioners. The phrase ‘Jim Crow’ is an American shorthand for

Said to be a 'living instrument', the European Convention on Human Rights was conceived in the throes of reconciliatory passion in May 1948 at the Congress of Europe in The Hague. It was brought to term by more than a hundred parliamentarians from across the region, including the Edinburgh-born Cons

In Solicitors to Scotland, author Ewan McCall has succeeded in producing that rarest of publishing phenomena — a company history that is both interesting and readable. Anderson Strathern, and the dozen or so earlier incarnations that contributed to its development, is the firm in question. The

I have just read [Connor Beaton's] review of Prima Facie in Scottish Legal News and I felt compelled to contact you with my thoughts. Apart from your introduction, I would disagree with your review and would like to offer an alternative interpretation which might add to your thoughts on the pla

Christopher Stanley, litigation consultant at Belfast-based KRW LAW LLP, reviews a new textbook on public law. As an English lawyer practising in Ireland – north and south – on a range of issues including the legacy of the conflict and the mother and baby homes scandal, to ask to review

Terra Firma's new call Jon Kiddie reviews a much needed day-to-day practical book on judicial review. Published at the very end of 2019, this is an excellent book, and worthy of recommendation to a broad range of readers: law students, solicitors, solicitor advocates, and counsel — whether the

SLN's editor reviews Trials of the State: Law and the Decline of Politics by Jonathan Sumption. Though apt to be caricatured as some sort of anti-judge in the post-prorogation world, iconoclast jurist Jonathan Sumption—in this, his first popular legal book—echoes Montesquieu wh

Irish barrister Andrew McKeown critically examines the proposals put forward by legal tech expert Professor Richard Susskind in his latest book. Online Courts and the Future of Justice is a fascinating read for lawyers and non-lawyers alike. It is clear that Professor Susskind is sincerely

Lawyer and author Willie McIntyre was highly impressed with advocate Stephen O'Rourke's debut novel. A launch event is being held for the book at Waterstones in Edinburgh on November 7 and will be chaired by Murdo MacLeod QC. One third of royalties from the sale of the book in the UK will go to

Irish Legal News assistant editor Connor Beaton reviews an account of the 1922 battle between supporters and opponents of the Anglo-Irish Treaty which all but destroyed the Four Courts, home to the superior courts of Ireland. For the last four years, the dome of the Four Courts in the heart of Dubli

Director Joe Berlinger's new Ted Bundy biopic arrives in cinemas and on Sky Cinema today amid a storm of controversy over its casting of former teen heart-throb Zac Efron as the notorious murderer, rapist and necrophile who killed at least 30 women in the 1970s. The film, described by Berlinger as a

Graham Ogilvy is disappointed by Mike Leigh’s newly released epic Peterloo. Peterloo, the brutal massacre inflicted on a Manchester crowd demanding political reform in 1819, was a milestone in the lengthy and, some would say, continuing, struggle to establish democracy in Britain and one of th