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'Brilliant and disturbing' Stephen Spender, New York Review of BooksThe classic work on 'the banality of evil', and a journalistic masterpieceHannah Arendt's stunning and unnverving report on the trial of Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann first appeared as a series of articles in the New Yorker in 1963. This edition includes material that came to light after the trial, as well as Arendt's postscript directly addressing the controversy that arose over her account. A major journalistic triumph by an intellectual of singular influence, this classic portrayal of the banality of evil is as shocking as it is informative - an unflinching look at one of the most unsettling issues of the twentieth century.'Deals with the greatest problem of our time ... the problem of the human being within a modern totalitarian system' Bruno Bettelheim

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world’s leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas.This highly informative Advanced Introduction explores the diverse and far-reaching legal implications of some of the key findings of behavioral economics. Cass Sunstein, a leader in this field, adopts an interdisciplinary approach to examining cutting-edge topics such as air pollution and climate change; public health and safety; pandemic response; occupational safety; road safety; and contract, property, and tort law. This Advanced Introduction provides a much-needed assessment and analysis of the law as a critical domain for the use of behavioral economics, and investigates how techniques including nudging, mandates, and taxes can be used to enhance the effectiveness and improve the implementation of the law.Key Features:Explains how legal systems and governments employ behavioral economicsExplores the crucial relationship between law, behavioral economics and human welfareHighlights the use of algorithms in law and policy, considering the relationship between algorithms, noise and bias Examines key concepts from behavioral economics including sludge, present bias, loss aversion, unrealistic optimism, and anchoringThis erudite Advanced Introduction will be an essential read for legal students, academics and researchers with an interest in behavioral economics, public policy and economic psychology. Highlighting how behavioral economics interacts with various other disciplines, it will also prove valuable to professionals and practitioners working in law, medicine, education and politics.

Principen om allas likhet inför lagen betraktas, såväl politiskt som rättsligt, som en viktig utgångspunkt för samhällslivet. Den ska exempelvis, enligt svensk grundlag, prägla alla sammanhang där offentlig makt utövas. Att likhet inför lagen står för något viktigt är enkelt att vara överens om, men det är i ett nästa led betydligt svårare att enas om vad som faktiskt ska följa ur begreppet, vad det ska innebära. Bland annat begreppets starka känslomässiga kraft har medfört att det anses ha politisk sprängkraft, varför lagstiftarens hållning till det har varit och kanske fortfarande är ambivalent. Begreppet är också så öppet att det kan ges många betydelser och användningar. Därför har också i boktiteln försiktigtvis smugits in ett (o). Diskussioner i termer av likhet inför lagen glider gärna in i större frågor och en ständigt pågående debatt om vad som ska anses vara godtagbar likhet och rättvisa i samhället.

Denna lärobok ger en överskådlig introduktion till frågor om likhet inför lagen med såväl rättsfilosofiska som praktiska ingångar. Bokens exempel är till stor del hämtade från den offentliga rätten i bred bemärkelse, med tonvikt på allmän förvaltningsrätt, socialrätt och straffrätt. Begreppets varierande innebörder följs genom olika historiska faser och rättsområden. Även det närliggande begreppet diskriminering behandlas, liksom det ökande antal rättighetskonventioner som anknyter till likhetsrelaterade frågor.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER and a Times, Spectator and Observer Book of the Year 2021‘In the first decade of this century, it was unthinkable that a gender-critical book could even be published by a prominent publishing house, let alone become a bestseller.’ Louise Perry, New Statesman‘Thank goodness for Helen Joyce.’ Christina Patterson, Sunday Times‘Reasonable, methodical, sane, and utterly unintimidated by extremist orthodoxy, Trans is a riveting read.’ Lionel Shriver‘A tour de force.’ Evening StandardBiological sex is no longer accepted as a basic fact of life. It is forbidden to admit that female people sometimes need protection and privacy from male ones. In an analysis that is at once expert, sympathetic and urgent, Helen Joyce offers an antidote to the chaos and cancelling.

Om rättssociologi introducerar ett innovativt tankesätt som bygger på att rättssociologi utgår från fyra dimensioner:• kodifierad statsrätt• sociala normer• rättslig praxis• social praxisSamtliga kapitel knyter an till och placeras inom dessa fyra dimen­sioner. Med kunskap om dimensionerna och deras samspel kan studenten själv ställa rätt frågor i ämnet rättssociologi, och därmed även besvara frågorna på ett bra sätt. Det här är alltså mer än en bok – det är ett verktyg. Om rättssociologi kan användas under flera år på utbildningen, även om den är en grundbok. Om rättssociologi är den första svenska läroboken i rättssociologi på länge och mycket efterlängtad av både lärare och studenter. Den riktar sig i första hand till studenter inom rättssociologi. Tack vare sin karaktär som introduktion till ämnet är den även mycket användbar för studenter som kommer i kontakt med rättssociologi, till exempel inom sociologi, kriminologi, socialt arbete och juridik.

'The kind of book that has you screaming "Yes! Yes! Yes! Now I get it!" on almost every page' Caitlin Moran'Dr Taylor sets out a compelling case . . . gives voice and agency to women who have experienced trauma and violence' Morning StarShe asked for it. She was flirting. She was drinking. She was wearing a revealing dress. She was too confident. She walked home alone. She stayed in that relationship. She was naïve. She didn't report soon enough. She didn't fight back. She wanted it. She lied about it. She comes from a bad area. She was vulnerable. She should have known. She should have seen it coming. She should have protected herself.The victim blaming of women is prevalent and normalised in society both in the UK, and around the world.What is it that causes us to blame women who have been abused, raped, trafficked, assaulted or harassed by men? Why are we uncomfortable with placing all of the blame on the perpetrators for their crimes against women and girls?Based on three years of doctoral research and ten years of practice with women and girls, Dr Jessica Taylor explores the many reasons we blame women for male violence committed against them. Written in her unique style and backed up by decades of evidence, this book exposes the powerful forces in society and individual psychology which compel us to blame women subjected to male violence.

A compelling explanation of how the law shapes the distribution of wealthWhat is it that transforms a simple object, an idea, or a promise to pay into an asset that creates wealth? Katharina Pistor explains how, behind closed doors in the offices of private attorneys, capital is created—and why this little-known activity is one of the biggest reasons for the widening wealth gap between the holders of capital and everybody else. A powerful new way of thinking about one of the most pernicious problems of our time, The Code of Capital explores the various ways that debt, complex financial products, and other assets are selectively coded to protect and reproduce private wealth. This provocative book paints a troubling portrait of the pervasive global nature of the code, the people who shape it, and the governments that enforce it.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Is social media destroying democracy? Are Russian propaganda or "Fake news" entrepreneurs on Facebook undermining our sense of a shared reality? A conventional wisdom has emerged since the election of Donald Trump in 2016 that new technologies and their manipulation by foreign actors played a decisive role in his victory and are responsible for the sense of a "post-truth" moment in which disinformation and propaganda thrives.Network Propaganda challenges that received wisdom through the most comprehensive study yet published on media coverage of American presidential politics from the start of the election cycle in April 2015 to the one year anniversary of the Trump presidency. Analysing millions of news stories together with Twitter and Facebook shares, broadcast television and YouTube, the book provides a comprehensive overview of the architecture of contemporary American political communications. Through data analysis and detailed qualitative case studies of coverage of immigration, Clinton scandals, and the Trump Russia investigation, the book finds that the right-wing media ecosystem operates fundamentally differently than the rest of the media environment. The authors argue that longstanding institutional, political, and cultural patterns in American politics interacted with technological change since the 1970s to create a propaganda feedback loop in American conservative media. This dynamic has marginalized centre-right media and politicians, radicalized the right wing ecosystem, and rendered it susceptible to propaganda efforts, foreign and domestic. For readers outside the United States, the book offers a new perspective and methods for diagnosing the sources of, and potential solutions for, the perceived global crisis of democratic politics.

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2025 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTIONIncludes the true story of how two of the victims of the 'black cab rapist', taxi driver and serial rapist John Worboys, joined forces with Harriet Wistrich to sue the Metropolitan Police for the failures of their investigation - now a major new ITV drama: 'BELIEVE ME'.An essential, must-read book about how the UK legal system is failing women, as told by one of Britain’s foremost lawyers.'This is a brilliant and important book. Harriet is a trailblazer and has done so much to get justice for so many women.' - Victoria Derbyshire'Compelling, inspiring, horrifying and humbling in equal measure. Everybody should read it.' - Professor Dame Sue Black, author of All That Remains‘Every feminist should know Harriet Wistrich’s name. There is no one better to learn from if you want to Get Shit Done.’ - Helen Lewis, author of Difficult Women'A shocking, sobering and galvanising account of her astonishing legal career fighting for women in a legal system that is all too often stacked against them' - Caroline Criado Perez*****For more than quarter of a century, Harriet Wistrich has fought the corner of people from all walks of life let down by our justice system.She has been at the forefront of some historic and ground-breaking legal victories, from helping the victims of taxi driver and serial rapist John Worboys, to representing a pioneering group of the women caught up in the ‘spy cops’ scandal – women deceived into forming long-term relationships with men later revealed to be undercover police officers.Litigation can be a long and rocky path of pitfalls and dead ends and there are defeats as well as gains, hours of painstaking work as well as courtroom drama.It takes collaboration, extraordinary tenacity and huge compassion, but Harriet Wistrich is proof that it is possible to demand better justice and to bring about important change.Exploring landmark cases, Sister in Law covers the shocking true stories demonstrating that, terrifyingly often, the law is not-fit-for-purpose for half the population and shines a feminist light on the landscape of arcane laws and systems skewed towards men.*****Praise for Sister in Law:‘Shocking, compelling and invigorating... A must read from one of the foremost feminist human rights lawyers today' Keina Yoshida & Jen Robinson'A brilliant lawyer. A brilliant book' - Baroness Helena Kennedy KC'Harriet's innovative, intense and courageous commitment to safeguarding basic rights, is compellingly set out in every chapter.' - Michael Mansfield KC‘A vivid account of cases in which the justice system has spectacularly failed women but also of how injustices can be challenged if only we know enough and care enough to do so.’ - Rt Hon Lady Hale DBE'If I was ever in trouble, I would want Harriet Wistrich fighting in my corner.' - Emeritus Professor David Wilson, author of My Life with Murderers

The volume brings together an international group of authors discussing basic concepts and approaches to plural policing as well as aspects and practices of plural policing in specific locations. The context comes from the fact that policing activities are nowadays performed by a growing number and variety of police and non-police stakeholders. This development is internationally discussed as ‘pluralisation of policing’ or plural policing. This book provides insights into plural policing across different countries of the global North. It looks at day-to-day security which is mainly produced at the local level, and where there is considerable diversity in philosophy and practice. Therefore, it allows learnings for possible future developments in the field. This volume contributes to policing studies and is of interest to the wide range of academics dealing with questions of security and order, as well as policy makers and practitioners working on security in their regions.

The infusion of digital technology into contemporary society has had significant effects for everyday life and for everyday crimes. Digital Criminology: Crime and Justice in Digital Society is the first interdisciplinary scholarly investigation extending beyond traditional topics of cybercrime, policing and the law to consider the implications of digital society for public engagement with crime and justice movements. This book seeks to connect the disparate fields of criminology, sociology, legal studies, politics, media and cultural studies in the study of crime and justice. Drawing together intersecting conceptual frameworks, Digital Criminology examines conceptual, legal, political and cultural framings of crime, formal justice responses and informal citizen-led justice movements in our increasingly connected global and digital society. Building on case study examples from across Australia, Canada, Europe, China, the UK and the United States, Digital Criminology explores key questions including: What are the implications of an increasingly digital society for crime and justice? What effects will emergent technologies have for how we respond to crime and participate in crime debates? What will be the foundational shifts in criminological research and frameworks for understanding crime and justice in this technologically mediated context? What does it mean to be a ‘just’ digital citizen? How will digital communications and social networks enable new forms of justice and justice movements? Ultimately, the book advances the case for an emerging digital criminology: extending the practical and conceptual analyses of ‘cyber’ or ‘e’ crime beyond a focus foremost on the novelty, pathology and illegality of technology-enabled crimes, to understandings of online crime as inherently social.Twitter: @DigiCrimRMIT ‏

There is a growing interest within law schools in the intersections between law and different areas of social theory. The second edition of this popular text introduces a wide range of traditions in sociology and the humanities that offer provocative, contextual views on law and legal institutions.The book is organised into six sections, each with an introduction by the editors, on classical sociology of law, systems theory, critical approaches, law in action, postmodernism, and law in global society. Each chapter is written by a specialist who reviews the literature, and discusses how the approach can be used in researching different topics. New chapters include authoritative reviews of actor network theory, new legal realism, critical race theory, post-colonial theories of law, and the sociology of the legal profession. Over half the chapters are new, and the rest are revised in order to include discussion of recent literature.

Revised and Expanded EditionWait-what's wrong with rights? It is usually assumed that trans and gender nonconforming people should follow the civil rights and "equality" strategies of lesbian and gay rights organizations by agitating for legal reforms that would ostensibly guarantee nondiscrimination and equal protection under the law. This approach assumes that the best way to address the poverty and criminalization that plague trans populations is to gain legal recognition and inclusion in the state's institutions. But is this strategy effective?In Normal Life Dean Spade presents revelatory critiques of the legal equality framework for social change, and points to examples of transformative grassroots trans activism that is raising demands that go beyond traditional civil rights reforms. Spade explodes assumptions about what legal rights can do for marginalized populations, and describes transformative resistance processes and formations that address the root causes of harm and violence.In the new afterword to this revised and expanded edition, Spade notes the rapid mainstreaming of trans politics and finds that his predictions that gaining legal recognition will fail to benefit trans populations are coming to fruition. Spade examines recent efforts by the Obama administration and trans equality advocates to "pinkwash" state violence by articulating the US military and prison systems as sites for trans inclusion reforms. In the context of recent increased mainstream visibility of trans people and trans politics, Spade continues to advocate for the dismantling of systems of state violence that shorten the lives of trans people. Now more than ever, Normal Life is an urgent call for justice and trans liberation, and the radical transformations it will require.

This is a practical guide to policing domestic violence. It sets out approaches to help identify victims early and target offenders through the effective use of intelligence across a range of offending. It also offers guidance on investigative techniques, risk assessment, inter-agency murder reviews and information-sharing. The impact of domestic violence on children and other witnesses is discussed, and the powers available to police under new legislation are outlined.This title provides officers with information on all the practical measures to protect victims through the civil courts and through inter-agency schemes and perpetrator programmes. It also includes a chapter on the topical subject of honour-based violence and forced marriage and gives advice on the various measures officers can take. All the issues covered in the book are supplemented with useful case studies and checklists, as well as examples of log taking and relevant forms, illustrating how the issues are dealt with in practice.The book forms part of the Blackstone's Practical Policing Series. The series, aimed at junior to middle ranking officers, consists of practical guides containing clear and detailed explanations of the relevant legislation and practice, accompanied by case studies, illustrative diagrams and useful checklists.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERAngry, opinionated, mouthy, aggressive, hysterical, mad, disordered, crazy, psycho, delusional, borderline, hormonal . . . Women have long been pathologized, locked up and medicated for not conforming to whichever norms or stereotypes are expected of them in that time and space. Sexy But Psycho is a challenging and uncomfortable book which seeks to explore the way professionals and society at large pathologize and sexualise women and girls.Utilising decades of research, real case studies and new data from her own work, Dr Taylor's book will critically analyse the way we label women with personality disorders. Why are women and girls pathologized for being angry about oppression and abuse? How have so many women been duped into believing that they are mentally ill, for having normal and natural reactions to their experiences? Sexy But Psycho argues that there is a specific purpose to convincing women and girls that they are mentally ill, as the world avoids addressing violence against women and their centuries of ignored trauma.

Jeutner argues that the reasonable person is, at heart, an empathetic perspective-taking device, by tracing the standard of the reasonable person across time, legal fields and countries. Beginning with a review of imaginary legal figures in the legal systems of ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, the book explains why the common law's reasonable person emerged amidst the British industrialisation under the influence of Scottish Enlightenment thinking. Following the figure into colonial courts, onto battlefields and into self-driving cars, the book contends that the reasonable person invites judges, jury-members, and lawyers to take another person's perspective when assessing their own or another person's conduct. The perspective of another is taken by means of empathy, by feeling what others might feel in a particular situation. Thus construed, the figure of the reasonable person can help us make more accurate judgments in a diverse world.

This book explores the answers to fundamental questions about the human mind and human behaviour with the help of two ancient texts. The first is Oedipus Rex (Oedipus Tyrannus) by Sophocles, written in the 5th century BCE. The second is human DNA, with its origins around 4 billion years ago, and continuously revised by chance and evolution. With Sophocles as a guide, the authors take a journey into the Genomic era, an age marked by ever-expanding insights into the human genome. Over the course of this journey, the book explores themes of free will, fate, and chance; prediction, misinterpretation, and the burden that comes with knowledge of the future; self-fulfilling and self-defeating prophecies; the forces that contribute to similarities and differences among people; roots and lineage; and the judgement of oneself and others.Using Oedipus Rex as its lens, this novel work provides an engaging overview of behavioural genetics thatdemonstrates its relevance across the humanities and the social and life sciences. It will appeal in particular to students and scholars of genetics, education, psychology, sociology, and law.

People are now exposed to more information than ever before, provided both by technology and by increasing access to every level education. These societal gains, however, have also helped fuel a surge in narcissistic and misguided intellectual egalitarianism that has crippled informed debates on any number of issues. Today, everyone knows everything; with only a quick trip through WebMD or Wikipedia, average citizens believe themselves to be on an equal intellectual footing with doctors and diplomats. All voices, even the most ridiculous, demand to be taken with equal seriousness, and any claim to the contrary is dismissed as undemocratic elitism.As Tom Nichols shows in The Death of Expertise, this rejection of experts has occurred for many reasons, including the openness of the internet, the emergence of a customer satisfaction model in higher education, and the transformation of the news industry into a 24-hour entertainment machine. Paradoxically, the increasingly democratic dissemination of information, rather than producing an educated public, has instead created an army of ill-informed and angry citizens who denounce intellectual achievement.Nichols has deeper concerns than the current rejection of expertise and learning, noting that when ordinary citizens believe that no one knows more than anyone else, democratic institutions themselves are in danger of falling either to populism or to technocracy--or, in the worst case, a combination of both. The Death of Expertise is not only an exploration of a dangerous phenomenon but also a warning about the stability and survival of modern democracy in the Information Age.

Law and Technology: A Methodical Approach offers a defensible and consistent approach to the legal analysis of technology. It puts forward a step-by-step methodology for thinking about and ultimately challenging technology to meet society's demands.

This casebook provides an overview of the main international and regional legal standards related to the human rights of women and explores their development and practical application in light of contemporary times, challenges, and advances. It navigates the nuances of the ongoing problems of discrimination and gender-based violence, and analyzes them in the context of modern challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the MeToo movement and its aftermath, the growth of non-state actors, environment and climate change, sexual orientation and gender identity, and the digital world, among others.Incorporating lessons learned from her experiences as a practitioner and a law professor, the author navigates and provides snapshots of priority issues and themes in the field of the human rights of women. In each chapter, students are encouraged to reflect and answer questions alluding to the intricacies, challenges, and advances in the protection and exercise of women’s rights in modern times. The chapters also include many case judgments, decisions, views, and general recommendations adopted by universal and regional bodies and courts advancing the development of women human rights issues. This analysis is complemented by key scholarship, reports, and statements produced in the area of the human rights of women and its different features.Students of issues concerning human rights, women, gender equality, and international law will attain a thorough understanding of the field through this contemporary casebook.

'An absorbing and heart-breaking study, opening a window into the past and urgently contemporary at the same time' TESSA HADLEY We think that our children belong to us, but families are fragile things. Every day, for over a century, children have been moved between homes because of law cases that decide their fates. Yet child custody is curiously absent from history books and from how we generally understand our world. Lara Feigel’s groundbreaking book shows the fraught, complex territory of child custody to have been one of the vital battlegrounds of modern history and culture.Custody is the story of seven women – Caroline Norton, George Sand, Elizabeth Packard, Frieda Lawrence, Edna O’Brien, Alice Walker, Britney Spears – who have fought for their children and been found wanting. It is also the story of the children who have lost the care they most need because divorce is at heart a macabre continuation of matrimony in a new setting, with the battles of the marriage stoked into new levels of acrimony by the courts.It’s a book of dramatic storytelling, and of blistering polemic and large-scale historical re-evaluation. Each chapter immerses the reader in the life and times – and struggles – of these fascinating, charismatic, complex women and their children. All of these women were mothers, but all of them wanted and needed to be other things too – writers, lovers, or activists – and they and their children were punished for these attempts.Feigel has been deep in the archives, looking into thousands of other cases in each place and time, and she’s been sitting in on the family courts in the present. So alongside these central figures, the book presents a teeming picture of fractured family life in Britain, Europe and North America across two hundred years, offering a major new interpretation of how our modern culture has evolved. And Custody is an alternative history of feminism, centring on the fraught relationship between emancipation and care.This book is of urgent interest to anyone concerned with women’s roles in the world and how institutions fail them. Ultimately it’s a book that sees custody as the nexus where motherhood, ideology and power meet. Custody cases can seem in these chapters to be quintessentially tragic, but the stories of these passionate, conflicted women also make us want to figure out how to do things better.

`Men’s lives are a perpetual conflict. The life that I have mapped out will be so especially – as lawyer and politician. Woman’s function is to pour oil on the wounds – to heal the bruises of spirit…and to stimulate to renewed exertion.’Lloyd George was a man who loved women and the tale of his intertwined relationships contains many mysteries and a few unsolved intrigues. He was involved in a divorce case early in his career, fought two libel cases over his private life and had persuaded the prettiest girl in Criccieth to be his wife. Lloyd George’s life was indeed a `perpetual conflict’. He was a habitual womaniser and, despite his early, enduring attachment to Margaret Owen, marriage did not curb his behaviour. There were many private scandals in a life devoted to public duty.Ffion Hague illuminates his complex attitude to women. Her own interest stems from the many parallels in her own life.

Why is gender equality essential? June Sarpong proves why eradicating sexism is key to our personal development, and social and economic progress. With new chapters on reclaiming power over women’s bodies and their safety, this updated edition is a comprehensive guide to promoting inclusivity. Because the truth is, equality benefits us all. Praise for June Sarpong’s Diversify: ‘June Sarpong examines the research behind diversity and discrimination while grounding them in personal narratives, highlighting our common humanity.’ Kofi Annan, co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize‘I am so glad June Sarpong is working on this matter of diversity.’ Desmond Tutu“A passionately written polemic” You Magazine‘An engaging read with lots of important and good ideas’ Stylist‘May prove to be our handbook to negotiate these troubled times’ Psychologies

How Russians, the Rich and the Government Try to Prevent Free Speech and How to Stop Them. ‘ESSENTIAL’ Amal Clooney‘AUTHORITATIVE’ Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC‘IMPORTANT ’Baroness Helena Kennedy KC‘COULD HARDLY BE MORE TIMELY’ Alan RusbridgerThe British tradition of “free speech” is a myth. From the middle ages to the present, the law of defamation has worked to cover up misbehaviour by the rich and powerful, whose legal mercenaries intimidate investigative journalists.Now a new terror has been added through misguided judicial development of the laws of privacy, breach of confidence and data protection, to suppress the reporting of truths of public importance to tell.Drawing upon the author’s unparalleled experience of defending journalists and editors in English and Commonwealth courtrooms over the past half-century, the book describes the hidden world of lawfare, in which authors struggle against unfair rules that put them always on the defensive and against a costs burden that runs to millions. Law schools do not teach freedom of speech and judges in the Supreme Court do not understand it.This book identifies and advocates the reforms that will be necessary before Britain can truly boast that it is a land of free speech, rather than a place where free speech can come very expensive.

How Russians, the Rich and the Government Try to Prevent Free Speech and How to Stop Them. ‘ESSENTIAL’ Amal Clooney‘AUTHORITATIVE’ Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC‘IMPORTANT ’Baroness Helena Kennedy KC‘COULD HARDLY BE MORE TIMELY’ Alan RusbridgerThe British tradition of “free speech” is a myth. From the middle ages to the present, the law of defamation has worked to cover up misbehaviour by the rich and powerful, whose legal mercenaries intimidate investigative journalists.Now a new terror has been added through misguided judicial development of the laws of privacy, breach of confidence and data protection, to suppress the reporting of truths of public importance to tell.Drawing upon the author’s unparalleled experience of defending journalists and editors in English and Commonwealth courtrooms over the past half-century, the book describes the hidden world of lawfare, in which authors struggle against unfair rules that put them always on the defensive and against a costs burden that runs to millions. Law schools do not teach freedom of speech and judges in the Supreme Court do not understand it.This book identifies and advocates the reforms that will be necessary before Britain can truly boast that it is a land of free speech, rather than a place where free speech can come very expensive.

How Russians, the Rich and the Government Try to Prevent Free Speech and How to Stop Them.‘ESSENTIAL’ Amal Clooney‘AUTHORITATIVE’ Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC‘IMPORTANT ’Baroness Helena Kennedy KC‘COULD HARDLY BE MORE TIMELY’ Alan RusbridgerThe British tradition of “free speech” is a myth. From the middle ages to the present, the law of defamation has worked to cover up misbehaviour by the rich and powerful, whose legal mercenaries intimidate investigative journalists.Now a new terror has been added through misguided judicial development of the laws of privacy, breach of confidence and data protection, to suppress the reporting of truths of public importance to tell.Drawing upon the author’s unparalleled experience of defending journalists and editors in English and Commonwealth courtrooms over the past half-century, the book describes the hidden world of lawfare, in which authors struggle against unfair rules that put them always on the defensive and against a costs burden that runs to millions. Law schools do not teach freedom of speech and judges in the Supreme Court do not understand it.This book identifies and advocates the reforms that will be necessary before Britain can truly boast that it is a land of free speech, rather than a place where free speech can come very expensive.

'A GREAT ROAR OF A BOOK' Sunday Times We think that our children belong to us, but families are fragile things. Every day, for over a century, children have been moved between homes because of law cases that decide their fates. Yet child custody is curiously absent from history books and from how we generally understand our world. Lara Feigel’s groundbreaking book shows the fraught, complex territory of child custody to have been one of the vital battlegrounds of modern history and culture.Custody is the story of seven women – Caroline Norton, George Sand, Elizabeth Packard, Frieda Lawrence, Edna O’Brien, Alice Walker, Britney Spears – who have fought for their children and been found wanting. It is also the story of the children who have lost the care they most need because divorce is at heart a macabre continuation of matrimony in a new setting, with the battles of the marriage stoked into new levels of acrimony by the courts.It’s a book of dramatic storytelling, and of blistering polemic and large-scale historical re-evaluation. Each chapter immerses the reader in the life and times – and struggles – of these fascinating, charismatic, complex women and their children. All of these women were mothers, but all of them wanted and needed to be other things too – writers, lovers, or activists – and they and their children were punished for these attempts.Feigel has been deep in the archives, looking into thousands of other cases in each place and time, and she’s been sitting in on the family courts in the present. So alongside these central figures, the book presents a teeming picture of fractured family life in Britain, Europe and North America across two hundred years, offering a major new interpretation of how our modern culture has evolved. And Custody is an alternative history of feminism, centring on the fraught relationship between emancipation and care.This book is of urgent interest to anyone concerned with women’s roles in the world and how institutions fail them. Ultimately it’s a book that sees custody as the nexus where motherhood, ideology and power meet. Custody cases can seem in these chapters to be quintessentially tragic, but the stories of these passionate, conflicted women also make us want to figure out how to do things better.