The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken by The Secret Barrister - Non Fiction - Hardback

Details:
Condition: Brand New
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 9781509841103
Publisher: Picador (Pan Macmillan)
Age Range: Adult

Overview
The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken is the Sunday Times number one bestselling exposé of Britain's criminal justice system, written by an anonymous junior barrister. Blending dark humour, real courtroom experience and forensic detail, it lifts the lid on a system many assume works fairly but which is, in truth, underfunded and frequently failing those it exists to protect. This hardback edition offers a gripping, urgent read for anyone curious how the law truly operates.

About the Book
Written under the pseudonym "The Secret Barrister", this book takes readers deep inside the courtroom, revealing the daily reality of practising criminal law in England and Wales. Through true, anonymised cases, the author explores impossible dilemmas: defending someone you suspect may be guilty, or watching an innocent client sentenced regardless. Sharp, witty and often heartbreaking, the narrative exposes chronic underfunding, wrongful convictions, and the human cost of a justice system stretched to breaking point. Far from a dry legal textbook, it reads like a series of gripping personal stories, each illuminating a different flaw in the system while never losing sight of the human beings caught up in it. It asks fundamental questions: what is the law for, and what happens when society stops investing in it properly? The book struck a chord with readers on publication in 2018, spending over a year in the UK top-ten bestseller charts and sparking widespread debate about access to justice and legal aid cuts. It remains one of the most talked-about works of British non-fiction in recent years, praised for making a complex, opaque profession accessible and impossible to put down.

• Sunday Times number one bestseller with over a year in the UK top-ten charts
• Winner of the Books Are My Bag Non-Fiction Book of the Year award
• Shortlisted for both the Waterstones Book of the Year and Specsavers Non-Fiction Book of the Year
• Real courtroom stories told with dark humour and genuine emotional weight
• Essential reading for anyone interested in law, justice, politics or current affairs
• Brand new hardback, perfect for gifting or building a serious non-fiction collection

About the Author
The Secret Barrister is the pen name of an anonymous junior barrister specialising in criminal law, who also writes an award-winning blog of the same name and regularly appears in national print and broadcast media. In 2020, Channel 4 News produced a four-part documentary series, The Secret Barrister: Disordered Justice. This debut book was followed by further Sunday Times top-ten bestsellers, Fake Law: The Truth About Justice in an Age of Lies and Nothing But The Truth: The Memoir of an Unlikely Lawyer, cementing a reputation as one of the most incisive voices writing on the British legal system today.

Why You'll Love This Book
Funny, furious and deeply humane, this is courtroom non-fiction at its most gripping. Whether you work in law, follow current affairs, or simply love a well-told true story, The Secret Barrister will change how you see British justice for good.

Please Note: Cover design may vary slightly; UK edition and ISBN as shown.