'In this witty, engrossing and sometimes poignant memoir, a sequel to his best-selling The Justice Game, Australia’s inimitable Geoffrey Robertson charts his progress from pimply state schoolboy to top Old Bailey barrister and thence onwards and upwards to a leading role in the struggle for human rights throughout the world.
'He wryly observes the absurdities of growing up as one of ‘Ming’s kids’; the passion of student protest in the sixties and his early crusades for ‘Down Under-dogs’, before leaving on a Rhodes Scholarship to combat the British establishment, with the help of John Mortimer of ‘Rumpole’ fame. There are dramatic accounts of fighting for lives on death rows, freeing dissidents and taking on tyrants, armed only with a unique mind and a passion for justice – on display whenever he boomeranged back to Australia to conduct Geoffrey Robertson’s Hypotheticals.
'His is an amazing life story of David and Goliath battles – riveting, laugh-out-loud tales filled with romance and danger, featuring a cast of characters ranging from General Pinochet to Pee-Wee Herman; from Malcolm Turnbull to Mike Tyson; from Nigella Lawson to Kathy Lette and Julian Assange. Throughout his exploits – recounted here with irreverent humour and dashes of true wisdom – Geoffrey Robertson has remained determinedly independent and his own man. He has also, in respect of human rights, changed the way we think. ' (Publication summary)
Dedication: To the memory of my mother and father.
The Justice Game
London
:
Vantage Press
,
1998
13020421
1998
single work
autobiography
'Geoff Robertson was born in Australia, bu came to London in 1970. He made his name as the fearless defender of Oz magazine at the celebrated trial and went on to engage in some of the most newsworthy cases in recent history. He has defended John Stonehouse, Cynthia Payne, Salman Rushdie, Kate Adie, Arthur Scargill, Daniel Sullivan, Gay News, 'The Romans of Britain', 'Niggaz with Attitude', and a pair of foetal earrings. The book includes accounts of recent cases including the defence of a West London gym owner against the Prince of Wales, the Matrix Churchill affair, and the defence of the Guardian in the cash-for-questions affair. Hugely readable, funny, scandalous, revelator, this will become one of the great books about the law. ' (Publication summary)
'Geoffrey Robertson is disillusioned. The world-famous barrister has, at 74, lost his belief in the effectiveness of international law. “I have not lost faith in the ICC [International Criminal Court]. I still think it’s necessary,” he tells me by phone from London, his voice more redolent of duty than of conviction. “But its catchment area is quite small...”' (Introduction)
'Robertson is an extraordinarily gifted man who is a passionate champion of human rights.'
'Robertson is on the right side of history and morality. Surely he can’t be that good, that funny?
'The title of Geoffrey Robertson’s memoir was inspired by the comment of a senior British public servant when a Blair-government minister intended to appoint him to a European judicial position: ‘What a brilliant idea, Minister … But … he is … rather his own man, isn’t he?’' (Introduction)
'Robertson is an extraordinarily gifted man who is a passionate champion of human rights.'
'Robertson is on the right side of history and morality. Surely he can’t be that good, that funny?
'The title of Geoffrey Robertson’s memoir was inspired by the comment of a senior British public servant when a Blair-government minister intended to appoint him to a European judicial position: ‘What a brilliant idea, Minister … But … he is … rather his own man, isn’t he?’' (Introduction)
'Geoffrey Robertson is disillusioned. The world-famous barrister has, at 74, lost his belief in the effectiveness of international law. “I have not lost faith in the ICC [International Criminal Court]. I still think it’s necessary,” he tells me by phone from London, his voice more redolent of duty than of conviction. “But its catchment area is quite small...”' (Introduction)
