Nothing But The Truth

The Secret Barrister

12 May 2022
9781529057027
320 pages

Synopsis

From the Number One bestselling author, a memoir full of hilarious, personal and surprising stories from their working life in the law.

* The Sunday Times Bestseller *
* A BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week*

‘The SB is a gifted writer. Words tumble out with extraordinary fluency . . . entertaining and instructive’ – The Times

__________

Just how do you become a barrister? Why do only 1 per cent of those who study law succeed in joining this mysteriously opaque profession? And why might a practising barrister come to feel the need to reveal the lies, secrets, failures and crises at the heart of this world of wigs and gowns?

Nothing But The Truth is The Secret Barrister's bestselling memoir. It charts an outsider’s progress down the winding path towards practising at the Bar, taking in the sometimes absurd traditions of the Inns of Court, where every meal mandates a glass of port and a toast to the monarch, to the Hunger Games-style contest for pupillage, through the endlessly frustrating experience of being a junior barrister – as a creaking, ailing justice system begins to convince them that something has to change . . .

Full of hilarious, shocking and surprising stories, Nothing But The Truth tracks the Secret Barrister’s transformation from hang ‘em and flog ‘em, austerity-supporting twenty-something to campaigning, bestselling, reforming author whose writing in defence of the law is celebrated around the globe.

With a keen eye for the absurd and an obsessive fondness for Twitter, SB reveals the uncomfortable truths and darkest secrets about life in our criminal courts.
__________

‘With compassion, wit and intelligence, The Secret Barrister shows why is it that any of us plunge into the harrowing depths of criminal law’ – TLS

‘Masterful, compassionate and hilarious’ – Adam Rutherford

‘The Zorro of the criminal bar’ – The Times

Entertaining and instructive . . . A gifted writer . . . The Secret Barrister's picaresque journey to barristerhood is served up with large helpings of humour
Wonderful and insightful . . . With compassion, wit and intelligence, the Secret Barrister shows why is it that any of us plunge into the harrowing depths of criminal law
Excellent . . . at once a vicious polemic, a helpful primer and a cringe-inducing account of one barrister’s travails