Published by Chatto & Windus, 1998, hardcover, illustrated, index, 415 pages, condition: as new.
As a young barrister, Robertson found himself involved in the Oz trial; a frothingly moralistic judge went to some lengths to jail three editors of an underground magazine, and was duly humiliated on appeal. Success leads to opportunity; Robertson has found himself at the heart of a sequence of crucial freedom of expression trials--the Gay News blasphemy trial, the attempt to bust the National theatre over a play in which male rape took place, the arrest of a painter whose chosen subject was bank notes. His account of his career concentrates on these, and on his own entire brilliance in them; he is not a modest man, nor is there any particular reason why he should be, especially given how sharp and witty his accounts are. Robertson has also been involved in other causes cèlebres--he knows all about the Michael X case, and a variety of other capital cases in the Caribbean, and is fascinating on the Matrix Churchill case and the various libel actions around the "cash for questions" sleaze row. Anyone interested in the issues is going to find this a useful book--but the average intelligent reader is going to find the account of courtroom battles a guilty pleasure in itself
There goes the old joke that the smallest book in the world is the book of great Australian writers. Well, that book has grown immensely with the writings of this internationally renowned barrister. Britain is truly blessed to have him and it will be a sad loss if his native land ever retrieves him.
He reached the pinnacle of his fame defending Salman Rushdie and is also involved in the defence of Julian Assange, to name another great Australian. Geoffrey Robertson is the reason why anyone would want to become a lawyer to fight the good fight. His career is one long list of righteous battles against censorship and the abuse of power.
His magnificent book 'The Justice Game', which was the book bargain of my life considering the content and the fact that I paid just a quid for a hardback copy, is a compilation of his most relevant fights for justice in the defence of freedom of speech and expression.
From defending publications and writers to artists and actors, he has fended off the Bank of England, an army of Muslim lawyers and an outraged old lady to name but a few. It features high profile cases from the history of recent Britain and most notably that of The Satanic Verses.
It is a must read for anyone interested in UK history, law and you will discover that fact once more does surpass fiction. If you devour fictional lawyer novels, then this slice of reality will trump anything you have read to date.
Robertson ensures that the scales of justice are kept firmly balanced so the rest of us may go out into the world and express our feelings without fear of arrest.
