A remarkable first book written with verve and an eye for telling detail.

[A] superbly assured debut that lifts the lid on an important but neglected subject in a way that is both intellectually and emotionally compelling.

I’ll be surprised if I come across a braver, more necessary debut this year.

A deft, alert, moving, beautifully expressed and profound reflection on culture, politics, and the individual's experience of the law. I would recommend it to anyone.

[An] utterly brilliant and captivating debut,

An important, must-read work.

As events unfolded this year, it was reassuring to read superb non-fiction that celebrated expertise...Trials: On Death Row in Pakistan tells how Isabel Buchanan, fresh from a law degree, applied her feeling and intelligence to apprentice in a jurisdiction which, by 2014, saw a person executed every day.

This is much more than a well-written coming-of-age memoir: it is a thoughtful reflection on the legal system of an important country in the modern geo-political world.

Trials has much to tell us that is new… Buchanan weaves with clarity a compelling but heart-wrenching story.

Altruism, empathy and a sense of justice cannot be eradicated by anyone — this book testifies to that.

Remarkable.

A wonderful book from a vivid new talent. Revealing, moving, funny, sad, uplifting and beautifully written, with the observational skills of Alan Bennett and the heart of Charles Dickens. Every chapter is an elegantly constructed short story complete with plot twists that alternately deliver a knife to the guts or a glimmer of hope that makes you think humanity has a chance.

I loved this book. It made my heart sing. Written by a woman in the law with compassion, wit and legal know-how, these true life courtroom stories tell it like it is. All life is there, showing the importance to justice of lawyers who understand the human condition, Brava, Sarah Langford.

The wig comes off. More than just a cracking collection of courtroom short-stories -Langford bares her soul.

A great insight into the human side of law.

Thought-provoking, moving and wise. In Your Defence reminds us that whatever side of the dock we're on, we are bound together by more than what sets us apart.

With masterly insight into the pressures and strains experienced by the family and criminal courts, as well an account of their humanity, Sarah Langford describes with modesty and elegance why she is proud to be a barrister. She should also be very proud of this book.

Riveting, powerful and deeply moving, an insider's account of a little-known world that is well observed, beautifully written and full of heart.

I loved it. Sarah’s focus on her own thoughts and observations made it a refreshing take on life at the Bar and made it distinct from other case memoirs I have read. It was all the better for it.

Sarah Langford shines a light on the hidden world of the criminal and family courts, on the many layers of grey in those who appear, be they defendant, victim, teenage mother or divorcee. She shows how difficult it is to navigate truth and justice, and how the blameless often get the blame. Essential reading for an insiders' insight behind the wigs and gowns.

A thorough, gentle, beautiful interrogation of what the justice system is and should be. Compelling and profound.

Full of vividly drawn characters and subtle twists, this hugely enjoyable and empathetic tour of life as a barrister left me both astonished and moved.

A book about the law that is really about human nature, written with a novelist’s psychological depth and gift for language. Superficially, we are taken inside an alien professional world - into a barrister’s life. In fact, we are being walked around the world we live in.

Compelling, humane and insightful. This book is that rare combination of both gripping and wise, and has something to teach us, not only about the law, but about our relationship with the truth and the meaning of the word justice.

An incredible and beautifully written anthology of the highs and lows of life at the Bar. Moving. Read it!

Unveiling what are all too often mysterious and impenetrable layers of the law, Sarah Langford bares her soul to her readers, enabling us to share with her the harsh realities of defending people who have often been knocked down in the marathon race to survive their troubled lives. She's a terrific writer.

A vivid picture of the courts at work... surprisingly uplifting. A thoughtful, elegant book. Langford weaves the chaos of lives at moments of crisis into a neat and satisfying whole... Each chapter unfolds a set of messy facts where the outcome is unclear, the justice of the case opaque. Is Langford's client guilty? Should he go to prison? Will, or should, the mother keep her children out of the reach of the father? The resolution is often as thrilling as a detective novel. And sometimes it is moving: the last chapter had this reviewer in tears. In its quiet way Langford's book is also a portrait of a particular version of Britain...I hope the lord chancellor reads it, and learns from it.

Sarah Langford's brilliant account of our justice system's inner workings is a compelling, moving and powerful work. Its a gripping series of stories. But also a quietly powerful manifesto for change. Every citizen concerned about fairness in our society, and particularly the fate of the most vulnerable, should read it. And politicians must take to heart the lessons this dedicated lawyer teaches us.

A MUST READ: ‘A barrister’s stories of her cases that read like the best fiction.’

Sarah Langford's book of 11 criminal cases gives us an everyday feel of what goes on in court... Salutary and moving too.

This is an absolutely fascinating insider account of life at the bar by defence barrister Sarah Langford, told, with a novelist’s eye, through the stories of 11 ordinary people she’s defended. As Langford journeys through and challenges her own unconscious bias, she’ll make you take a long hard – and not entirely comfortable – look at your own.

I greatly enjoyed Sarah Langford’s In Your Defence (Doubleday), an insider’s account of life as a barrister. Justice and the law provide the lens: the subject is really human nature.

The law is endlessly fascinating, in is history, rituals, manners, language and, above all, in the people whose lives revolve, temporarily or in the long term, around its practise. In Your Defence: Stories of Life and Law by the barrister Sarah Langford tells the stories of some of those caught up in its complex workings. It is riveting … and quite alarming.

Books of the Year

Eye-opening…an illuminating warts-and-all portrait of the law in action…Langford cares passionately about her clients and shows us the rarely reported human face of the law