Terrific. McBride details his own cock-ups and disasters with the relish of the born humorous writer. Very funny

Expert, authoritative, hilarious - an insider's fearless account of life at the criminal bar

Gripping, engaging, compelling. The real life of criminal barristers is expertly caught

Excellent

A very fine piece of reportage, probing to the organisation's dark and festering heart while also taking care to accentuate the good FIFA has done in the world

A book that informs as much as it enrages

David Conn’s long list of literary successes are legion, but following publication of his latest book, The Fall of the House of FIFA, it’s arguable that he may have surpassed everything that has gone before… Like The Beautiful Game?, which shone a bright spotlight on football’s darkest corners… The Fall of the House of FIFA does an equally impressive job on a global level… Tales of FIFA’s inherent corruption are nothing new but, given its definitive nature, David Conn’s account deserves the widest possible audience. Buy it

It is a superb go-to guide for anyone seeking context on why Qatar won the 2022 World Cup bid, why Coca Cola - a largely American brand - splashes its name on a largely non-American sport, and why hope remains that the mess can eventually be cleaned up

Conn laments the betrayal of the sport in a beguiling book – it’s absorbing and downright shocking

Comprehensive and thoroughly researched

Remarkable

David Conn pulls no punches in his account of Fifa’s crookedness

A chronicle of the history and scale of corruption which has haunted football for decades, with revealing portraits of the men at the centre of the organisation

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