The Tyrannicide Brief

Jan 11, 2025 3:44 PM

Author:Geoffrey Robertson

Charles I waged civil wars that cost one in ten Englishmen their lives. But in 1649 parliament was hard put to find a lawyer with the skill and daring to prosecute a King who was above the law: in the end the man they briefed was the radical barrister, John Cooke.

Cooke was a plebeian, son of a poor farmer, but he had the courage to bring the King's trial to its dramatic conclusion: the English republic. Cromwell appointed him as a reforming Chief Justice in Ireland, but in 1660 he was dragged back to the Old Bailey, tried and brutally executed.

John Cooke was the bravest of barristers, who risked his own life to make tyranny a crime. He originated the right to silence, the 'cab rank' rule of advocacy and the duty to act free-of-charge for the poor. He conducted the first trial of a Head of State for waging war on his own people - a forerunner of the prosecutions of Pinochet, Miloševic and Saddam Hussein, and a lasting inspiration to the modern world.

Reviews

Redeems from obscurity an unsung hero of true greatness... Sheds invigorating light on the course of the English civil war

—— Spectator

Robertson has come up with that desperately rare thing: a subject worthy of biography who has never before been addressed and, to his huge advantage, in his field. The result is a work of literary advocacy as elegant, impassioned and original as any the author can ever have laid before a court

—— Anthony Holden , Observer

Robertson tells a spellbinding story. He combines lucid analysis of the legal issues with acute understanding of the various factions. His prose is crisp and he inserts some comments that only a professional advocate, as opposed to an academic historian, would make

—— Christopher Silvester , Daily Telegraph

Fascinating... Illuminating... This is a work of great compassion and, at a time when it seems to be fashionable for politicians to denigrate lawyers, it is an essential read for anyone who believes in the fearless independence of the law

—— John Cooper , The Times

[Robertson's] forensic intelligence can penetrate where professional historians have not reached

—— Blair Worden , Literary Review

Reveals the woman behind the myths

—— Northern Echo

Utterly absorbing ... tantalizing

—— City AM

A wonderful sparkling biography

—— Amanda Foreman, author of GEORGIANA: DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE

In this pacey retelling of a classic love story, Kate Williams has created a sparkling life worthy of Emma herself. A new biography for a new generation.

—— Stella Tillyard, author of A ROYAL AFFAIR

Popular history at its best

—— David Liss, author of A SPECTACLE OF CORRUPTION

Every intricate detail is laid out, and Kate Williams' writing is so immediate, you feel all but transported...

—— Birmingham Post

...cleverly conceived and stylishly executed...

—— Independent

...well worth staying the course... Campbell's dissection of this last union covers much familiar ground, but he shows just how much a close political relationship can hobble an administration as much as energise it

—— Independent on Sunday

The book is a joy to read: meticulously researched, beautifully written and scrupulously fair.

—— Chris Mullen , Observer

stylish book

—— Sunday Times

Entertaining study

—— Simon Shaw , Daily Mail

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