The Mandela Brief

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What to expect

The remarkable story of Sir Sydney Kentridge QC, the greatest living barrister.

Sydney Kentridge carved out a reputation as South Africa's most prominent anti-apartheid advocate - his story is entwined with the country's emergence from racial injustice and oppression. He is the only lawyer to have acted for three winners of the Nobel Peace Prize - Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Chief Albert Lutuli. Already world-famous for his landmark cases including the Treason Trial of Nelson Mandela and the other leading members of the ANC, the inquiry into the Sharpeville massacre, and the inquest into the death of Steve Biko, he then became England's premier advocate.

Through the great set-pieces of the legal struggle against apartheid - cases which made the headlines not just in South Africa, but across the world - this biography is a portrait of enduring moral stature.

(P) 2022 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Critics Review

Well-written, deeply researched and wholly gripping
The Spectator
Meticulously researched
The Times
Kentridge is not only one of the finest advocates of all time, he is also one of the finest men
Lady Hale
The barrister's barrister . . . a moral stature that no amount of moral forensic technique can impersonate
Lord Jonathan Sumption
One of the greatest lawyers of our times - a legal titan
Lady Helena Kennedy
A good read . . . well-researched. It can be recommended as a short introduction to the horrific nature of the ancien régime and the risks run and suffering borne by its opponents, as they emerge through the prism of the South African legal system
Daily Telegraph
Anyone who wants a fresh understanding of how South Africa became the polecat of the international community will gain insight from Thomas Grant's gripping telling of the stellar career of Sydney Kentridge and his struggle for justice
Rapport
In all of [Grant's] chapters, the role of fearless hugely skilled advocacy in creating a belief that the rule of law matters is luminously documented . . . Grant's description of Kentridge's cross-examination of State witnesses who were cynically employed to convict opponents of the apartheid regime should be compulsory reading
The Daily Maverick
In November [2022], [Sydney] Kentridge will mark his 100th birthday, and Grant's in-depth research sets the scene for a celebration of a remarkable legal tactician
Farmer's Weekly
Thomas Grant KC has performed a real service by enabling us to get a vivid sense of some of Kentridge's most important cases . . . This is a powerful, but easy, read
New Law Journal
A forensic, riveting account of a wondrous and principled advocate
Philippe Sands

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