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

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