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  • Court Number One

  • The Old Bailey Trials That Defined Modern Britain
  • By: Thomas Grant
  • Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
  • Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (3 ratings)

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Court Number One

By: Thomas Grant
Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
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Publisher's Summary

Court Number One of the Old Bailey is the most famous court room in the world and the venue of some of the most sensational human dramas ever to be played out in a criminal trial.  

The principal criminal court of England, historically reserved for the more serious and high-profile trials, Court Number One opened its doors in 1907 after the building of the 'new' Old Bailey. In the decades that followed it witnessed the trials of the most famous and infamous defendants of the 20th century. It was here that the likes of Madame Fahmy, Lord Haw Haw, John Christie, Ruth Ellis, George Blake (and his unlikely jailbreakers, Michael Randle and Pat Pottle), Jeremy Thorpe and Ian Huntley were defined in history, alongside a wide assortment of other traitors, lovers, politicians, psychopaths, spies, con men and - of course - the innocent.   

Not only notorious for its murder trials, Court Number One recorded the changing face of modern British society, bearing witness to alternate attitudes to homosexuality, the death penalty, freedom of expression, insanity and the psychology of violence. Telling the stories of 12 of the most scandalous and celebrated cases across a radically shifting century, this audiobook traces the evolving attitudes of Britain, the decline of a society built on deference and discretion, the tensions brought by a more permissive society and the rise of trial by mass media.  

From the Sunday Times best-selling author of Jeremy Hutchinson's Case Histories, Court Number One is a mesmerising window onto the thrills, fears and foibles of the modern age. 

©2019 Thomas Grant (P)2019 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

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British Justice - a closer look

Thomas Grant takes a close look at British Justice by presenting a series of high-profile cases tried in Court Number One over approximately one hundred years. Each is a fascinating case, rendered more so by Grant's discussion of the social climate and mores prevailing at the time of the offence. He brings further colour to the trials and the verdicts by including the professional trajectories and personal attitudes of the presiding judges, the prosecutors, and defence counsel. British Justice is widely seen as the Gold Standard but this book is likely to make you think again. Here is British Justice at its best and worst. Jonathan Keeble is his usual excellent self.

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Fascinating history

I really enjoyed this long listen. It held my attention, was well written and the narration was excellent. If you are interested in the law and/or the history of the law, this is the book for you.

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