Lord Denning : Landmarks in the Law

In Landmarks in the Law, Lord Denning tells of ‘some of those great cases ... of which students of history and of law ought to know much but of which they know little or nothing. They are cases, too, which are full of interest for others. They portray dramatic situations. The characters are real. The scenes are true. The prose is good. The decisions have had lasting consequences.’

Written in Lord Denning’s familiar vivid, staccato style, Landmarks in the Law discusses cases and characters whose names will be known to all readers, grouped together under headings such as High Treason, Freedom of the Press, and Murder. Thus, for example, the chapter on High Treason tells the stories of Sir Walter Ralegh, Sir Roger Casement, and William Joyce – three very different cases, the first occurring nearly 350 years before the last, but each one raising constitutional issues of the greatest importance.

The last ‘landmark’ with which Lord Denning deals is what he describes as his ‘most important case’ – the Profumo Inquiry, which, although not a law case, was nevertheless ‘an inquiry to find out the truth’. Lord Denning discusses the key issues and characters involved in this scandal, which seemed likely to bring down the Government in 1963. Never afraid to give his opinions on matters of concern to us all, Lord Denning in his ‘retirement’ has continued to be a highly controversial public figure. Landmarks in the Law will have a wide appeal: its lively readable style and fascinating subject matter will interest not only students, but also laymen, who hear Lord Denning quoted so often.