Sadakat Kadri. The Trial: Four Thousand Years of Courtroom Drama. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2005.
Sadakat Kadri studied history in the United Kingdom ane law in both the U.K. and the United States, and has worked as a lawyer in multiple countries in cases concerning international law and human rights. His experience and knowledge are complemented with diligent research and a deft, often dryly humorous writing style in this book. The Trial is a sweeping yet brisk consideration of the long, convoluted history of the modern jury trial that is common in much of the Anglo world.
Although the book begins "In the Beginning" with a consideration of the justice of the ancient Near East (including the ideals of the Old Testament) and the ancient Greeks, and concludes with a consideration of recent high-profile trials, it is organized thematically rather than chronologically. The narrative flows fairly smoothly from chapter to chapter; Kadri does a rather good job of guiding the reader from a consideration of medieval trials of inanimate objects to the Moscow Show Trials of the Stalinist Soviet Union.
Throughout the book, Kadri is concerned with the social and cultural meaning of the jury trial, of its forms and rituals, particularly in relation to the greater public. This is not primarily a legal history, but a cultural one. He also draws the reader to consider how the strengths and weaknesses of the jury trial were arrived at through long development rather than deliberate invention; unforeseen consequences are rife in his telling.
This is a fantastic work of popular history. Recommended for all readers.
