​James Wilson
Author
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Please note that nothing on this site constitutes legal advice, and should not be relied upon as such.
James Wilson FRHistS
Welcome to my website, which has been set up to provide information on my books and other writing. I hope you find something of interest.
By way of background, I trained as a lawyer and practised for a while in both New Zealand and England before wandering into various other vocations. In the course of doing so I started writing as an interesting sideline, moving from blogs and tweets to articles and full-length books. I still have a day job, which is wholly separate: for any work query, see my Linkedin profile. For more biographical details, see the About me page.
I have covered a wide range of subjects, including cricket, history and law. I always try and find stories with an interesting human angle, or moral dilemma, or both. In May 2024, I was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
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I have written five books and jointly edited another. My most recent book is Lord Denning: Life, Law and Legacy. It reassesses the life and legacy of the most famous judge in English history.
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My second book, Court & Bowled: Tales of Cricket and the Law, was chosen by Lord Judge, the former Lord Chief Justice, as his recommendation for The Times newspaper in 2014. It was also longlisted for the Cricket Society and MCC Book of the Year 2015 and reviewed in Wisden Cricketers Almanack. A revised edition was published in paperback in July 2017.
You can purchase any of my books by clicking on the images at the top of the page, or for more detail on each click on the menu bar above. You can see some of my other writings on the tab above or the news updates on this page.
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I am on twitter as @alawyerwrites. For some years I wrote a blog called A(nother) Lawyer Writes, though nowadays I publish all new material on this site.
News
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2024
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November
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I have written another book review for the Law Society Gazette, on Conversations in
Philosophy, Law and Politics here.
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October
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I have written another book review for the Law Society Gazette, on a history of Crown
immunity called The King can do no wrong ​here. ​​
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I have written another book review for the Law Society Gazette, on Blackstone's Guide
to the Human Rights Act 1998 here. ​
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I have written another book review for the Law Society Gazette, on Blackstone's Guide
to the Human Rights Act 1998 here. ​
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- I have written another book review for the Law Society Gazette, on a theoretical approach
to human rights here.
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May
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- I have been elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
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- My biography of Lord Denning has been reviewed by a senior Canadian judge here
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- I have written another book review for the Law Society Gazette, on law and films, here
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April
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- I have written another book review for the Law Society Gazette, on wine fraud, here
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February
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- I have written another book review for the Law Society Gazette, on free speech, here
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January
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- I have written another book review for the Law Society Gazette, on future war crimes,
here.
- I have written another book review for the Law Society Gazette, on historic war crimes,
here.
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2023
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October
- I have written a short book review for the Law Society Gazette, on a new book on AI
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and Human Rights here.
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September
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My biography of Lord Denning has been reviewed in the Scottish Legal News here.
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August
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My biography of Lord Denning has been reviewed by Dr Charles Wynn-Evans in the New
Law Journal here.
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Some correspondence in response to the review by the Hon Michael Beloff KC
has been published in the Times Literary Supplement, here.
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July
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My biography of Lord Denning has been reviewed by the Hon Michael Beloff KC in the
Times Literary Supplement here. ​
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June
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My biography of Lord Denning has been reviewed in the Law Society Gazette here. ​
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March
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My biography of Lord Denning is now available from the publisher here or from
Amazon here. ​
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I continue to be active on twitter as @alawyerwrites
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February
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I have been quoted in the Telegraph here on cricket and neighbours.
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January
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My biography of Lord Denning can now be pre-ordered from the publisher here.
It is currently at the printer and due in store on 24 March.​
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I continue to be active on twitter as @alawyerwrites
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News archive
In 1979, The Advocates Society welcomed Lord Tom Denning to Toronto. He was on a tour publicizing his latest book. I was gifted The Discipline of Law as a call to the bar gift shortly after.
Forty-five years on—and a quarter century after the world-famous jurist’s death at 100—James Wilson’s new biography is an excellent and thorough review of the still relevant, and always controversial jurist. Wilson himself practices law in New Zealand and the U.K., and is an accomplished writer on legal topics, including exploring legal cases around the game of cricket. The result is not only a highly readable biography but an excellent reference source on the innumerable areas of the law that Denning contributed to developing.
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The book’s 23 chapters extensively cover Denning’s life and upbringing and every stage of his legal career. These are preceded by the book’s opening, which includes quotes about him and by him (never overly modest!) Among the mostly glowing accolades is a comment from Reuben Hassan, Professor Emeritus at Osgoode Hall Law School, who opines that Lord Denning “fell considerably short of the stature of a great judge (or jurist).” The late-Lord Brooke declares him as “rather a discredited figure.”
Through an examination of the man’s life and times, Wilson gives us insight into what drove both Denning’s innovation as well as his often moralistic, judgmental rigidness. His strengths and weakness in many ways reflected the changing society of England during his long life. The book is also meticulously footnoted with a select bibliography of over ten pages including reports or works authored by Denning.
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The last chapter, appropriately titled “A Final Judgement,” includes a critical analysis of Denning’s well known, catchy, succinct openings that he is so remembered for: “It all started in a public house,” or “ A man’s head got caught in a propeller.” While memorable, among other criticisms, the author suggests that putting the merits of the case up front with the facts was Denning’s way of getting the reader to agree with his decision.
In summary, Wilson has delivered a well-organized, readable, and interesting biography / legal-social history that should give a judicial reader both insight and knowledge of perhaps the most influential jurist of the modern era.