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News archive

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2022

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January  

  • I continue to work on a biography of Lord Denning, to be published by Wildy, 

         Simmonds & Hill, which has occupied all of my writing time in the past two years.​  

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  • In the meantime, I continue to be active on twitter as @alawyerwrites

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2020

 

November 

  • Noble Savages has been reviewed by Kathryn White of Oxford University here.

June 

  • Noble Savages is now available on Amazon in paperback here. The paperback version has

         approximately 75 new photographs. 

  • I have written a blog on The Full Toss on the appointment of Clare Connor as MCC President    

​       here.​

  • I have written a blog on The Full Toss on the status of Rest of the World Test matches

        and a most enjoyable discussion I had with cricketing legend David Gower here.

May 

  • I have written a review of the documentary The Test for The Full Toss here. 

April

  • I have written a blog on The Full Toss on memorable debuts here.

February

  • I have a letter published in The Times on rugby here.

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2018

December 

November 

October 

September

        the tag of 'New Bothams'. 

July

  • Work continues on Noble Savages.  The Blurb is here.

  • I have started to add some more content to this site under the other writing tab,

        including several offcuts from Noble Savages.  Additions include: 

May

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  • I have written an article on the Al Jazeera cricketing corruption investigation here.  

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January 

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  • I am working on a history of the Savage Club and its members during the First World War. I will post publication details closer to the time (expecting to publish in the middle of the year). 

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2017

October

  • Mr Philip Taylor MBE of Richmond Green Chambers has reviewed my book Court and Bowled on YouTube here and on Amazon here.

 

August 

  • Mr Trevor Auger, an Auckland-based cricketer writer, has reviewed my book Court and Bowled here. 

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July

  • The second edition of my book Court and Bowled is now available from Amazon here or the Publisher here.

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February

  • A short piece I wrote on P. G. Wodehouse has been published in the Savage Club newsletter Drumbeat.  A copy of the article is here.

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2016

 

December

  • Cases, Causes and Controversies has been reviewed by Mr Phillip Taylor MBE here.

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October​

  • A quiet summer as I had to return to New Zealand for family reasons.  My father died when I was there.  I am working recording his life history for all his grandchildren, which may be restricted to family members only.  I have however uploaded the eulogy I read at the funeral here. 

April

  • My Estates Gazette article is previewed here and published here. 

March 

  • Trials & Tribulations has been reviewed by Emeritus Professor Keith Davies for the New Law Journal.  The review can be read here.

February

January

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2015

December

  • Trials & Tribulations has been chosen by The Times newspaper as one of their recommended books for Xmas 2015.  Court & Bowled was chosen for last year's list. 

November

  • Trials & Tribulations is now available as an ebook here. 

October

  • I have written a blog on the proposed 'Sugar Tax' here. 

  • I have written a blog on the 'Snugglebundl' VAT case here. 

September

  • Trials & Tribulations is now available from Amazon here. 

August 

  • Trials & Tribulations is now available at the publisher here. 

  • My Estates Gazette article has been published online here. 

July

June 

  • The Library of Congress Blog has published an article on cricket and law which refers to my book Court & Bowled. 

  • My new book Trials & Tribulations is currently with the Publishers in pre-production.  I will publish more details soon.

May

  • The Cricket Society Website has published a short review of Court & Bowled, stating among other things that "... James Wilson leads us gently through some of cricket's most famous and not so famous brushes with the law from many centuries ago to the present day. Although much fun can be had, there is a serious side to many cases and the author uses his expert knowledge to examine both cases and their conclusions, as well as the implications and results." 

April 

  • The 2015 edition of Wisden Cricketer's Almanack has now been published.  It contains a review of Court & Bowled.  It states that the book is a 'surprising gem' and that 'all in all, a most enlightening piece of work'.  The book is also reviewed on Cricketweb by Martin Chandler.

March

  • The review of Court & Bowled by Robert Griffiths QC has been republished in Counsel magazine.

  • I have written an article for Bloomberg BNA on Irish airline tax and unlawful state aid.  The article can be found here (££). 

  • The most recent Cricket Society Bulletin has a short piece on the Book of the Year prize, for which I have been longlisted.  The Bulletin can be found here.

  • A nice mention by Gideon Haigh, doyen of Australian cricket writers, on Cricketweb. He says he enjoyed Court & Bowled.  I have since been contacted by the site, who say they would like to review the book.

 

January

  • I have been chosen for the longlist for the Cricket Society & MCC Book of the Year 2015 prize.

 

 

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.

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