Notable Historical Trials

Trials that changed the course of history from Ancient Greece to Victorian london

This collection of 44 notable trials takes the reader on an eye opening grand tour through the courtrooms and star chambers of history. More than an individual’s life or freedom is at stake: in these tension-filled confrontations, huge political, cultural and moral questions are played out. We encounter towering figures at moments of supreme crisis. Accused of corrupting the young, Socrates faced a massed jury of Athenian citizens but refused to pander to the court with the kind of dazzling rhetorical eloquence that was expected. His intellectual and moral teaching disdained such popularism and he was prepared to uphold his beliefs at a mortal cost. King Charles I refused even to acknowledge the right of a court to try him, while Mary Queen of Scots defended herself against her accusers with all the skill and courage she could muster.

The law seldom lives up to its ideals, and here are many examples of corruption and persecution, from ‘Bloody’ Judge Jeffreys to Admiral Byng, shot for failing to pursue a superior enemy fleet, or, as Voltaire wrote; ‘pour encourager les autres’. Yet, here is also proof that no individual is above the law, from Warren Hastings, Governor General of India, accused of extortion, to the Duke of Praslin, believed to have murdered his wife, and Andrew Johnson – until recently the only US President to have been impeached by Congress.

Other cases reveal upheavals in society, such as Oscar Wilde’s conviction for ‘the love that dare not speak its name’; the libel trial between the artist Whistler and art critic John Ruskin, and the O’Shea divorce case which ruined the career of the Irish statesman Charles Stewart Parnell. Shot through with wit, eloquence and passion, from show trials to just retribution, these compelling stories from the long annals of crime and punishment reveal the sometimes unexpected ways of justice.

Volume I - Socrates to the Gunpowder Plot

OTHER TRIALS INCLUDE:

The suppression of the Knights Templar ~ Joan of Arc ~ The rise and fall of Sir Thomas More ~ Mary Queen of Scots on trial at Fotheringhay Castle ~ Giordano Bruno before the Inquisition ~ The revolt and trial of the Earl of Essex ~ The two trials of Sir Walter Ralegh ~

Volume II - Galileo to Admiral Byng

OTHER TRIALS INCLUDE:

Urbain Grandier and the ‘devils’ of Loudon ~ The trial and execution of Charles I ~ Titus Oates and the Popish Plot ~ Judge Jeffreys and the Bloody Assizes ~ The Witches of Salem ~ The Old Bailey trial of ‘Thief-taker General’, Jonathan Wild ~

Volume III - Boston Massacre to Queen Caroline

OTHER TRIALS INCLUDE:

The bigamy trial of the self-styled Duchess of Kingston ~ The Gordon Riots and the trial of Lord Gordon George ~ The conspiracy of Major Andre and Benedict Arnold ~ The impeachment of Warren Hastings ~ The court-martial of the Bounty Mutineers ~ The trials of Louis XVI and Marie Antionette ~ Former Vice- President Aaron Burr on trial for treason ~

Volume IV - Burke and Hare to Oscar Wilde

OTHER TRIALS INCLUDE:

The Paris murder of the Duchesse de Praslin ~ The raid on Harpers Ferry and the trial of John Brown ~ The assassination of President Lincoln and the trial of the conspirators ~ The impeachment of Andrew Johnson ~ The Whistler v. Ruskin libel case ~ Canadian rebel leader Louis Riel ~ Charles Stewart Parnell and the O’Shea divorce case ~ The three trials of Oscar Wilde ~

Specially commissioned by the Folio Society

Originally commissioned by The Folio Society in 1999, this newly republished 4-volume set comprises contemporary accounts drawn from a range of sources including newspapers, periodicals, pamphlets, monographs, biographies and trial collections such as the State Trials. Classic testimonies are included, such as those from Plato on the last days of Socrates, William Camden on Mary Queen of Scots, and Alexandre Dumas on the Marquise de Brinvilliers. With an introduction by Sir John Mortimer, this is an essential collection for anyone with an interest in the rights and wrongs of history.