An Old Bailey murder trial judge unpicks six extraordinary cases and explores why we kill, what happens at trial and what we can learn about the society in which we live.

Only at the Old Bailey is the murder trial the staple diet of a judge. The author has presided over many of the high-profile cases that all too often grab our attention in dramatic media headlines. But, unlike most of us, a judge doesn't get to turn the page and move on. Nor does the defendant, or the family of the victim, nor the many other people who populate the court room. And yet, each of us has a vested interest in what happens there. And while most people have only the sketchiest idea of what happens inside a Crown Court, any one of us could end up in the witness-box or even in the dock.

With breath-taking skill and deep compassion, the author describes how cases unfold and illustrates exactly what it's like to be a murder trial judge and a witness to human good and bad. Sometimes very bad. The fracture lines that run through our society are becoming harder and harder to ignore. From a unique vantage point, the author warns that we do so at our peril.