By The Week UK
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Less than $3 per week
View Profile
The Explainer
Talking Points
The Week Recommends
Newsletters
From the Magazine
The Week Junior
Food & Drink
Personal Finance
All Categories
Newsletter sign up
Culture & Life
the week recommends
Shami Chakrabarti picks her favourite books
The politician and human rights activist shares the polemics that inspired her
Newsletter sign up
Shami Chakrabarti has recently written “Human Rights: The Case for the Defence”
(Image credit: Matthew Horwood / Getty Images)
The Week UK
4 July 2025
The politician, lawyer and human rights activist chooses her favourite polemics. Her most recent book, “Human Rights: The Case for the Defence”, is out now in paperback.
With the Law on Our Side
Brenda Hale, 2025
The “Spider Woman” – former president of the UK Supreme Court – rides again in this uniquely comprehensive and accessible explanation of our court system and lawmaking processes. From lowly benefits tribunals to the highest courts in the land, Hale shows why access to justice matters for everyone.
Edited by Pauline Bryan, 2025
Scotland is one of my favourite places in the world, and I have many memories of reading, writing and discussing politics there. This timely collection of essays (coming 50 years after a young Gordon Brown’s original Red Paper) offers idealism, practical policy and hope.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week’s Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Pigeonholed: Creative Freedom as an Act of Resistance
Gary Younge, 2025
The elegantly published pamphlet version of the inaugural Faber Lecture features the voice of one of the greatest living writers on race in the English language. Now in the middle years of a distinguished career in letters, the James Baldwin of our generation grapples with his own thought-leadership burden.
The Transgender Issue
Shon Faye, 2021
No vaguely thoughtful or literate cisgendered person should dream of wading into the tragically toxic culture war currently being waged on trans people in the UK without reading this powerful account of so much of their lived experience.
Is Democracy Possible Here?
Ronald Dworkin, 2006
The late great legal philosopher Ronald Dworkin was an enormous influence on my thinking as a young human rights lawyer and campaigner. This accessible polemic from the earlier days of the War on Terror is worth revisiting in our current terrifying moment. His eloquent wisdom endures.
Titles in print are available from The Week Bookshop on 020 3176 3835
Sign up for Today’s Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
The Week UK
Social Links Navigation
Codeword: July 4, 2025
The Week’s daily codeword puzzle
Sudoku medium: July 4, 2025
The Week’s daily medium sudoku puzzle
Crossword: July 4, 2025
The Week’s daily crossword
You might also like
The Anatomy of Painting: Jenny Saville’s ‘stunning’ retrospective
The Week Recommends
Saville’s new collection features ‘masterpieces’ from throughout her career
M3GAN 2.0: riotous action sequel to the comedy-horror hit about a killer doll
The Week Recommends
A ‘ridiculously’ entertaining ‘hyper-camp mash-up’ of Terminator 2 and Mission: Impossible
Properties of the week: bright and cheerful houses
The Week Recommends
Featuring homes in Cornwall, London and Norfolk
6 sleek homes for modernists
Featuring a concrete-and-steel home in South Carolina and a renovated 19th-century former carriage house in Pennsylvania
The Genius Myth: a ‘fresh and unpretentious’ book from Helen Lewis
The Week Recommends
This ‘angry, witty book’ by Helen Lewis is a valuable critique of the ‘flattering fiction’ of genius
From Hilde, With Love – the ‘moving’ story of an accidental revolutionary
The Week Recommends
Liv Lisa Fries gives a ‘compelling’ performance as the soft-spoken heroine.
Exploring Georgia’s southern highlands
The Week Recommends
Visit Javakheti, Georgia’s ‘lake district’, and meet the last-remaining ‘spirit wrestlers’ in the region
Music reviews: Bruce Springsteen and Benson Boone
“Tracks II: The Lost Albums” and “American Heart”
View More â–¸
Contact Future’s experts
Terms and Conditions
Privacy Policy
Cookie Policy
Advertise With Us
The Week is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.
Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street