The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law

`Dazzlingly honest and original mind.' Nadine Gordimer, TLS `If I still had responsibility for the English judiciary I would encourage every judge for whom I was responsible to read this book. I am sure it would improve their understanding of what the job really involves and what justice is about.' Lord Woolf, from the preface `The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law...is [Albie Sachs'] fascinating and honest account of how his own thinking, emotions and experiences contributed to some of the most startling, original, adventurous, far-reaching and moving decisions taken by any court in the world.' Marcel Berlins, The Guardian `If you love justice as much as you abhor and detest injustice, you will be deeply moved by this engrossing 300 page jurisprudential memoir by Albie Sachs...this is one of the few entertaining books which can be classified as a work on judicial reasoning and how a judge might decide from the insider perspective.' Phillip Taylor and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers, 2009 `Mr Sachs's book is not just an appeal for sympathy for poor old judges who have to make difficult decisions but an invitation for public understanding of the abstract strengths as well as the humanity of the process.' John Forsyth, The Scotsman `Sachs boldly engages with the issue of judicial method, cutting a swath through decades of jurisprudence on the subject of how judges decide.' Jeffrey Jowell, Times Online, August 2009 `The universality of the themes is remarkable. This book sheds an entertaining light into the workings of a fine judicial mind and is a useful reminder of the importance of what we do.' Mary Stacey, employment judge, Judicial Studies Board `There is no more heroic, compassionate, or creative lawyer than Albie Sachs, and his book offers the gift of his vivid and humane first-hand account of serving as a judge, interpreting South Africa's post-apartheid Constitution, and pursuing justice on and off the bench. ' Martha L. Minow, Jeremiah Smith Jr. Professor of Law and Dean of the Faculty of Law, Harvard Law School `Sachs looks forward to a South African Constitutional Court doing justice for all...worth stealing a moment to heed Sachs's warning...poignant...' Newsweek