Lord Mansfield:
Justice in the Age of Reason

By Norman Poser

Published by McGill-Queen’s University Press

In the first modern biography of Lord Mansfield (1705–1793), Prof. Norman Poser details the turbulent political life of eighteenth-century Britain’s most powerful judge, serving as chief justice for an unprecedented thirty-two years. His legal decisions launched England on the path to abolishing slavery and the slave trade, modernized commercial law in ways that helped establish Britain as the world’s leading industrial and trading nation, and his vigorous opposition to the American colonists stoked Revolutionary fires.

The challenge

Promoting a long biography (432 pages) about a character unfortunately largely forgotten by the British public at large. Moreover, the book was rather expensive (£27.99).

The solution

Work closely with the author and make the most of all opportunities. The film ‘Belle’ about the life of Lord Mansfield’s mixed-race great-niece came out shortly after the book’s launch and I arranged an interview with the Observer newspaper based on the forthcoming movie.

The result

the book was reviewed in The Times newspaper (circ. 404K+) and the author was interviewed at length in the Observer (circ. 164K+), he was also interviewed on BBC Radio 3 (Free Thinking programme). The book was also featured in a wealth of specialist media including the Times Education Supplement, TES (circ. 134K+), Law Society Gazette (circ. 118K) and Counsel, the magazine of the Bar Association of England and Wales (circ. 24K).