Bon Vivant

As the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London is marked by a new opera, His Honour Judge Cryan relates the pivotal role played by the Inn’s first Royal Bencher in saving the Temple Church and Hall from devastation  

In the early hours of Sunday 2 September 1666, a fire broke out in Pudding Lane in the east of the City of London, near London Bridge.  

To stay or to go has its courtroom equivalent  

‘It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.’ – Thomas Sowell 

Counsel interviews criminal barrister Matthew Scott, aka the award-winning Barristerblogger  

Words sometimes really will hurt you  

‘Thou art a boil, a plague sore, an embossed carbuncle in my corrupted blood’ – King Lear, William Shakespeare 

Editors: Pamela Radcliffe, Gisli Gudjonsson CBE, Anthony Heaton-Armstrong and David Wolchover
Publisher: Oxford University Press (2016)
RRP: £59.95
ISBN: 9780199672936 

Surprise victories are perhaps not so surprising  

‘People are generally better persuaded by the reasons which they have themselves discovered than by those which have come into the mind of others.’– Blaise Pascal, Pensées 

A Refreshers First XI would be a match for any decent club side, writes Philip Cayford QC. The only challenge is getting all your best players on to the same pitch on the same day...  

The Refreshers were founded in 1935, and hence celebrated their 80th birthday last year.  

When the desire to know becomes the desire to nose  

‘I believe in transparency’ – Hillary Clinton 

Frank Hinks QC talks to Melissa Coutinho about his dual career as a silk at Serle Court and a prolific writer/illustrator  

Since childhood, I wanted to be both a barrister and a writer.  

David Smith previews an upcoming charity music gala  

Music at the Bar is thriving.