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Book Summary and Reviews of Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Just Mercy

A Story of Justice and Redemption

by Bryan Stevenson

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  • Published:
  • Oct 2014, 352 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn't commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship - and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever.

Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer's coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. Emotionally profound, necessary reading." - Kirkus

"A must-read for anyone in the field of criminal justice and for fans of true crime." - Library Journal

"...the author's experience with the flaws in the American justice system add extra gravity to a deeply disturbing and oft-overlooked topic." - Publishers Weekly

"Not since Atticus Finch has a fearless and committed lawyer made such a difference in the American South...Just Mercy is his inspiring and powerful story." - John Grisham

"This is a book of great power and courage. It is inspiring and suspenseful - a revelation." - Isabel Wilkerson, author of The Warmth of Other Suns

"Bryan Stevenson is one of my personal heroes, perhaps the most inspiring and influential crusader for justice alive today, and Just Mercy is extraordinary. The stories told within these pages hold the potential to transform what we think we mean when we talk about justice." - Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow

"Words such as important and compelling may have lost their force through overuse, but reading this book will restore their meaning, along with one's hopes for humanity." - Tracy Kidder, author of Mountains Beyond Mountains

"Just Mercy should be read by people of conscience in every civilized country in the world to discover what happens when revenge and retribution replace justice and mercy. It is as gripping to read as any legal thriller, and what hangs in the balance is nothing less than the soul of a great nation." - Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

This information about Just Mercy was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Bryan Stevenson

Bryan Stevenson is the executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, and a professor of law at New York University Law School. He has won relief for dozens of condemned prisoners, argued five times before the Supreme Court, and won national acclaim for his work challenging bias against the poor and people of color. He has received numerous awards, including the MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant.

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