A lovely boxed collection of "Rumpole of the Bailey" stories, selected by the author and illustrated quite nicely by Paul Cox. Several of these stories I have read in other collections, several are new to me, and all are excellent. Rumpole is a true original, a charmingly eccentric English character, who hides a few solid ideals beneath a gruffly cynical crust. The conclusion of "Rumpole and the Family Pride" shows this as well as any lines in the book: Rumpole is commiserating with a fellow barrister, Liz Probert, who has concluded "It's a bloody unjust world, Rumpole".
"You've been all these years in the law, Liz. And You've only just found that out?" ( )