The Far Side of the Moon: Trials of My Father

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The powerful and emotive memoir about one man's relationship with his father and the stigma around mental illness, from the acclaimed author and human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith. ' A vivid, inquiring memoir... A properly soul-searching book' Observer The powerful and emotive memoir about one man's relationship with his father and the stigma around mental illness, from the acclaimed author and human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith. A leading campaigner for justice, human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith has spent a lifetime getting to know his clients - from detainees in Guantanamo Bay to prisoners facing execution on Death Row - and finding out 'what makes them tick'. Yet closer to home, there was a man whose mind has always remained off limits- his own father. But when Clive inherited more than 3,000 of his letters, he could finally start to piece together the obsessive personality behind them. Drawing on the life of a client with his own mental health issues, The Far Side of the Moon is an unforgettable memoir and a meticulous critique of our social and justice systems.Just how much has Clive's father's unspoken struggle shaped his own life PRAISE FOR CLIVE STAFFORD SMITH 'Superbly written' John Grisham on Injustice 'Remarkable' Observer 'An empowering read for anyone who cares about the human implementation of justice' Colin Firth on Injustice

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[A] vivid, inquiring memoir... In unpicking this history within himself, in what is a properly soul-searching book, Stafford Smith finds useful ways to ask the hardest of questions about crime and punishment * Observer *

Author Bio

Clive Stafford Smith is a lawyer specialising in defending those accused of the most serious crimes, and is founder and Director of UK non-profit the Justice League, and formerly founded and worked at Reprieve. Based in the US for twenty-six years, he now works from the UK where he continues to defend prisoners on Death Row, and challenges the continued incarceration of those held in secret prisons around the world. He has secured the release of 85 prisoners from Guantanamo Bay and still acts for several more. His book Bad Men (shortlisted for the 2008 Orwell Prize) described this campaign. Alongside many other awards, in 2000 he received an OBE for 'humanitarian services'. His second book Injustice was shortlisted for the 2013 Orwell Prize and the CWA Non-Fiction Dagger.