A powerful and urgent explanation and vindication of our human rights and freedoms

After the devastation of World War Two, the international community came together to enshrine fundamental rights to refuge, health, education and living standards, for privacy, fair trials and free speech, and outlawing torture, slavery and discrimination. Their goal was greater global justice, equality, and peace. That settlement is now in danger, attacked by opponents from across the political spectrum and populist and authoritarian movements worldwide. We are threatened by wars, inequality, new technologies and climate catastrophe, and we need our human rights now more than ever. In this powerful, accessible book, Shami Chakrabarti, lawyer, parliamentarian and leading British human rights defender, shows us why human rights are essential for our future.

Outlining the historic national and international struggles for human rights, from the fall of Babylon, to the present day, Chakrabarti is an indispensable guide to the law and logic underpinning human dignity and universal freedoms. Her intervention will engage both sceptics and supporters, equipping believers in the battle of ideas and persuading doubters to think again. For human rights to survive, they must be far better understood by everyone.

"An ideal introduction to the subject of human rights ... Chakrabarti is excellent on the historical origins of her subject ... and shows how the idea of human rights can have a direct bearing on the problems of today, whether war, climate change, poverty or artificial intelligence. In Chakrabarti’s hands, the underlying values are what matter about human rights, forming a roadmap to civilised living at a time of change and crisis. I cannot offhand think of a better, more attractive introduction to the subject for those curious to know more about it than the occasional newspaper headline ... Chakrabarti has an enviable writing style, her fluency in print matching her bewitching speaking skills; many times I could hear her voice coming through the text ... pugilistic in her defence of human rights, Chakrabarti is a key high priest in this, the most important of our secular religions" - Irish Times

"A clear, impassioned case for human rights law… absorbing… For Chakrabarti the ECHR isn’t just a set of amalgamated legal safeguards but a source of “sheer poetic insight” into human nature… This is law essentially willing civilisation into action, and as with difficult music or the higher reaches of maths, there is a hidden beauty in it" - Observer